Shear controllable synthesis of barium sulfate particles using lobed inner cylinder Taylor-Couette flow reactor

A novel lobed inner cylinder assembled in Taylor-Couette flow reactor (LTC) has been adopted to synthesize barium sulfate particles. The fluid dynamics that affects synthesis of particles using both the LTC and the classical Taylor-Couette flow reactor (CTC) was investigated through CFD modelling and experiments. The results have demonstrated that the Taylor vortices and turbulence induced shear rate distribution in the reactors have a significant influence on the final particle size distribution. The narrower shear rate distribution in the LTC is beneficial to the synthesis of particles with smaller size. The local turbulence intensification in the intra-Taylor vortices in the LTC effectively reduces the low shear strain regions. A strong correlation between the synthesized particle size and the local turbulent dissipation rate is existing. Shear induced by small turbulent eddies can inhibit particle growth. The LTC can be used for effectively shear controllable synthesis of particles.