New techniques for mixing viscous reacting liquids. Part II. Electrical‐mechanical hybrid mixer

Based on an understanding of the basic mechanisms and governing laws for liquid mixing, a new concept for increasing the efficiency of laminar mixing is advanced. The new concept is motivated in part by the observation that in laminar flows, the interface between two fluid components tends to line up parallel to the streamlines, leading to decreased mixing efficiency. This decrease in effectiveness can be overcome by simultaneously applying mechanically induced shear forces and electrically induced destabilizing forces (which act on the interfaces) to mix the liquids. Results show a dramatic increase in mixing efficiency with the electrical‐mechanical hybrid system. Descriptions of the analytical and experimental work done to characterize the concept and prove its efficacy are presented in detail. Scale‐up factors are discussed in terms of dimensionless groups.