Channel Flow Over a Cavity Containing a Miscible Heavier Liquid
L.C. Fang, D. Nicolaou and J.W. Cleaver
This paper presents the results of a numerical and experimental study of the flows over rectangular cavities containing a heavier miscible fluid. The channel flow has a parabolic inlet velocity profile and laminar flows are considered in a Reynolds number range between 50 and 1600 based on the channel height. The range of cavity aspect ratio (AR=Width/Depth) is between 0.25 and 4.0. In such cases mass transfer by diffusion and convection play a part in removing contaminant from a cavity. It may be remarked that the cleaning of the cavity by flushing a channel flow is hindered by a thin intermediate layer from contacting directly with a heavier liquid which is confined in the cavity. The results show that contaminant removal is enhanced as the cavity aspect ratio and Reynolds number are increased, and the density difference between the channel fluid and the cavity fluid is decreased.