Chemical Engineering Communications, Vol.171, 77-93, 1999
Friction factor in static mixer and determination of geometric parameters of SMX Sulzer mixers
Pressure drops were determined in fluid flow through SMX Suizer static mixer of different sizes. In order to investigate a large range of Reynolds number, the experiments were performed with fluids of different viscosities. Pressure drops measurements in static mixer considered as a porous medium, are analysed with a capillary model for the determination of the geometric parameters of static mixers: pore diameter and tortuosity. These parameters allow the expression of pressure drops in terms of friction factor, f(C), as a function of pore Reynolds number, Re-p. A universal equation is obtained for the friction factor: f(C) = 16/Re-p + 0.194 which covers both viscous and inertial flow regimes.