Hydraulic efficiency of 3d printed static mixers

Presenter(s)

Mounkoka Goma, Juan Pablo Sanchez Cubilos

Abstract or Description

Drainage practices are commonly used in Midwestern states to increase crop yield. While this method is very feasible for crop production optimization, it has some unwanted environmental effects. Unfortunately, water artificially drained from agricultural sites carries large amounts of nutrients to receiving waters and creates a pollution problem. There are several experimental engineering practices suggested to decrease nutrient concentration. One of them is on-site treatment filtration of drainage water. Fast and efficient mixing of drainage water with treatment material is the key to this practice. This goal may be achieved via static mixers. 

Static mixers are used in continuous practices, where they homogenize fluids with no moving parts, making them key components for filtration processes. There are different types, but we will focus on them here in the inline mixer. As they have for purpose of creating turbulence that enhances the rapid mixing of the injected chemical into the water stream. We use them specifically for chemical treatment due to the fact they create an injection point for chemicals into the water line. This research is devoted to determining the efficiencies of static mixers with different geometries. The goal is to improve filter efficiency by finding the adequate format of an inline static mixer for the right task. Hence, every filtration process differs and needs a different static mixer. For this, we are focusing on analyzing, characterizing, and designing a 3D line static mixer. To accomplish that we will be using a 3D printer to create models based on the design that we produced and test them based on specific criteria which are based on homogeneity and sediment retainment after mixing. 

Mentor

Dr. Nazli Yilmaz Wodzinski