Vortexed

Daizadeh I, Guo J-X and Stuchebrukhov A 1999 Vortex structure of the tunneling flow in long-range electron transfer reactions J. Chem. Phys. 110 8865-8... 

The slow decay of the velocity autocorrelation function towards zero can be explained in terms of the of a hydrodynamic vortex. (Figure adapted from Alder B J and T E Wainwright 1970. Decay of the Velocity tation Function. Physical Review A 1 18-21.)... 

Mitsoulis, E., Valchopoulos, J. and Mirza, F. A., 1985. A numerical study of the effect of normal stresses and elongational viscosity on entry vortex growth and extrudate swell. Poly. Eng. Sci. 25, 677 -669. 

Traditionally, cyclone dimensions are multiples of outiet pipe diameter D. Typical barrel diameters are 2D but efficiency increases at constant up to a 3Z9 barrel diameter. Efficiency also improves as barrel and cone length are increased at constant up to the natural length of the vortex. At constant inlet velocity, efficiency increases as outiet diameter (and all ratioed dimensions in a family of cyclones) is decreased. Improved efficiency is attained at the... 

Other problems affecting cyclone efficiency are usually caused by abuse or poor maintenance. Problems may arise from temperature warpage, rough interior surfaces, overlapping plates and rough welds, or misalignment of parts, such as an uncentered (or cocked) vortex oudet in the barrel. 

Vortex precession meters feature no moving parts and a relatively high frequency digital output. They are used in the measurement of gas and Hquid flows, generally in pipe sizes 80 mm and smaller. 

Vortex-shedding flow meters typically provide 1% of flow rate accuracy over wide ranges on Hquid, gas, and steam service. Sizes are available from 25 to 200 mm. The advantages of no moving parts and linear digital output have resulted in wide usage in the measurement of steam, water, and other low viscosity Hquids. 

As the Reynolds number rises above about 40, the wake begins to display periodic instabiUties, and the standing eddies themselves begin to oscillate laterally and to shed some rotating fluid every half cycle. These still laminar vortices are convected downstream as a vortex street. The frequency at which they are shed is normally expressed as a dimensionless Strouhal number which, for Reynolds numbers in excess of 300, is roughly constant ... 

The periodic shedding produces lateral forces of the same period on the cylinder. Should the cylinder be weakly supported and have a natural frequency close to the shedding frequency, it oscillates strongly in concert with the vortex street. Such behavior is responsible for the singing of power lines, the oscillation of tall smokestacks, and, most spectacularly, for the coUapse in 1940 of the newly built Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge, in Washington state, under the influence of a steady 65 km/h wind. 

Thermochemical Liquefaction. Most of the research done since 1970 on the direct thermochemical Hquefaction of biomass has been concentrated on the use of various pyrolytic techniques for the production of Hquid fuels and fuel components (96,112,125,166,167). Some of the techniques investigated are entrained-flow pyrolysis, vacuum pyrolysis, rapid and flash pyrolysis, ultrafast pyrolysis in vortex reactors, fluid-bed pyrolysis, low temperature pyrolysis at long reaction times, and updraft fixed-bed pyrolysis. Other research has been done to develop low cost, upgrading methods to convert the complex mixtures formed on pyrolysis of biomass to high quaHty transportation fuels, and to study Hquefaction at high pressures via solvolysis, steam—water treatment, catalytic hydrotreatment, and noncatalytic and catalytic treatment in aqueous systems. 

Ultrafast pyrolysis in the vortex reactor is capable of pyrolyzing biomass at high heat-transfer rates on the reactor wall by ablation and has been... 

This procedure offers the possibiUty of remote noncontact velocity measurement, where no probes disturb the flow. It is thus compatible for use with hot or corrosive gases. Commercial laser velocimeters have become weU-developed measurement tools. Examples of laser velocimetry include remote measurement of wind velocity, measurement of vortex air flow near the wing tips of large aircraft, and in vivo measurement of the velocity of blood flow. 

Fig. 4. MHD generator geometries (a), linear (b), vortex and (c), disk having radial outflow.

The product stream contains gases and soflds. The soflds are removed by using either cyclones, filters, or both in combination. Cyclones are devices used to separate soflds from fluids using vortex flow. The product gas stream must be cooled before being sent to the collection and refining system. The ALMA process uses cyclones as a primary separation technique with filters employed as a final separation step after the off-gas has been cooled and before it is sent to the collection and refining system (148). As in the fixed-bed process, the reactor off-gas must be incinerated to destroy unreacted butane and by-products before being vented to the atmosphere. 

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