Hamid Mortazavi - Biotechnology PhD Defense

The Biotechnology PhD candidate, Hamid Mortazavi will present his doctoral research.
Experimental and Numerical Study of a Moving Baffle Oscillatory Baffled Reactor

November 13, 2023
2:30 pm
AT 3004 and zoom

Committee Members:
Dr. Leila Pakzad (supervisor),
Dr. Francisco Ramos Pallares, Dr. Ahmed Elshaer
and Dr. Sohrab Zendehboudi (external)

Everyone is welcome

This research used computational fluid dynamics to study a specialized reactor called a "moving-baffle oscillatory baffled reactor" (moving-baffle OBR). It aimed to understand its mixing performance, especially in creating small droplets when mixing two liquids. The study found that the movement of the baffles inside the reactor significantly influenced its mixing efficiency. Some measures were more effective than others for assessing this performance. The research also examined the impact of factors like fluid properties and reactor design on energy consumption. The moving-baffle OBR was found to be more energy-efficient and effective in mixing compared to similar reactors with stationary baffles. The study investigated the factors affecting droplet size in the mixture and developed mathematical models to predict droplet size based on these factors. Furthermore, the research compared different computer models used to simulate the reactor's behavior and found that Large Eddy Simulation (LES) effectively captured the flow patterns, overcoming limitations of previous models. The study also explored how viscosity and shear rate changed within the reactor, especially for non-Newtonian fluids, and found that these properties were relatively uniform and related to the reactor's movement. In summary, this research used advanced computer modeling to gain insights into the performance of the moving-baffle OBR, demonstrating its efficiency and potential applications.