CFD modelling and scale-up of Confined Impinging Jet Reactors

Confined Impinging Jet Reactors (CIJRs) are appealing devices for precipitation of nanoparticles because of their high mixing efficiency. In fact, since precipitation processes are generally very fast, mixing plays a crucial role and it is of great importance to operate under very fast mixing conditions. In this work mixing and reaction in CIJRs are studied by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Mixing at the molecular level is modelled with a presumed Probability Density Function (PDF) approach: the Direct Quadrature Method of Moments coupled with the Interaction by Exchange with the Mean (DQMOM-IEM) model. The influence of operating conditions and reactor geometry on mixing is also evaluated and a scale-up criterion for CIJRs is developed, showing that scaling up by means of CFD is a practicable path, worth of further investigation. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.