(87d) Experimental Investigation of a New Taylor-Couette Cell Design with Radial Fluid Injection for Controlled Mixing Applications

Flow between rotating concentric cylinders, called Taylor-Couette (TC) flows, are ideal for study of mixing and composite material assembly due to their wide variation in hydrodynamic flows. TC cells have been shown to improve many different processes from cell growth, food processing, extraction, to composite material synthesis because of the controlled hydrodynamics within the annulus. However, traditional TC cell design limits the ability to combine and mix solutions while the cell is operating, due to geometric confinement and complexity of injection when both cylinders are rotating. Here, we present a new Taylor-Couette cell design that allows for radial injection of fluids from the inner cylinder surface into the annulus while both cylinders are rotating. This narrow gap TC cell has 16 (4 sets of 4) injection ports distributed along the inner cylinder. With this geometry, we discuss how radial injection rate and total injected mass during cylinder rotation modifies the vortex structure for two different flow types (stationary and wavy vortex flows). We explore the stability of laminar and turbulent versions of the Taylor vortex and Wavy vortex. Additionally, we explore the effect of increasing Reynolds Number (Re) within the same vortex structure. Finally, the effect vortex structure and stability, turbulence, and Re on the mass transport of the different vortex structures is discussed, where higher order states were found to be more stable to mass injection than lower order states. Optimal conditions for mass transfer can then be identified for future applications.