Centrifugal force convection effect

The density change on polymerization is typically about 20%, and this density gradient can cause significant secondary flows and natural convection effects. The experiments cited above for vinyl acetate polymerization were performed in a helical reactor. The centrifugal force in helical reactors induces secondary flows as well. The effects of helical flow have been analyzed, but were found to be less significant than the effects of natural convection [14]. 

Sedimentation analyses must be carried out at concentrations which are sufficiently low for interactive effects between particles to be negligible so that their terminal falling velocities can be taken as equal to those of isolated particles. Careful temperature control (preferably to 0.1 deg K) is necessary to suppress convection currents. The lower limit of particle size is set by the increasing importance of Brownian motion for progressively smaller particles. It is possible however, to replace gravitational forces by centrifugal forces and this reduces the lower size limit to about 0.05 p,m. 

In a previous section we have already discussed that the centrifugal force acts in an outward direction making the particles move radially in both the fixed angle type or the swinging-bucket type rotors. This gives rise to strong convection currents due to wall effects. If, however. 

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