Flow Profiles of Power Law Fluids in Scraped Surface Heat Exchanger Geometry Using Mri

Scraped surface heat exchangers (SSHE) are prevalent in the food industry to heat/cool viscous fluids and to provide enhanced mixing. This work focused on developing and verifying a theoretical model to characterize the flow patterns in two‐dimensional angular flow in an SSHE geometry under isothermal conditions. Experimentally, the model was verified by a noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. Good agreement was achieved between the theoretical model and experimental data for a polyalkylene glycol, which behaved as a Newtonian fluid (n = 1), and a 1% CMC solution, a power law fluid with n = 0.77. However, the experimental flow profile tomato puree was characterized by apparent wall slip. The best fit, with respect to the power law model, was a flow behavior index of 0.11. This study provides the framework to quantify the effects of heat transfer on flow profiles in this geometry and the effectiveness of mixing.