Residence time distribution and micromixing efficiency of a dynamic inline rotor–stator mixer

•Micromixing in a rotor–stator mixer was investigated by the iodide–iodate reaction.•Backmixing (Bo = 1.450 – 5.051) was observed.•Dependence of micromixing efficiency on different variables was found.•New method for estimating backmixing from micromixing experiments was developed. An industrially available dynamic inline–mixer which operates on the rotor–stator principle was investigated for aqueous solutions with a total volume flow rate of up to 40 L/h to gain valid insight into the mixing behavior. In residence time distribution (RTD) experiments, mean residence times ranging between 29 and 305 s and Bodenstein numbers ranging between 1.4 and 5.1 were measured. Micromixing efficiency was investigated with the Villermaux–Dushman reaction at varying rotational speeds, total volume flow rates and injection inlets. The results suggest that micromixing processes are especially complex in a continuous rotor–stator mixer. As expected, the injection inlet had a decisive influence on micromixing efficiency. Surprisingly, even at higher volume flow rates backmixing was identified as a factor which significantly extends the micromixing time. A new method is proposed for estimating the degree of backmixing based on micromixing experiments. Micromixing times range between 3 · 10–4 and 4 · 10–3 s depending on the operating point.