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Agitation and Mixing PDF
Agitation and Mixing PDF
Agitation and Mixing PDF
1
Agitation vs. Mixing
Agitation methods
mechanical agitators
gas agitation
jet mixing
static mixer
tubular mixing
3
Agitation Equipment
T-Junctions
Static Mixers
Tank or vessel
Cylindrical in form with a vertical axis
Rounded or flatten tank bottom
Depth diameter
Impellers
Axial-flow generate currents parallel with the axis of the
impeller shaft
Radial-flow generate currents in a tangential or radial
direction
Propellers, paddles, and turbines
Motionless mixers
A set of mixing
equipment consists of:
a mixing tank
a driving motor with
speed reducer
an agitator
some attached parts.
Agitator is the main
part, like an impeller in
a pump to give
mechanical energy to
liquid.
9
Types of agitators axial type
propeller
standard type
S/d=1Z=3
blade end speed:
5~15 m/s, maximum 25 m/s
helical ribbon
Standard type
S/d=1, B/d=0.1
Z=1-2 (2 for twin ribbon type)
low speed, the outer edge is
very close to the tank wall
(close clearance impeller). 10
Types of agitators radial type
blades
standard type
d/B=4-10Z=2
blade end speed 1.5~3 m/s
straight blades
on disk (Rushton)
curve blades on
disk
open straight
blades (paddle)
open curve
blades
15
Agitator types
Concave-blade
CD-6 impeller 3-blade marine propeller Pitched-blade turbine
Anchor paddle
Sawtooth edges flat plate turbine
axial-flow
The main flow in tank is a circulation on
axial direction (& tangential) with little
turbulent.
Suitable for mixing of low viscose
liquids, particle suspension and heat
transfer enhance.
Radial-flow
Complicated radial and tangential flow.
For low & middle viscosity liquids in
dispersion of immiscible liquids,
chemical reaction and heat transfer.
c
D
T b
Circulation, Velocities, and Power
Consumption
Volume of fluid circulated by impeller must be
sufficient to sweep out entire vessel in reasonable time
gas-liquid systems
37
Mixing mechanism of heterogeneous system
solid-liquid systems
The purpose of the agitation are
to suspend the particles homogeneously in the liquid
to reduce the thickness of liquid film on particle surface
in order to accelerate the reaction or transport
processes.
Basic quantities
Characteristic length: Impeller diameter D (m)
Characteristic time: Inverse impeller speed: 1/N (s)
Characteristic mass: Liquid density and cube
of impeller diameter: D3 (kg)
Derived quantities
Characteristic velocity: Impeller diameter and speed: DN (m/s)
Characteristic pressure: Density and velocity
square: D 2 N 2 (Pa)
Characteristic flow rate: Velocity and area ND3 m3 /s
Dimensionless numbers
N D2 Wbrake
Reynolds N Re = ; Power N Po =
N 3 D5
Qi N2D
Pumping (Flow) N Q = ; Froude N Fr =
ND3 g
N 2 D3
Weber N We =
Dimensionless Mixing Numbers
Flow rates pumped by the impeller
pumping flow rate Q
flow rate pumped through a reference surface of the agitator
Typical NQ values:
Standard flat-blade turbine, NQ = 1.3
Marine propellers, NQ = 0.5-0.9 (dep. on pitch)
4-blade 45 turbine, NQ = 0.5 42
Pumping number Axial impellers
Radial impellers
Dimensionless Mixing parameters
Flow rates pumped by impeller
44
Dimensionless Mixing parameters
Mechanical power required by impeller P
The power P dissipated divided by N3D5 corresponds to an
important dimensionless parameter of mixers, the Power Number NP:
KL
NP P K L N 2 D3
Re
At Re >10 000 in baffled tanks, P is independent of Reynolds Number
and viscosity is not a factor:
N P KT P KT N 3 D 5
Propeller, 3 blades
Pitch 1.0 41 0.32
Pitch 1.5 55 0.87
Turbine
6-blade disk (S3=0.25 S4=0.2) 65 5.75
6 curved blades (S4=0.2) 70 4.80
6 pitched blades (45, S4=0.2) - 1.63
4 pitched blades (45, S4=0.2) 44.5 1.27
Flat paddle, 2 blades (45, 36.5 1.70
S4=0.2)
NP power number
Re stirring Reynolds number for flow pattern
Fr Froude number for circulating flow with free surface
48
NP vs Re for different turbines
Power number NP vs. Re: baffled & unbaffled tanks
(marine propellers and helical ribbons)
propellers
baffled
unbaffled
Helical ribbon
helical ribbons
unbaffled
NP vs Re for propellers
NP vs Re for different impellers
Effects of D/T for two axial flow impellers
5 T 3
2 2
5V 4.3 T T
tT NtT 4.3
Q ' 4 0.92 ND T
2
N D D
tT = mixing time, s Mixing time factor
N = rotational speed, rps
T = tank diameter, m
H = liquid height, m
5 T 3
2 2
5V 4.3 T T
tT NtT 4.3
Q ' 4 0.92 ND T
2
N D D
tT = mixing time, s Mixing time factor
V = liquid volume, m3
N = rotational speed, rps
D = impeller diameter, m
T = tank diameter, m
H = liquid height, m
Mixing Time factor correlations
For Rushton turbine (fully turbulent regime) the mixing time
factor is:the
1/Fr
2 1/2 1/6
tT ( ND 2 ) 2/3 g 1/6 D1/2 D T g
ft NtT 2 When Re>105, ft 5
H 1/2T 3/ 2 T H N D
1.67 0.5
T H
NtT 16.9
D T
Mixing time factors in agitated vessels
Dashed lines:
unbaffled tanks
Solid lines:
baffled tanks
Dimensionless parameter dependency on Re
summary
Solid particle suspension
Processes involving solid particle suspension in liquids
(leaching, solid catalysed reactions, crystallization, ...) are
often carried out in agitated systems.
The role of agitation is to made available to mass and
heat exchange all the solid surface, therefore all particle
should move freely inside the tank. This is a bulk motion
controlled process.
Aim of agitation:
Produce a homogeneous mixture
Dissolve solids
Catalyze a chemical reaction
Promote growth of a crystalline product from a
supersaturated solution
Solid particle suspension regimes
Four different regimes apply for solid suspension:
1) Incomplete suspension: all or part of particle rest at the
bottom tank, forming fillets. This regime may be
acceptable only if the amount of unsuspended particles is
small;
2) On-bottom suspension: particles are suspended or, at least,
move on bottom.
3) Off-bottom suspension: all particles do not rest at bottom
for more than 1-2 seconds (Just Suspension regime). This
a commonly adopted working regime of suspension;
4) Homogeneous suspension: particles are uniformly
distributed inside the whole tank (particle concentration is
almost constant). It is a high power requiring regime and it
is impossible to achieve for heavy particles. It is needed
for very special applications.
Solid particle suspension
The most used correlation to estimate the Just Suspension
agitation speed (NJS) is that proposed by Zwietering:
0.45
N JS S d
0.1 0.2
g D 0.85 B 0.13 Dimensional correlation!
p
L
Highly gas
Complete
a) & b) Flooding Loading recirculation
dispersion
regime
Gas-Liquid dispersions regimes
Increasing
disc agitation
speed
Gas-liquid dispersion empirical correlations
Michel & Miller correlation to predict Pg in standard systems:
Dimensional correlation (SI units required)
P ND
2 3
m
P=ungassed power requirement [W], Pg [W]
Pg 0.56 N [rps], D [m], QG [m3/s]
QG = 0.83 (Rushton turbine, standard geometry)
m=0.45 normally coalescent liquids
Typical power curves for gassed agitators (D.T.= disc turbine; V.D.= vaned
disc; P.B.T. = pitched blade turbine. All curves for one N and D.)
Liquid-liquid dispersions
Liquid-liquid dispersion operations may be performed in
agitated tanks provided by high shear rate impellers
(e.g. turbines).
As in the case of gas dispersion, the interfacial surface
between phases is generated by the agitation and varies
with it. Also the droplet size of the dispersed phase will
depend on the degree of the agitation being the result
of the two opposite processes of disruption (due to
agitation) and coalescence.
Liquid-liquid systems are characterised by major
complexity with respect to solid-liquid and, also, gas-
liquid dispersions. In particular, in some cases, it is not
possible a priori to establish which one of two
immiscible phases will perform as dispersed and
continuous one.
Mean diameter of drops
The main global parameter describing the characteristic of
dispersion is the mean droplet diameter dp. Considering that the
droplets are characterised by a dimension distribution, the average
diameter usually adopted is the surface-based mean diameter
(Sauter diameter) dS obtained starting from the ratio of total
volume to total surface of all dispersed drops in the volume:
ntot
di3
Vdisp n i
6 ntot d S3 dS ntot= total number of drops
i 1
ntot
= disp. phase hold-up
6ntot d S2 a = specific surface, m2/m3
nd
a S disp 2 6
i i
i 1
6
Sauter mean diameter dS
a
Liquid-liquid dispersions
Liquid-liquid dispersion operations may be performed in
agitated tanks provided by high shear rate impellers
(e.g. turbines).
As the impeller action is produce high liquid
deformations (shear) in order to deform drops of
disperded phase and break them in smaller ones, this
action depends on the ratio of fluid kinetic energy at
the impeller tip speed to a surface-tension stress based
on D which define the Weber Number (We):
C ND
2
C N 2 D 3 C= density of continuous phase
We
= surface tension
D
Correlation for dS
Several empiric correlation have been proposed to estimate
mean drop diameter depending on agitation conditions,
relevant to different mixing devices.
(1) Decide the type and geometry of the tank and the agitator.
(2) Find the performance of the installation first, including the
size, rotating speed and power, then scaling up to
commercial scale.
Scaling up criteria
geometric similarity all the sizes have same ratio, such as H/D.
dynamic similarity there are same velocity ratio and direction on
corresponding points.
kinetic similarity all have same forces ratio on corresponding points
(with same Re, Fr or We).
where Rethe ratio of inertia to viscous forces
Fr the ratio of inertia to gravitational forces
We = N3D2 / the ratio of inertia to surface tension
80
Relevant parameters
D = impeller diameter (m), N = impeller speed (1/s)
Ws = shaft power, Wbrake = brake power (W or HP)
T = tank diameter, Z = liquid level m.
Viscosity Pa.s, density kg/m3, Surface Tension N/m
Qi = impeller pumping capacity (m3/s)
Scale-Up
Based on geometrical similarity, if possible
Power consumption predicted by curves of NP vs NRe
ROT for power
-1 hP per 1000 gal of thin liquid gives mild agitation
2-3 hP per 1000 gal gives vigorous agitation
4-10 hP per 1000 gal gives intense agitation
Actual power delivered to the liquid
Ratio of Dimpeller to Dvessel
Dispersing a gas in a liquid 0.25
Contacting two immiscible liquids 0.4
Blending 0.6 or more
Smaller the impeller, higher the impeller speed
Scaling up criterion
(1) power consumption per volume (Pw/V) =Const.
Used for constant liquid properties and relatively small
scaling-up ratio. Good for turbulent mixing dominated
situation in fully turbulent flow.
N13 D12 N 23 D22
N12 D1 N 22 D2
84