Conventional mixing is typically accomplished through turbulence, which is uncontrollable, asymmetric, and energetically expensive. Unlike turbulent mixers, ARi fractal mixers and fractal reactors are designed to maximize symmetry and minimize the unpredictable characteristics of turbulence. Rather than using turbulent fluid collisions, fractal mixers use precise engineered channeling to achieve fluid scaling and mixing, reducing energy use and improving process efficiency.
With a fractal mixer, components to be mixed and/or reacted do not contact one another until fluid scaling is complete, eliminating issues such as large-scale process inhomogeneities or side reactions. In addition, because the final fluid contact volume can be extremely small, it is possible to alter many mixing and reaction conditions (such as pH or temperature) in a near instantaneous manner.
Some applications for fractal reactors and mixers include:
- Liquid-liquid mixers/reactors
- Gas-gas mixers/reactors
- Liquid-gas mixers/reactors
- Multi-phase reactors
- Aerators
- Carbonators
- Combustion mixers/reactors
Because fractals are, by definition, scaling structures, fractal mixers and fractal reactors can be evaluated at lab or pilot-scale and reliably scaled up to any desired industrial size. ARi has successfully taken mixers / reactors from lab-scale to industrial devices exceeding 15 feet diameter, with input flow rates greater than 21,000 gallons per minute.
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