Study on the fluid dynamics of nitrogen and hydrogen gases subjected to wires element in monolithic channel

Ammonia has a very significant value in the fertilizer industry where it was being synthesized via Haber-Bosch process in the early 19th century. As the process utilize high operating conditions, it imposes high capital cost and is an energy-consuming process. Due to this unsustainable process, researchers have initiated an alternative to overcome this drawback by performing a simulation in microfluidic environment using ambient temperature and pressure (25°C and 1 atm). Wires element configured in a 50 mm x 10 mm, (L x D) dimension monolithic channel with different spacing and number of wires, arranged axially in 60o pitch have been introduced to investigate the dynamic mixing of nitrogen and hydrogen for ammonia synthesis. As the wires are configured in a different manner, the results show dissimilar volume fraction profile, contours and mixing index. Creating suitable obstruction with larger obstruction space enhanced the mixing. Reducing spacing from 2 mm to 1.5 mm illustrates fluctuating velocity at the centre of the channel causing the flow velocity become less than the set velocity 0.05ms-1. By substituting from 19 wires to 13 wires to the flow, chaotic advection occurs lead to the increased of mixing index up to 94. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017.