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Understand The Real World of Mixing PDF
Understand The Real World of Mixing PDF
Understand The Real World of Mixing PDF
Understand the
Real World of Mixing
Thomas Post Most chemical engineering curricula do not
Post Mixing Optimization and
Solutions adequately address mixing as it is commonly
practiced in the chemical process industries.
This article attempts to ll in some of the gaps by
explaining ow patterns, mixing techniques, and the
turbulent, transitional and laminar mixing regimes.
F
or most engineers, college memories about mix- This is the extent of most engineers collegiate-level
ing are limited to ideal reactors. Ideal reactors are preparation for real-world mixing applications. Since almost
extreme cases, and are represented by the perfect- everything manufactured must be mixed, most new gradu-
mixing model, the steady-state perfect-mixing model, or the ates are ill-prepared to optimize mixing processes. This
steady-state plug-flow model (Figure 1). These models help article attempts to bridge the gap between the theory of the
determine kinetics and reaction rates. ideal and the realities of actual practice.
For an ideal batch reactor, the perfect-mixing model
assumes that the composition is uniform throughout the Limitations of the perfect-mixing
reactor at any instant, and gives the reaction rate as: and plug-ow models
Classical chemical engineering focuses on commodity
(rA)V = NA0 (dXA/dt) (1) chemicals produced in large quantities in continuous opera-
tions, such as in the petrochemical, polymer, mining, fertil-
The steady-state perfect-mixing model for a continuous
process is similar, with the composition uniform throughout
the reactor at any instant in time. However, it incorporates Feed
the inlet molar flowrate, FA0: Uniformly
Mixed
(rA)V = FA0 XA (2)
izer, and pulp and paper industries. Many of these industries viscosity non-Newtonian fluids, all of which are common in
are mature, and their plants have already been built and the chemical process industries (CPI).
optimized. In contrast, industries such as specialty chemi- Reaction control. Engineers employ the perfect-mixing
cals, pharmaceuticals, biochemicals, personal care products, and plug-flow models to identify reaction-rate constants;
foods and beverages, and paints and coatings, as well as this implies a kinetically controlled reaction. Although
the emerging field of nanoscale materials, make products in the literature contains much research on kinetics, most of
much smaller volumes, employing batch processes as the it provides no proof that the process discussed was truly
main mode of mixing. kinetically controlled. Consequently, most students never
Perfect-mixing and plug-flow models imply a single- learn how to determine whether a process is controlled by
phase process. They do not address solids suspensions, kinetics or by mass transfer.
liquid-liquid dispersions, gas-liquid dispersions, and high- To prove kinetic control, it must be demonstrated that
increases in impeller speed have no effect on the rate of the
reaction, and such tests must be conducted at speeds well
above the minimum required to carry out the reaction. Most
Inlet papers in the literature state only that the reactions were
run at a certain speed (which may or may not have been
the minimum), without elaborating on whether the impel-
ler speed had any impact on the reaction rate. Some papers
Recirculation Loop
(usually the continuity equation). Correctly performed CFD analysis describes the non-
For finite-element analysis, the Galerkin/least-squares ideal world of real flow situations. However, producing CFD
finite element (G/L-SFE) method has a completely self- models often consumes large amounts of time and money,
consistent and mathematically rigorous formulation that and analyzing the results can be difficult for even a mixing
provides stability without sacrificing accuracy. Even with expert. Another, simpler approach is necessary.
that approach, though, the solution is only as good as the The rest of this article provides rules of thumb and
discretized mesh. If the mesh is too coarse, the gradients will correlations that can help you get started. The first tip:
not be captured correctly; if the mesh is too fine, computa- Since all of the equations discussed from this point forward
tional time could be unwieldy. include coefficients and constants based on SI units, be
Table 1. The relationship between the power number (Np) being used. The Reynolds number of an impeller is defined as:
and the Reynolds number at turbulent/transitional
boundary (ReTT) is described by Equation 6.
Re = (nD2)/ (4)
Np ReTT
Rushton Turbine 5.2 3,679 The power number (Np) for all impellers, regardless of
size, is defined as:
Bar Turbine 0.61 7,511
usually described by a similar equation: what factors are responsible for the success of a process, the
following guidelines, which are based on geometrical simi-
kLa = 1.2E(Pg/V)0.7vsg0.6 (17) larity and the relationship nDx = constant (2), can be used for
scaling up the process:
where E is a correlation factor that collectively describes if x = 2.0, then constant Reynolds number and constant
the effect of fluids other than water, as well as the effect of heat transfer are important
temperature, viscosity, and impeller design on the gas-liquid if x = 1.5, then constant Weber number (which is a
mass-transfer coefficient, kLa: measure of the relative importance of the fluids inertia com-
pared to its surface tension, We = (cn2D3)/) and dispersed-
E = (t20)visimp (18) phase drop size are important
if x = 1.0, then constant tip speed and maximum shear
where the terms vis and imp represent the effect of fluid rate are important
viscosity and impeller design, respectively. if x = 0.85, then off-bottom suspension is important
If the fluid behaves like water, the temperature is 20C, if x = 0.67, then mass transfer, drop dispersions, reac-
the liquids viscosity is less than 10 mPa, and the impeller tions, and gas hold-up, as well as holding P/V constant, are
design is fairly standard, then E = 1. The term describes important
the change in kLa due to the fluid being different (assuming if x = 0.5, then constant Froude number, vortex forma-
otherwise identical conditions). A good approximation for tion, gas dispersion state, and suspension of droplets are
the temperature factor is = 1.024. At temperatures above important
20C, kLa will be higher. The effect of viscosity, vis, is if x = 0.0, then constant impeller speed, equal mixing
proportional to 0.7 for > 40 mPa. The effect of the impel- time, and average shear rate are important.
ler design, imp, is relevant if it can be clearly demonstrated It is important to not work at a scale that is too small for
that one impeller provides better mass transfer than most three reasons. First, since Re is proportional to nD2, the fluid
other impellers; otherwise, imp = 1. If multiple impellers are regime may not be turbulent at small scale, but it probably
mounted on the same shaft, imp < 1. will be at a large scale. It is a good idea to maintain the
Doubling the power in a gassed situation increases fluid regime during scale-up. Second, the dispersed phase
kLa by 62% in the nonflooded gassing regime. Increasing in multiphase mixing applications may be relatively large
power makes sense until the gas that is being transferred compared to the impeller dimensions, so the dispersed phase
is consumed. will not experience the same shear rate spectrum at small
scale that it would at a large scale. Finally, the small-scale
Scale-up and scale-down configuration mixes so well that maintaining geometrical
Scaling up is not always easy because the conditions similarity is insufficient for proper scale-up. Upon scale-up,
that are optimum at the small scale are often not optimum the location of the feed points have a greater impact on mix-
at a larger scale. Instead of developing the process in the ing, compared with small-scale endeavors.
laboratory and trying to scale it up, it is better to think about
scaling down based on large-scale reactors at your disposal. In closing
This will define the limits of the impeller speed, power, and, The perfect-mixing and plug-flow models are insuffi-
in some cases, the impeller design. If you can determine cient for describing mixing in real-world applications. The
rules of thumb presented here are no substitute for experi-
ence in mixing, but they should give new engineers a head
Literature Cited start and provide seasoned professionals with a good review
1. Levenspiel, O., Chemical Reaction Engineering, 2nd ed., of important concepts. CEP
Wiley, Hoboken, NJ (1972).
2. Paul, E. L., et al., Handbook of Industrial Mixing: Science and THOMAS POST provides consulting services through his consulting rm,
Practice, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ (2003). Post Mixing Optimization and Solutions, in the areas of mining, phar-
maceutical, petrochemical, and general chemistry. Formerly vice presi-
3. Oldshue, J. Y., Fluid Mixing Technology, McGraw-Hill, New dent of R&D and mixing technology at LIGHTNIN, he has researched the
York, NY (1983). inuence of uid mixing on the selectivity of chemical reactions, heat
and mass transfer, scale-up, solids suspension, gas-liquid-solid contac-
tors, liquid-liquid dispersions, power requirements, uid-ow patterns
in stirred tanks, and motionless mixers. He has given mixing seminars
Acknowledgments in over 30 countries, and has more than 40 publications, numerous
presentations, four patents, and one book to his credit. Post earned his
The author wishes to thank Keith Johnson for his contribution to the discus- undergraduate degree and PhD in chemical engineering from the Swiss
sion of computational uid dynamics (CFD) and how it relates to mixing. Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.