Experimental and numerical investigation of effect of chaotic flow on mixing of highly viscous fluids

In this study, the effect of chaotic advection on laminar mixing is analyzed experimentally and numerically. Mixer includes two circular rotors and a circular stator in the way that rotational speed of each rotor could be controlled by time. This kind of mixer is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industry. The performance of the mixer was investigated experimentally with dye injection and image recording. Moreover, the effect of chaotic flow on mixing numerically is studied qualitatively and quantitatively with Lagrangian fluid particle tracing, calculating the stretching rate of fluid elements and Poincare sections. The experimental results indicate that as a result of applying sinusoidal perturbation on rotational velocity of rotors, weak mixing zones will disappear with the passage of time, and fluid particles will be distributed uniformly in the surface of the mixer. Numerical simulation shows that the mixer flow is sensitive to initial condition when rotational velocity of rotors is variable, and this is one of important factors in chaotic flow. Further, calculation of stretching rate of fluid elements indicates that average exponential value of fluid elements stretching in the chaotic flow is two times more than non-chaotic one. This research, based on scientific concepts and theoretical application of chaos in fluid mechanics, denotes that the efficiency of low-speed mixers in highly viscous fluid mixing is increased without any increase in the consuming energy.