News Release

Gas and liquid won’t mix? New NIST device may be the answer

Peer-Reviewed Publication

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

One can broadly consider mixing as a process by which individual components in a container are made homogeneous, such as blending whipped cream and chocolate to make cake filling. Mixing in industry, however, often can be more difficult. For example, mixing a gas into a liquid traditionally has been a complicated procedure.

Now, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientist Thomas J. Bruno and technician Michael Rybowiak have developed a new device to simplify this important process. A magnetically coupled entraining ("to carry along in a current") rotor, developed for a measurement program in support of the gas industry, is the basis for the innovation. Bruno and Rybowiak found that their rotor can mix gas into liquids in a matter of seconds, whereas previous devices often take hours.

The new mixer has been used for chemical reactions and extractions, in addition to the gas industry measurements. In one case, a postdoctoral associate on the NIST research team, Wendy C. Andersen, used the device to help extract heavy metals from water, an application with important environmental implications.

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The research team will continue to develop new applications for the mixer. A description of the mixer has been published (Fluid Phase Equilibria, Vol. 178, pgs. 271-276, 2001), and Bruno and Rybowiak have a patent pending on the device.

For more information, contact Bruno at 303-497-5158 or bruno@boulder.nist.gov.


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