Optimisation of the design and operation of mixing processes using computational fluid dynamics and high performance computing

混合操作是过程工业的日常工作，旨在生产满足家庭，企业和工业不同需求的制造流体。如果考虑到应用混合技术并产生中间产品或最终产品的行业范围（食品，家庭和个人护理，制药，化工等），混合操作的种类和规模很容易理解。混合过程的可能结果可以大致分为两个因素；所涉及的相（气-液-固的组合）和组分之间的混相。如果组分是混相的，输出就是溶液。在不混相成分的情况下，结果要么是胶体要么是悬浮液。两者的区别在于分散相[1]的长度尺度。前者的分散相范围从几个分子到几微米，而后者的分散相是微米级或更大的[2]。溶液在分子水平上是均匀的，因此当采用连续介质方法时，它们被视为单相流体。另一方面，胶体和悬浮液是多相性质的。

Mixing operations are an everyday routine in process industry and aim to produce manufactured fluids which cover varying needs of households, businesses and industries. The variety and the magnitude of mixing operations are easily perceived if one considers the range of industries (food, home & personal care, pharmaceutical, chemical etc.) where mixing techniques are applied and yield either intermediate or end-products. The possible outcomes of a mixing process can be broadly classified in terms of two factors; the phases involved (combinations of gas-liquid-solid) and the miscibility of the components with each other. If components are miscible the output is a solution. In case of immiscible components the outcome is either a colloid or a suspension. What distinguishes these two is the lengthscale of the dispersed phase [1]. In the former the dispersed phase ranges from a few molecules to several microns, while in the latter it is of micron order or larger [2]. Solutions are homogenous down to the molecular level, hence they are treated as a single phase fluid when the continuum approach is adopted. Colloids and suspensions, on the other hand, are of multiphase nature [3].