FLUID DYNAMICS-II WAH ENGINEERING COLLGE

Purpose of agitation vessel:

In the chemical and other processing industries, many operations are dependent to a great extent
on effective agitation and mixing of fluids. Generally, agitation refers to forcing a fluid by
mechanical means to flow in a circulatory or other pattern inside a vessel. Mixing usually implies
the taking of two or more separate phases, such as a fluid and a powdered solid or two fluids, and
causing them to be randomly distributed through one another.

There are a number of purposes for agitating fluids, some of which are briefly summarized:

1. Blending of two miscible liquids, such as ethyl alcohol and water.

2. Dissolving solids in liquids, such as salt in water.

3. Dispersing a gas in a liquid as fine bubbles, such as oxygen from air in a suspension of
microorganisms for fermentation or for the activated sludge process in waste treatment.

4. Suspending of fine solid particles in a liquid, as in the catalytic hydrogenation of a liquid,

where solid catalyst particles and hydrogen bubbles are dispersed in the liquid.

5. Promoting heat transfer between the liquid and a coil or jacket

Prevention of swirling

Generally, three methods are used to prevent the formation of swirls and vortices:
putting the agitator eccentric to the vessel, using a side entrance to the vessel, and putting baffles
along the vessel wall. Figure 6.4 shows these three methods of prevention. The left side of Figure
6.4a shows the agitator to the right of the vessel center and in an inclined position; the right side
shows the agitator to the left and in a vertical position. Both locations are no longer concentric
with the vessel but eccentric to it, so the circumferential path needed to form the swirl would no
longer exist, thus avoiding the formation of both the swirl and the vortex.
Figure 1 is an example of a side-entering configuration. It should be clear that swirls and
vortices would also be avoided in this kind of configuration. Figure 6.4c shows the agitator
mounted at the center of the vessel with four baffles installed on the vessel wall. The swirl may
initially form close to the center. As this swirl

1|Page
FLUID DYNAMICS-II WAH ENGINEERING COLLGE

Figure -1 Methods of swirling flow prevention

Propagates towards the wall its outer rim will be broken by the baffles however preventing its eventual
formation

Blending and mixing:

Mixing—the movement of fluids and solids to enhance a process result—is accomplished by

means of an agitation source. For example, the sun is the agitation source for mixing in the
earth's atmosphere. Similarly, an air compressor and/or a mechanical mixer is the agitation
source in any municipal wastewater treatment plant to enhance the process results of (1) solids
suspension and (2) oxygen absorption from sparged or entrained air.

In its most general sense, the process of mixing is concerned with all combinations of phases, of
which the most frequently occurring are

1.Gases with gases

2.Gases into liquids: gas dispersion
3.Gases with granular solids: fluidization, pneumatic conveying, drying
4.Liquids into gases: spraying and atomization
5.Liquids into liquids: dissolution, emulsification, dispersion
6.Liquids with granular solids: solids suspension, mass transfer, and dissolution

2|Page
FLUID DYNAMICS-II WAH ENGINEERING COLLGE

7.Pastes with each other and with solids

8.Solids with solids: mixing of powders

Interaction of three phases—gases, liquids, and solids—may also occur, as in the hydrogenation
of a vegetable oil in the presence of a suspended solid nickel catalyst in a hydrogen-sparged,
mechanically agitated reactor.

Three of the processes involving liquids—numbers 2, 5, and 6 in the preceding list—employ the
same equipment; namely, tanks in which the liquid is circulated and subjected to a desired level
of shear. Mixing involving liquids has been most extensively studied and is most important in
practice; thus, fluid mixing will be given most coverage here. Many mixing process results can
be designed a priori, by using the mixing literature without resorting to experimental studies.
These include agitator power requirements, heat transfer, liquid-liquid blending, solids
suspension, mass transfer to suspended particles, and many solid-solid applications. However,
many other applications invariably involve experimental work followed by scale-up. These
include liquid-liquid, gas-liquid, and fast competitive chemical reactions. Scale-up is addressed
here, and, as we cover scaleup, the reader will discover that an understanding of mixing
fundamentals is essential to the proper handling of scale-up.

Mixing of liquids:

In industrial process engineering, mixing is a unit operation that involves manipulation of a

heterogeneous physical system with the intent to make it more homogeneous. Familiar examples
include pumping of the water in a swimming pool to homogenize the water temperature, and the
stirring of pancake batter to eliminate lumps (deagglomeration). Mixing is performed to allow heat
and/or mass transfer to occur between one or more streams, components or phases. Modern industrial
processing almost always involves some form of mixing. [1] Some classes of chemical reactors are also
mixers. With the right equipment, it is possible to mix a solid, liquid or gas into another solid, liquid or
gas. A biofuel fermenter may require the mixing of microbes, gases and liquid medium for optimal yield;
organic nitration requires concentrated (liquid) nitric and sulfuric acids to be mixed with a hydrophobic
organic phase; production of pharmaceutical tablets requires blending of solid powders. The opposite of
mixing is segregation. A classical example of segregation is the brazil nut effect.

Mixing of liquids occurs frequently in process engineering. The nature of liquids to blend
determines the equipment used. Single-phase blending tends to involve low-shear, high-flow
mixers to cause liquid engulfment, while multi-phase mixing generally requires the use of high-
shear, low-flow mixers to create droplets of one liquid in laminar, turbulent or transitional flow
regimes, depending on the Reynolds number of the flow. Turbulent or transitional mixing is
frequently conducted with turbines or impellers; laminar mixing is conducted with helical ribbon
or anchor mixers.[2]

Single-phase blending

Mixing of liquids that are miscible or at least soluble in each other occurs frequently in process
engineering (and in everyday life). An everyday example would be the addition of milk or cream to tea
or coffee. Since both liquids are water-based, they dissolve easily in one another. The momentum of the
liquid being added is sometimes enough to cause enough turbulence to mix the two, since the viscosity

3|Page
FLUID DYNAMICS-II WAH ENGINEERING COLLGE

of both liquids is relatively low. If necessary, a spoon or paddle could be used to complete the mixing
process. Blending in a more viscous liquid, such as honey, requires more mixing power per unit volume
to achieve the same homogeneity in the same amount of time.

Agitator vessel

Agitator vessels represent equipment often used in process engineering. They are used in the
manufacture of chemical compounds, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and foods. The
functions of this apparatus range from the creation of a homogenous mixture via the manufacture
to emulsions and suspensions, right up to heating, cooling and evaporating. They can be used for
the absorption of gases in liquids, as reactors for chemical syntheses and for aerobic
fermentation. Several basic operations occur simultaneously in an agitator vessel, including the
important function of energy transmission for heat and material transfer.

We manufacture reactors for chemical reaction processes which feature diverse constructions
and material combinations according to the application conditions.

The high-precision implementation of high-quality equipment designs is imperative in order to

fulfil the demands of process engineering.

We manufacture agitator vessels according to your individual specifications – application-related

and product-orientated. On request we supply vessels completely with agitators and the
associated components.

References:

[1] Ullmann, Fritz (2005). Ullmann's Chemical Engineering and Plant Design, Volumes 1–2. John
Wiley & Sons. http://app.knovel.com/hotlink/toc/id:kpUCEPDV02/ullmanns-chemical-
engineering

4|Page
FLUID DYNAMICS-II WAH ENGINEERING COLLGE

[2] "Various Mixing Experiments". Bakker.org. 10 April 1998. Archived from the original on 26 June
2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
[3] "Batch and continuous solids mixing comparison - Powder Mixing" .
[4] "Powder Mixing - Design - problem solving - Ribbon blender, Paddle mixer, Drum blender,
Froude Number - PowderProcess.net". www.powderprocess.net. Archived from the original on
28 September 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
[5] "Stirred Vessels". Bakker.org. 10 April 1998. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017.
Retrieved 23 June 2017.

5|Page