Mixing Surface Tracking Method: A Lagrangian Fluid Tracking-Based Approach for CFD Micromixing Characterization and Its Application in T-Shaped Microreactors
Abstract
The mixing surface tracking (MS-T) method, a reaction-free approach based on Lagrangian trajectories of fluid elements in CFD simulation, was developed to characterize micromixing under steady-state turbulent flow in T-shaped microreactors. By defining mixing surfaces (MSs) as assemblies of fluid elements of equal mixing time, the evolution of MSs─which visually represented both fluid motion and concentration changes in the mixing process─was quantified using mixing intensity ( I M ). The micromixing time ( t m ) was defined as the mixing time required for I M to reach 0.95. The t m values obtained by the MS-T method showed good agreement with those derived from a conventional I – /IO 3 – reaction system (Villermaux/Dushman method) combined with the incorporation model, confirming the reliability of the MS-T method on micromixing evaluation.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Innovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques Innovation
Microfluidic and Capillary Electrophoresis Applications
Lattice Boltzmann Simulation Studies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Volume
- 65
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 4129–4141
- Publication date
- 13 February 2026
- Language
- EN