Microfluidic systems for in situ formation of nylon 6,6 membranes.

A microfluidics based, localised formation of nylon 6,6 membranes has been undertaken. The study demonstrates the feasibility of maintaining stable aqueous/organic interfaces for xylene within simple linear flow channels. Glass fabricated structures were used with adipoyl chloride and hexamethylenediamine in the organic and aqueous phases, respectively, in order to achieve nylon 6,6 interfacial polymerisation. Localised membrane formation was investigated in flow channels of different geometries over a wide range of flow rates (500–4000 μl/min), with Reynolds numbers ranging from 8.4 to 67.2. The results demonstrate that interfacial polymerisation occurs consistently over a wide range of flow rates and of flow entry angles for dual aqueous/organic solvent input. However, creation of uniform planar film structures required careful optimisation, and these were best achieved at 2000 μl/min with a flow entry angle of 45°. The resulting membranes had thicknesses in the range between 100 and 300 μm. Computational modelling of the aqueous/organic flow was performed in order to characterise flow stability and wall shear-stress patterns. The flow arrangement establishes a principle for the fabrication of micromembrane structures designed for low sample volume separation, where the forming reaction is a facile and rapid interfacial process

Experimental characterisation of the dilation angle of polymers

Despite the wide use of Drucker-Prager plasticity-based models on polymers, the experimental measurement of the dilation angle, a critical parameter to fully describe the plastic potential, has been rarely reported in existing literature. This paper shows, for the first time, the experimental characterisation of the dilation angle of polymers over a wide range of plastic strain. These measurements were obtained from uniaxial compression experiments conducted on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and an untoughened epoxy resin. The calculation of the dilation angle relied on the measurements of the compressive force and the strain components obtained via Digital Image Correlation (DIC). Lower values of dilation angle were obtained for the epoxy resin, suggesting that resistance to volumetric change during plastic deformation could be associated to molecular structure and internal forces. The methodology and results presented in this study can be applied to different types of materials and employed for developing and validating constitutive models that incorporate plastic dilation

A comparison of magnetic resonance, X-ray and positron emission particle tracking measurements of a single jet of gas entering a bed of particles

Measurements of the lengths of a single jet of gas entering a packed bed were made using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) and X-ray radiography and the results compared. The experiments were performed using a Perspex bed (50 mm i.d.) of poppy seeds: air at 298 K was admitted to the base of the bed through a single, central orifice, 2 mm in diameter. Poppy seeds (Geldart Group B, measured minimum fluidisation velocity with air at 298 K and 1 atm of 0.13 m/s and particle density ~1060 kg/m3) were used because of their high content of oil, which contains mobile protons and hence is suitable for MRI examination. The lengths of jet measured using the three techniques were in agreement between 50 m/s < Uo < 100 m/s, where Uo is the superficial velocity through the orifice. Below Uo = 50 m/s, X-ray measurements of jet lengths were shorter than those measured using MRI. This was attributed to the minimum diameter of void, found to be 5 mm, detectable in a 50 mm bed using ultra-fast X-ray measurements. PEPT is most commonly used to calculate particle velocities, whilst jet lengths are usually calculated from determinations of voidage. However, the particle locations determined in this work by PEPT were used to calculate a fractional occupancy count, from which a jet length could be inferred.RCUK, OtherThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2014.09.02

The use of positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) to study milling of roll-compacted microcystalline cellulose ribbons

© 2015. Milling is a critical process for controlling the properties of the granules produced by roll compaction. In the current study, the positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) technique was used to examine the milling kinematics of roll-compacted ribbons at various milling speeds. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC, Avicel PH-102) was used as the model feed material and a radioactive particle (tracer) was mixed with the MCC powder and roll-compacted to form sample ribbons. They were then milled using an oscillating mill at various speeds and the kinematics of the ribbons (trajectory, velocity, and occupancy) were quantitatively determined using PEPT. A close examination of the PEPT data reveals that, for milling MCC PH-102 ribbons using the oscillating mill considered in this study, the milling speed plays an important role: at low values, the milling process is dominated by cooperative motion of the ribbons with the blade (i.e. the speeds of the ribbons and the blade are similar, and the ribbons move along with the blade) and the ribbons are milled primarily by abrasion; as the speed increases the ribbons undergo more random motion involving collisions that results in an increase in ribbon breakage and hence an increase in the milling efficiency. It is shown that the PEPT technique is a useful technique for examining milling kinematics of roll-compacted ribbons

Interface capturing in dual-flow microfluidics

Dual-fluid flows are utilised extensively in microfluidics applications. A problem of particular interest isthe precise positioning of the contact discontinuity between the carrier fluids. The paper presents a computational study of the interface positioning in xylene/water flows used in polymer membrane fabrication in microfluidics. Both artificial compressibility, high-resolution characteristics-based and pressure-correction-based schemes have been employed. The former numerically captures the interface position, whereas the latter is used in conjunction with a volume-of-fluid interface tracking scheme. The high-resolution scheme results in less diffusive contact discontinuity and the predicted interface position compares favourably with analytic results

A positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) study of inclusions in liquid aluminium alloy

Inclusions have a detrimental effect upon casting properties but it is known empirically that a slow liquid metal flow has a beneficial effect by reducing the number of inclusions entering the casting. Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) is a method that can be used to track the path taken by radioactive particles, and can be used to follow the behaviour of inclusions as they make their way from a furnace, along the launder and into the casting. A new PEPT camera geometry was developed and used to track radioactively labelled γ-alumina particles, in the region of 600 μm size. The camera detectors were arranged radially around a launder, into which was poured 150 kg of liquid Al alloy, the radioactive particles being released at intervals during the pour. The positron camera was 0.7 m in length and 0.1 m2 in cross-sectional area, and this matched the dimensions of an industrial launder. A model of inclusion behaviour in a flowing liquid Al alloy was also developed, and the Positron Imaging system described was used to validate this model.</jats:p

Development of a hydrodynamic model for the UV-C treatment of turbid food fluids in a novel 'SurePure turbulator™' swirl-tube reactor

The hydrodynamic performance of a Surepure Turbulator™ used as an ultraviolet (UV) light source to give microbial reduction in turbid food fluids such as milk has been determined using Particle Image Velocimetry and Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT). A microbial reduction model has been developed using the PEPT data, based on construction of a fractional time density as a function of distance from the UV source. The novel swirl tube design employs a tangential inlet to impart a swirling motion which promotes refreshment of fluid at the surface of the UV source; the experiments performed show this property is a strong function of flow rate and inlet geometry. Enhanced performance is predicted for the device compared with a simple plug flow model at the design flow rate, corresponding to a 100% improvement in the predicted microbial kill. At 75% turndown, the swirling motion is less significant and the device reverts to close to plug flow behaviour. Industrial relevance: UV light has been proposed as a way of reducing the microbial load of a fluid. In turbid fluids, however, the attenuation of the UV is such that only thin films can be treated. This paper considers the design of a candidate UV processing method for such fluids in which the fluid is mixed such that it spends only a short time at the surface next to the UV source, and is thus fully processed. The practical need is to find out how effective mixing is, and what level of microbial reduction would be expected. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved