Abstract
This project deals with the characterization of structured fluids, which are adopted in the preparation and processing of many products in different industrial applications, ranging from pharmaceutics to personal care and emulsifications, to name a few. The investigation is based on a multiscale approach, combining experiments and simulations on binary mixtures of water and Pluronic in a laboratory stirred reactor. Various mixture concentrations are considered at different temperature, thus leading to different microstructures of Pluronic molecules in water, which in turn significantly affect the fluid rheology. The UNIBO research unit specific task is concerned with a detailed experimental study, mainly based on Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry data, carried out with the final purpose of providing insight into the prevailing flow regimes, the spatial variations of the velocity and the shear rate in the reactor volume. The energy requirement expected in the industrial operations as a function of the impeller speed is obtained from the power consumption measured by a strain gauge system. Steady state and transient conditions during the mixture preparation are considered, starting from completely separated phases up to the complete homogenization of the mixture. The experimental investigation complements the rheological characterization of the mixtures and provides data for the validation of Computational Fluid Dynamics models.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Giuseppina Montante
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale "Toso Montanari"
Coordinator:
Politecnico di TORINO(Italy)
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 50.775,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
28/09/2023
End Date:
27/09/2025
