Mixing and heat transfer of highly viscous food products with a continuous

chaotic duct flow

El calor de transferencia en productos alimenticios de alta viscosidad por un
flujo catico y continuo.

Abstract
We discuss the Rotated Arc Mixer (RAM) for continuous mixing and heat exchange
of highly viscous foods. Principal advantages of the RAM are the simplicity of
construction/disassembly and the attendant large energy savings due to the absence
of internal elements. The absence of internal obstructions benefits the performance
of the RAM in several ways. The geometry is amenable to in-depth analysis and is
easier to scale up and optimize for specific applications. The absence of internals
also has the benefit of making the RAM less susceptible to clogging and fouling,
which can reduce downtime and maintenance cost. The RAM exploits chaotic
advection to mix and transport heat in viscously dominated (low Reynolds number)
flows. Among other things the RAM can effect good in-line mixing of viscous
materials with a pressure drop that is the same as that of an open pipe; moreover,
the RAM has several control parameters to tune the chaotic advection, making it
flexible for applications. Examples are presented from confectionary and diary
processing.

Resumen

1. Introduction
1. Introduccin

Food processing often involves highly viscous fluids. A chart (Toki Sangyo, 2008)
listing the viscosities of 70 food products at room temperature shows that 75% of
products are of high viscosity defined as viscosity l P 1 Pa s and that 80% of high
viscosity foods are also non-Newtonian. Mixing, heat exchange, and dispersion in
highly viscous, non-Newtonian or shear-sensitive fluids, such as emulsions,
suspensions, slurries and pastes, can be difficult due to the large energy costs
needed to deform these fluids, complex rheology, and the sometimes delicate nature
of these materials. In addition to the energy costs, heat dissipated into the highly
viscous fluids by high shear, imparted by impellers or narrowly spaced baffles, may
damage the material (Elias and Joshi, 1998; McNeil and Harvey, 1993; Saito et al.,
1986; Todd, 2004).

El procesamiento de alimentos a menudo implica fluidos de alta viscosidad. Una

tabla (Toki Sangyo, 2008) lista las viscosidades de 70 productos alimenticios a
temperatura ambiente, muestra que el 75% de los productos son de alta viscosidad
y que el 80% de los alimentos de alta viscosidad son no newtonianos. El intercambio
de calor en fluidos altamente viscosos, no newtonianos o sensibles al cizallamiento
tales como emulsiones, suspensiones y pastas, puede ser difcil debido a los
grandes costos de la energa necesaria para deformar estos fluidos de compleja
reologa. Adems de los costos de energa, el calor disipado por los fluidos viscosos
de alto cizallamiento impartidos por los impulsores o deflectores (Elias and Joshi,
1998; McNeil and Harvey, 1993; Saito et al., 1986; Todd, 2004).
Para elevar la calidad del producto se requiere una consideracin simultnea tanto
de mezcla y transferencia de calor, y en consecuencia se generan intercambiadores
de calor industriales especialmente diseados.

This paper summarizes the results for a recent design for a mixer and heat
exchanger for highly viscous materials which is based on the latest findings, e.g.
Ottino (1989), Wiggins (1992), and Aref (2002), from fundamental mixing science
and chaotic advection.
Este documento resume los resultados para el diseo reciente de un mezclador e
intercambiador de calor para materiales altamente viscosos que se basa en los
ltimos descubrimientos, por ejemplo Ottino (1989), Wiggins (1992), y Aref
(2002), desde la ciencia fundamental y mezcla adveccin catica.

Chaotic advection means the (Lagrangian) motion of fluid (or other) particles in a
deterministic (Eulerian) flow. When observing particle paths instead of velocities,
particle paths can diverge from streamlines, and simple, repetitive changes to the
geometry of the flow, such as periodic reorientation, can create a self-similar and
self-refining action in the totality of the particle paths (Metcalfe, 2009).

La adveccin catica significa segn Lagrange, como el movimiento de las

partculas del fluido en un flujo determinista. Al observar trayectorias de partculas
en lugar de velocidades, la trayectoria de las partculas pueden divergir de
racionalizar cambios simples y repetitivos a la geometra del flujo, tales como la
reorientacin peridica.(Metcalfe, 2009).

The result is a highly energy-efficient device that is strikingly simple in its

construction and disassembly: the Rotated Arc Mixer (RAM). Among other things the
RAM can effect good in-line or batch mixing and heat exchange of viscous material
(low Reynolds number flows) without the use of internal baffles, making its pressure
drop the same as that of an open pipe; moreover, the RAM has several control
parameters to optimize the chaotic advection to the rheology, making it flexible in
application.
El resultado es un dispositivo de alta eficiencia energtica que es
sorprendentemente sencilla en su construccin y desmontaje. Entre otras cosas, la
RAM puede efectuar bien en lnea o mezcla por lotes y de intercambio de calor del
material viscoso (bajo nmero de Reynolds fluye) sin el uso de deflectores internos,
por lo que su cada de presin es la misma que la de un tubo abierto. Por otra parte,
la memoria RAM tiene varios parmetros de control para optimizar la adveccin
catica a la reologa.

Additionally the RAM imparts low shear stress without compromising performance.
When benchmarked to a static mixer 1 the RAM mixes twice as well (at the same
length), using five times less energy. The RAM has no stagnant regions, no internal
surfaces (baffles, plates, etc.) for the material to foul on; it is easier to scale up as
flows are the same irrespective of the size; it can be optimized to rheology; and it
works well even for very high viscosity fluids.
Adems la RAM imparte bajo cizallamiento, sin comprometer el rendimiento.
Cuando se hace referencia al mezclador esttico 1 de la RAM, se mezcla dos veces
mejor en la misma longitud, utilizando cinco veces menos energa. La RAM no tiene
regiones de estancamiento, no hay superficies internas como deflectores o platos.
The RAM accomplishes these things by imposing a deterministic sequence of
boundary motions at the wall of a duct.
La RAM logra estas cosas mediante la imposicin de una secuencia determinista de
las nociones del contorno de la pared del contorno.
In the rest of the paper, we first emphasis on the minimum power requirements for
highly viscous fluids, then describe the RAM device, geometry and control
parameters. The following sections give examples of RAM mixing and heat
exchange from confectionery and dairy processing.
En el resto del artculo, primero haremos nfasis en los mnimos requisitos de
energa para fluidos de alta viscosidad y luego a describir el dispositivo, la geometra
y el control de parmetros de la RAM. En las siguientes secciones se darn
ejemplos de RAM y del intercambio de calor en productos lcteos y confitera.

1.1. Power at high viscosity and production rates.

1.1. Tasas de produccin de potencia a alta viscosidad.
To produce commercial quantities, it is often advantageous to have a continuous
process. The required pumping power Pax to maintain a given volume flow rate Qv
through a duct is Pax QvDP, where DP is the pressure drop. Assuming for
simplicity a Poiseuille flow profile in the duct, Pax per unit length increases
linearly with viscosity and quadratically with production rate as where L and 2R are,
respectively, the pipe length and diameter. Results for a power-law rheology are
given in the appendix. Eq. (1) is minimum power required to move a fluid through a
pipe with no processing taking place. Fig. 1 graphs Eq. (1) for 2R 10 cm
(4 inch) and for various Qv spanning the range relevant to food processing.

Para producir cantidades comerciales, a menudo es ventajoso tener un proceso

continuo. El Pax, potencia requerida de bombear, para mantener un caudal
determinado Qv, a travs de un conducto es P ax = Qv * P , donde P es la cada
de presin. Suponiendo por simplicidad un perfil de flujo de poiseville en el
conducto, Pax por unidad de longitud aumenta linealmente con la viscosidad y
cuadrticamente con la tasa de produccin como en la que L y 2R son
respectivamente, la longitud del tubo y el diametro, resultados para la ley de
potencia de la reologa, se dan en el apndice.
P ax 8Qv 2
L = R4
..Eq.1
La ecuacin 1 es la mnima potencia necesaria para mover un fluido sin
procesamiento a travs de un tubo que tiene lugar en la figura 1, para 2R=10cm
(aprox. 4 pulgadas) y para diversos Qv, que abarca el rango correspondiente a los
alimentos procesados.
These minimum power requirements increase by orders of magnitude as l and Qv
increase. Moreover, most in-line mixers have internal elements such as baffles and
plates which increase the pressure drop required to drive fluid through the mixer and
increase the potential for blocking and cleaning problems.
Estos requisitos mnimos de energa aumentan por rdenes de magnitud, cuando
y aumenta Qv. Por otra parte la mayora de los mezcladores en lnea tienen
elementos que aumentan la cada de presin, como placas y deflectores, para
conducir el fluido a travs del mezclador, aumentando la probabilidad de obstruccin
y problemas de limpieza.
Pressure drops in commercial static mixers range from 6 to 40 times that
needed to drive a given volume flow through an open pipe of the same diameter
(Byrde and Sawley, 1999; Ling and Zhang, 1995; Liu et al., 2003; Pahl and
Muschelknautz, 1982; Streiff et al., 1999; see also Table 1). Industrial scale
processing of highly viscous fluids consumes a large amount of increasingly
expensive and politically sensitive power.
Las cadas de presin en mezcladores estticos comerciales varan desde 6 a 40
veces en las que es necesaria un para conducir un flujo de volumen dada por medio
de un tubo del mismo dimetro (Byrde and Sawley, 1999; Ling and Zhang, 1995; Liu
et al., 2003; Pahl and Muschelknautz, 1982; Streiff et al., 1999; ver Tabla 1). El
procesamiento a escala industrial de fluidos de alta viscosidad consume una gran
cantidad de energa cada vez mas cara y polticamente sensible.
Note that Eq. (1) strongly favors fat pipes and slow flows to achieve a given
production rate, but that a fat pipe with smaller surface to volume ratio makes heat
exchange even more challenging for viscous products. As discussed in Section 3,
chaotic heat exchangers can address this difficulty, while retaining the benefit
of low power consumption.
Tenga en cuenta que la ecuacin 1, favorece fuertemente los conductos grasos y
flujos lentos a alcanzar una tasa de produccin determinada, un conducto de grasa
con una menor relacin de superficie a volumen de intercambio de calor se hace
an mas difcil para productos viscosos. Como se discuti en la seccin 3, los
intercambiadores de calor pueden abarcar esta dificultad, manteniendo el beneficio
del bajo consumo de energa.
Table 1.
Tabla 1

P P tot m

RAM 1 1.1 - 3 0.41

Kenics 6 6 0.30

SMX 37 37 0.43

Table 1.
Normalized pressure drop DP, total normalized power input Port , and striation
reduction rate m for the RAM and two commercial static mixers. Pressure drop and
power for laminar flow are normalized to values for an open pipe. For the RAM and
the Kenics m is a fit of exp=(-mz/2R) to the data shown in Fig. 5; for the SMX m is
taken from Streiff et al. (1999).
Tabla 1.
Normalizada la presin
1.2. RAM device geometry
1.2. Geometra del dispositivo de RAM