Development of a to-scale fluid mixing visualization process for analysis of cold-flow mixing

Torrefaction is a process by which low energy density biomass is converted to a higher energy density biofuel, called char. Small-scale torrefaction systems are a promising technology for developing countries where large amounts of biomass go underutilized due to inaccessibility and transportation costs. A by-product of torrefaction is volatile gas, thus, a system may be built to harness this otherwise wasted energy and use it to power the treatment of biomass. An efficient fuel-mixer and combustor system which recycles this volatile gas is central to the overall torrefaction system efficiency. In order to analyze the mixing efficiency in a swirl-type mixer such as the design proposed for the small-scale torrefaction system, a project was designed to visualize mixing in an annular mixer. A to-scale cold-mixing system was constructed from two cylinders, three pump systems, as well as an imaging system using a retrofitted green laser. The final model is a tested and proven system for flow imaging of two cold flows within a to-scale fuel-mixer.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Wopat, Kathryn K

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alexander H. Slocum.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98752

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/98752