Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-5lx2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-04T16:56:00.741Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Multiple-timescale analysis of Taylor dispersion in converging and diverging flows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Michelle D. Bryden
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, USA
Howard Brenner
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, USA

Abstract

A multiple-timescale analysis is employed to analyse Taylor-dispersion-like convective-diffusive processes in converging and diverging flows. A long-time asymptotic equation governing the cross-sectionally averaged solute probability density is derived. The form of this equation is shown to be dependent upon the number of spatial dimensions characterizing the duct or ‘cone’. The two-dimensional case (non-parallel plates) is shown to be fundamentally different from that for three dimensions (circular cone) in that, in two dimensions, a Taylor dispersion description of the process is possible only for small Peclet numbers or angles of divergence. In contrast, in three dimensions, a Taylor dispersion description is always possible provided sufficient time has passed since the initial introduction of solute into the system. The convective Taylor dispersion coefficients $\overline{D}_c$ for the respective cases of low-Reynolds-number flow between non-parallel plates and in a circular cone are computed and their limiting values, $\overline{D}_c^0$, for zero apex angle are shown to be consistent with the known results for Taylor dispersion between parallel plates and in a circular cylinder. When plotted in the non-dimensional form of $\overline{D}_c/\overline{D}^0_c$ versus the half-vertex angle θ0, the respective dispersivity results for the two cases hardly differ from one another, increasing monotonically from 1.0 for θ0 = 0 to approximately 2.6 for a fully flared duct, θ0 = θ/2. Lastly, the techniques developed above for the case of rectilinear channel and duct boundaries are extended to the case of curvilinear boundaries, and an illustrative calculation performed for the case of axisymmetric flow in a flared Venturi tube.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1996 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackerberg, R. C. 1965 The viscous incompressible flow inside a cone. J. Fluid Mech. 21, 4781.Google Scholar
Aris, R. 1956 On the dispersion of a solute in a fluid flowing through a tube.. Proc. R. Soc. Land. A 235, 6677.Google Scholar
Brenner, H. & Edwards, D. A. 1993 Macrotransport Processes. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Carslaw, H. S. & Jaeger, J. C. 1959 Conduction of Heat in Solids. Oxford University Press.
Chatwin, P. C. 1970 The approach to normality of the concentration distribution of a solute in a solvent flowing along a straight pipe. J. Fluid Mech. 20, 321352.Google Scholar
Frankel, I. & Brenner, H. 1991 Generalized Taylor dispersion phenomena in unbounded shear flows. J. Fluid Mech. 230, 147181.Google Scholar
Gill, W. N. 1967 Analysis of axial dispersion with time variable flow. Chem. Engng Sci. 22, 10131017.Google Scholar
Gill, W. N. & Guceri, U. 1971 Laminar dispersion in Jeffrey-Hamel flows: Part 1. Diverging channels. AIChE J. 17, 207214.Google Scholar
Goldstein, S. 1965a Modern Developments in Fluid Dynamics, vol. 1. Dover (reprint).
Goldstein, S. 19656 On backward boundary layers and flow in converging passages. J. Fluid Mech. 21, 3345.Google Scholar
Happel, J. & Brenner, H. 1983 Low Reynolds Number Hydrodynamics. Kluwer.
Mercer, G. N. & Roberts, A. J. 1990 Centre manifold description of contaminant dispersion in channels with varying flow properties. SIAM J. Appl. Maths 50, 15471565.Google Scholar
Pagitsas, M., Nadim, A. & Brenner, H. 1986 Multiple time scale analysis of macrotransport processes. Physica 135A, 533550.Google Scholar
Rouse, H. 1959 Advanced Mechanics of Fluids. Wiley.
Sampson, R. A. 1891 On Stoke's current function. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 182. 449518.Google Scholar
Smith, R. 1983 Longitudinal dispersion coefficients for varying channels. J. Fluid Mech. 130, 299314.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1921 Diffusion by continuous movements. Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 21, 196212.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1953 Dispersion of soluble matter in a solvent flowing slowly through a tube.. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 219, 186203.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1954 Conditions under which dispersion of a solute in a stream of solvent can be used to measure molecular diffusion.. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 225, 473477.Google Scholar
Wooding, R. A. 1960 Instability of a viscous fluid of variable density in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. J. Fluid Mech. 7, 501515.Google Scholar