In spinning disc reactors (SDR) centrifugal force is applied to the liquid which generates thin, unstable and wavy liquid films over the disc. There exists turbulence within the waves in the liquid films. Liquid films over spinning disc are hence attributed with very high heat and mass transfer rates. These waves produce intense micro mixing and very little back mixing bringing these reactors closer to an ideal plug flow. This is of particular advantage when performing fast liquid-liquid reactions such as nitration, sulphonation and polymerization.
But there is still very little understanding on the behavior of the films under influence of the centrifugal force. To the best of our knowledge CFD analysis of this class of flow has never been attempted before. In this paper we describe the hydrodynamics characteristics of liquid films over the spinning disc using CFD model.
Flow characteristics of the liquid film were studied over a range of operating conditions. Both 2D and 3D simulations were carried out using the volume of fluid (VOF) method and compared with experimental data published in literature. Resulting liquid film thickness and radial velocity were found in good agreement with the previously published experimental data and analytically values derived from Nusselt theory. The results obtained here provide insight into the hydrodynamics and would be useful in accessing performance of the SDR for multiphase reactions.