Dr.-Ing. Felix Kexel


Eißendorfer Str. 40

Building O, Room 1.008

21073 Hamburg

Phone +49 40 42878 - 4663

Mail Felix Kexel


Research

How are the different timescales of fluid dynamic mixing, mass transfer and reaction kinetics impacting the yield and selectivity of competitive-consecutive gas-liquid reactions?

Applying measuring techniques as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV), Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) or imaging UV-VIS Spectroscopy to obtain information on velocity and concentration fields around reactive bubbles to understand the complex interplay of fluid dynamics, mass transfer and chemical reactions.

Research Projects
  • Mixing structures in bubble wakes of single bubbles and bubble swarms and their influence on gas-liquid mass transfer and chemical reaction

  • I3 Junior Project in collaboration with Hannah Buchholz (IPI) and Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Fitschen funded by the TUHH: Tomographic Reconstruction of Spherical and Irregularly Shaped Bubbles for Precise Determination of the Interfacial Area

  • DFG Priority Project 1740 – Reactive Bubbly Flows

Education

Undergraduate courses

  • Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics (Fluid Mechanics I)

Supervised Theses

  • "Design of a transparent MRI ready setup for the determination of bubble surfaces" [working title], Ole Simmering, Master thesis, in collaboration with Hannah Buchholz (IPI)

  • "Vergleich von Strömungs- und Konzentrationsfeldern in einem Flachbettreaktor mittels Particle Image Velocimetry und Laserinduzierter Fluoreszenz", Rene Weglewski, Master thesis, 2023

  • "Experimentelle Untersuchung von Konzentrations- und Strömungsfeldern im Nachlauf einer reaktiven Taylor Blase", Anahita Radmehr, Master thesis, 2023

  • "Experimentelle Untersuchung der 3–dimensionalen Strömungsstrukturen in einer Blasenströmung mittels 4D–PTV", Yara Kappes, Master thesis, 2022

  • "Taylor Bubbles in Organic Solvents", Sina Bertram, Bachelor thesis, 2022

  • "Computation of Unsteady Mass Transfer in Bubble Wakes by Means of 2D Lagrangian Analysis", Lotta Kursula, Master thesis, 2022

  • "Anwendung der Penetrationstheorie auf lokale Stofftransportprozesse an Taylor Blasen", Benjamin Rahimian, Bachelor thesis, 2022

  • "Characterization of the fluid dynamic properties of a Methanol based chemical reaction", Noah von Schnitzler, Bachelor thesis, 2021

  • "Taylor Bubble Generation Using a Solenoid Valve", Tarlan Ramazanli, Project Work 2021

  • "Detailed investigations of bubble trajectories in clean and contaminated systems", Sam Dors, Bachelor thesis, 2020

  • "Determination of mass transfer coefficients from single Taylor bubbles in contaminated systems – a study for industrial applications", Aaron Kaulbarsch, Bachelor thesis, 2019

  • "Experimentelle Analyse des Einflusses von organischen Lösemitteln auf die Hydrodynamik von Taylorblasen am Bespiel von Acetonitril", Carolin Lohmann, Bachelor thesis, 2019

Oral and Poster Presentations

Lectures

  • Fitschen, J.; Kexel, F.; Hofmann, S.; Kuschel, M.; Hoffmann M.; Wucherpfennig, T.; Schlüter, M.:" Hydrodynamic Characterization and Identification of Heterogeneities in Stirred Tank Reactory by Means of 4D Particle Trajectories", 11th International Conference on Multiphase Flows, Kobe, Japan, 2023, oral presentation

  • Radmehr, A; Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A.; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Local Velocity Fields at Taylor Bubbles in Methanol" 11th Workshop Chemical and Biological Mico Laboratory Technology 2022, Ilmenau, 2022, oral presentation

  • Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A.; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Fluid Dynamics of Taylor Bubbles in Organic Solvents" ProcessNet Jahrestreffen Mehrphasenströmungen, Mechanische Flüssigkeitsabtrennung & Zerkleinern und Klassieren 2022, virtual, 2022, oral presentation

  • Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A.; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Investigation on Velocity and Concentration Fields at Taylor Bubbles in a Reactive Bubbly Flow" Dispersed Two-Phase Flows 2021, virtual, 2021, oral presentation

  • Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A.; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Influence of Fluid Dynamics on the Selectivity of Competitive Consecutive Gas Liquid Reactions" 13th European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE13), virtual, 2021, oral presentation

  • Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A.; Colombi, R.; Rüttinger, S.; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Inverstigation of Reactive Mass Transfer Processes at Single Rising Bubbles by Means of Time-Resolved Scanning Laser Induced Fluorescence" 12th European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE12), Florence, Italy, 2019, oral presentation

  • Kexel, F.; Rüttinger, S.; Kastens, S.; von Kameke, A.; Oßberger, M.; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Does the wake structure in bubbly flows affect yield and selectivity of a competitive consecutive reaction? – A Taylor-Bubble study" ProcessNet Jahrestreffen Reaktionstechnik & Mehrphasenströmungen 2019, Würzburg, 2019, oral presentation

Poster Presentations

  • Mehrbach,T.; Mockus, B.; Minamitani, K.; Kexel, F.; Schlüter, M.; Valluri, P.; Hayashi, K.; Tomiyama, A.:" Development of a Correlation for the Terminal Rising Velocity for 2D-Bubbles in Unconfined Domain", 11th International Conference on Multiphase Flows, Kobe, Japan, 2023, poster presentation

  • Kexel, F.; Bertram, S.; Mehrbach, T.; von Kameke, A.; Hoffmann, M.; Tomiyama, A.; Schlüter, M.: "Influence of Taylor Bubble Shapes on Wake Structures", 4th International Symposium on Multiscale Multiphase Process Engineering, Berlin, 2022, poster presentation

  • Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Optimization of Chemical Reactions with Tailored Flow Strucures" ProcessNet Jahrestreffen Reaktionstechnik 2021, virtual, 2021, poster presentation

  • Kexel, F.; von Kameke, A; Hoffmann, M.; Schlüter, M.: "Investigation of the influence of fluid dynamics on the selectivity of fast gas-liquid reactions by means of high speed imaging UV/VIS spectroscopy at a Taylor bubble setup" ProcessNet Jahrestreffen Mehrphasenströmungen & CFD 2021, virtual, 2021, poster presentation

Publications

[175751]
Title: A Novel Approach for Visualizing Mixing Phenomena of Reactive Liquid-Liquid Flows in Milli- and Micro-Channels.
Written by: Frey T.; Kexel F.; Dittmer K.R.; Bohne S.; Hoffmann M.; Trieu H.K.; Schlüter M.
in: <em>Frontiers in Chemical Engineering</em>. (2022).
Volume: <strong>4</strong>. Number:
on pages: 874019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fceng.2022.874019
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Abstract: Modular milli- and micro-structured systems represent a promising approach to exploit the potential of micro-process technology, including precise reaction control and scale-up. A major drawback of micro-structured devices is fouling and mixing mechanisms need to be investigated phenomenologically to better understand the processes that lead to fouling. Previous work was conducted to resolve 3D concentration fields by means of Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) using a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) (Frey et al., J Flow Chem, 2021, 11, 599–609). While the CLSM-LIF method yields detailed insight into concentration fields down to a few micrometers, it is limited to stationary flow structures only. Aubin et al. (Chemical Engineering Science, 2010, 65, 2065–2093) give a comprehensive review of methods to analyze mixing behavior. Most recent optical measurement methods rely on the detection of a single compound in mixtures. In case of reactive mixing, Tthe state of the art procedures to locally visualize micro mixing relies on tracking a reaction product which forms on molecular scale. In literature, only small micro-structures are manufactured from transparent materials, however larger milli-structures often lack optical accesses with sufficient quality. Selective laser-induced etching (SLE) is a new technique which enables the fabrication of larger milli-structures in transparent materials that are relevant for industry-scale applications. This work develops a method based on a concept of Kexel et al. (Chemie Ingenieur Technik, 2021, 93, 830–837) visualizing the selectivity of a competitive-consecutive gas-liquid reaction in a Taylor bubble flow. The main goal of this work is the analysis of the absorbance spectra of bromothymol blue (BTB) at different pH values in a miscible liquid-liquid system in a fused silica split-and-recombine mixer. The milli-structure of the mixer is manufactured by means of SLE. Backlight at different wavelengths is pulsed matching the recording frequency. In contrast to conventional UV/Vis setups, the absorbance is recorded locally within the mixer. The proposed method yields the 2D concentration distribution of multiple species with high spatial resolution. The spatially resolved reactant and product distribution unveils micro mixing and can yield important information about local root causes of fouling.