PLIF investigation on effects of chamber aspect ratio on flow and mixing in cross-shaped mixers

Planar Laser-induced Fluorescence （PLIF） was used to study flow and mixing characteristics in cross-shaped mixers with four chamber aspect ratios r（r=0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0） at 10<Re<500. Results show that, there are four flow regimes in the mixers with different depths, including the segregated flow, steady engulfment flow, pulsation flow and unsteady engulfment flow. For the steady engulfment flow, the flow field is dominated by three co-rotating vortices for r<1.0, but the center and satellite vortices rotate in opposite directions for r≥1.0. For the pulsation flow, the center vortex shrinks and expands periodically, and the fluid oscillates throughout the chamber for r>1.0. For r=1.0 and 0.5, the shedding of vortex rings emerges downstream. For the unsteady engulfment flow, periodical vortex merging and breakup is observed for r=1.0. For r=0.5, vortex breakup is invisible, and instead, the center vortex merges with a satellite vortex periodically. For r>1.0, the center vortex experiences growth, deformation, and breakup processes. Mixing in cross-shaped mixers was evaluated by the time-averaged intensity of segregation （IOS）, and the mixing mechanism is revealed. An increase in chamber aspect ratios decreases the critical Reynolds number for the engulfment flow and pulsation flow, which causes the mixing enhancement in the chamber at low Re.