Effect of Axial and Radial Flow on the Hydrodynamics in a Taylor Reactor

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of combined axial through flow and radial mass flux on Taylor–Couette flow in a counter-rotating configuration, in which different branches of nontrivial solutions appear via Hopf bifurcations. Using direct numerical simulation, we elucidate flow structures, dynamics, and bifurcation behavior in qualitative and quantitative detail as a function of axial Reynolds numbers (Re) and radial mass flux (α) spanning a parameter space with a very rich variety of solutions. We have determined nonlinear properties such as anharmonicity, asymmetry, flow rates (axial and radial) and torque for toroidally closed Taylor vortices and helical spiral vortices. Small to moderate radial flow α initially decreases the symmetry of the different flows, before for larger values, α, the symmetry eventually increases, which appears to be congruent with the degree of anharmonicity. Enhancement in the total torque with α are elucidated whereby the strength varies for different flow structures, which allows for potential better selection and control. Further, depending on control parameters, heteroclinic connections (and cycles) of oscillatory type in between unstable and topological different flow structures are detected. The research results provide a theoretical basis for simple modification the conventional Taylor flow reactor with a combination of additional mass flux to enhance the mass transfer mechanism.

Keywords

• Taylor–Couette reactor
• computational fluid dynamics
• bifurcation theory
• mass transfer mechanism
• flow patterns
• nonlinear dynamics