Electric field enhances mixing in micro circular pipes

• Main Authors: Ding, Zijing, Wong, Teck Neng
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Electrohydrodynamic Instability; Mixing; DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/89066; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/46088
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Mixing of two miscible flows with a radial conductivity stratification in a micro-pipe can be enhanced by an axial electric field. The mechanism is interpreted by a linear stability analysis. The effect of ionic diffusion on rapid mixing between the two liquids is discussed. A case study shows that, when the conductivity in the inner layer is larger, the growth rate becomes smaller as the electrical Schmidt number increases; when the conductivity in the outer layer is larger, the growth rate either decreases or increases as the electrical Schmidt number increases.