Micromixing Enhancement in a Taylor–Couette Flow Reactor with Rounded-Edge Ribs on Inner Cylinder

This study systematically investigated the performance of a Taylor–Couette flow reactor with a rounded-edge ribbed inner cylinder (TVR) in enhancing micromixing compared to a smooth inner cylinder reactor (TCR), using the Villermaux–Dushman competitive parallel reaction system. The research compared the flow field characteristics, such as turbulent intensity and turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, between the two configurations and detailed the effects of key operating parameters, including axial Reynolds number, Taylor number (Ta), acid concentration, flow ratio, and viscosity, on micromixing efficiency. The micromixing efficiency was quantitatively evaluated using the segregation index (XS). Experimental results indicated that XS decreased with increasing axial Reynolds number and Taylor number, suggesting an improvement in micromixing efficiency. Under all tested operating conditions, the TVR consistently demonstrated superior micromixing performance compared to the TCR. This finding was further validated by the micromixing time (tm) results obtained from fitting the experimental data. The micromixing time in the TVR reactor ranged from 10–5 to 10–2 s. Furthermore, the study found that XS increased with increasing H+ concentration and volumetric flow ratio and also increased with increasing liquid viscosity. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations further confirmed that the ribbed configuration effectively disrupted hydrodynamic stability, inducing higher turbulent intensity and turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates, especially in the vortex regions near the inner cylinder, thereby significantly enhancing local micromixing. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis and guidance for the design and operation of Taylor reactors in industrial applications.