THMR Team │Thermodynamics and Hydrodynamics of Reactive Media
Manager : Mounir BEN AMAR
Description
This research team focuses on the micromixing process, a crucial step in the development of new nanomaterials, as the mixing dynamics must be significantly faster than the chemical constants in order to ensure a very fine and monodisperse particle size. We use a continuous micromixer with the T-mixer as the central element. We work on the liquid/vapor/solid phase change by coupling thermodynamic and hydrodynamic approaches.
The objective is the control of the influential parameters to be taken into account during the design of new multiphase chemical reactors as well on the experimental aspect (SLS/DLS) as on the modeling aspect (equation of state and hydrodynamic calculations).
Our last results, numerical and experimental, obtained on the hydrodynamics of the flow in the T-mixer allowed us to better understand a certain number of physical phenomena to be taken into account when designing chemical reactors for the elaboration of nanoparticles. From the hydrodynamic point of view of the flow in chemical reactors, we have recently demonstrated the existence of a liquid-vapor phase change linked not only to the geometrical aspect of these reactors but also to the flow conditions (pressure, flow rate, Reynolds).
Example of a collective work
These phase changes are also driven by thermodynamic conditions that must be taken into account. For this purpose, benefiting from 15 years of joint experience with IFP Energies Nouvelles, we continue to develop equations of state based on statistical mechanics (more precisely on perturbation methods) taking into account molecular interactions in a realistic way (via density functional theories) in order to predict these equilibria. Particular attention is paid to the solid state modeling in coherence with the treatment of fluid phases (the only types of phases described for the moment with our models) as well as to the modeling of interfaces (non-homogeneous fluid thermodynamics). These developments are based on theoretical chemistry techniques such as molecular simulation (more particularly Monte Carlo) or quantum simulation (taking into account the electronic density).
Most significant publications
Simulations and experiments in T-mixer
Oualha K, Ben Amar M, Kanaev A. In : Boukharouba T., et al. (eds) Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham (2019) 1-8
Group contribution method with SAFT EOS
Tamouza S, et al. Fluid Phase Equilibr. 222 (2004) 67-76
