Reverse optimization algorithm of velocity uniformity in microchannels based on a simplified resistance network model

作者：Li, Chao; Huang, Pingnan; Pan, Minqiang^*

来源：Chemical Engineering Sciences, 2020, 221: 115655.

DOI：10.1016/j.ces.2020.115655

• Microchannel
• Velocity uniformity
• Structural optimization
• Velocity distribution

Velocity distribution plays an important role on the performances of microchannel reactors. In order to obtain an ideal velocity distribution among microchannels, a reverse optimization algorithm is proposed based on a simplified resistance network model, in which the relationship between the pressure drop and resistance is established, and the relationship between the flow rate and the channel velocity is also provided. The reverse optimization algorithm was developed based on the assumption of equal velocity values in all microchannels. Some structural parameters are set as unknown quantities and then optimized. In this work, microchannel width and manifold shapes are selected for optimization by using the reverse optimization algorithm. The results indicate that the non-equal microchannel width (NEMW) model can achieve more uniform velocity distribution than the corresponding equal microchannel width (EMW) model. The non-linear manifold structure (NLMS) can also present relatively uniform velocity distribution, but relatively poor velocity uniformity of microchannels compared to the NEMW model. Considering the requirement of practical application, a mass calculation algorithm is proposed to optimize the structural parameters in a certain range. However, the computing time of this algorithm is too large.