LAMINAR MIXING IN SMX STATIC MIXERS

This paper experimentally examines the performance of a commercial static mixer (SMX). Experiments were carried out to obtain the pressure drop across different numbers of mixing elements (4, 8, 12 and 16). The quality of mixing was visually assessed using flow visualization techniques. Experiments were performed for Reynolds number between 50 and 3000 (based on the unobstructed pipe diameter). The presence of the mixing elements in the flow stream promotes a non-laminar, turbulent-like flow which considerably enhances the mixing. Addition of more mixing elements triggered mixing in the flow at lower Reynolds numbers but this was achieved at the expense of higher pressure drop. This work represents the first stage of an on going work to develop correlations to assess the mixing quality and pressure loss in the SMX static mixers.