CFD simulation of flow distribution of a water-ethanol mixture in a silicone microreactor

CFD simulation of flow distribution of a water-ethanol mixture in a silicone microreactor

In this work, CFD simulation was carried out to investigate the hydrodynamics of water-ethanol gaseous flow in a microreactor. The 3D geometry was meshed using Tet/Heybrid elements giving a computational unstructured grid. A higher density of elements was generated near the channel entry. The major purpose of this study has been focused upon the fluid distribution at the entrance of the microchannels. The results revealed that the microreactor design leaded to a very homogeneous distribution of the gas stream among the channels. It can be seen that the velocity profiles are parabolic confirming the laminar regime. Furthermore, the average velocity at the entrance of entire microchannels has the same value of 0.294±0.003 m s-1.