Bulletin No.

231

Liquid Agitation Power Required to Rotate an Impeller

The success of processing operations in stirred batch reactors is dependent upon the 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. Liquids are agitated or mixed for a variety of reasons, depending on the
objectives and processing steps. These often include:

1. Suspending solid particles

2. Dissolving solids in liquids
3. Blending miscible liquids
4. Dispersing a gas through the liquid in the form of small bubbles
5. Dispersing a second liquid, immiscible with the first, to form an emulsion or
suspension of fine drops
6. Promoting heat transfer between the liquid and a coil or jacket

Often one agitator serves several purposes at the same time, as in the catalytic hydrogenation of a
liquid. In a hydrogenation vessel, hydrogen gas is dispersed through the liquid in which solid particles of
catalyst are suspended, with the heat of reaction simultaneously removed by a cooling coil or jacket in
the vessel wall.

Generally, liquids are mixed by an internally mounted mixing device called an agitator impeller.
Typically the impeller is a single propeller or turbine blade connected to a centrally located shaft driven
by an electric motor. The agitator impeller is, in essence, a pumping device operating without the typical
confines of a casing or directed inlet and outlet flows. There are two classes of impeller agitators: axial-
flow and radial-flow. Axial-flow impellers generate currents parallel with the axis of the impeller shaft.
Radial-flow impellers generate currents in a tangential or radial direction to the axis of the impeller
shaft. Within the two classes of impellers there exist three main types of impeller design. The three
types are propeller, turbine, and paddle. The three main types are utilized in about 95 percent of most
batch liquid agitation systems.

The viscosity of the fluid is one of several factors affecting the selection of the type of agitator.
Propellers are used for fluid viscosities below about 3 Pa s. Turbines are used below about 100 Pa s.
Modified paddles such as anchor agitators are used in the range of 50 Pa s to about 500 Pa s. Above
this range, helical and ribbon-type agitators are often used. (Note: 1 Pa s = 1000 cP)

TechNote 231 06/02/16 Page 1

Mixing time is one of the most significant parameters and is generally defined as the time necessary to
yield a given degree of uniformity. Impeller speed, the diameter of the vessel and impellers, and fluid
characteristics such as viscosity are the effective parameters for determining mixing time.

The power necessary to drive the impeller is an important aspect in the design of agitated vessels.
Since the power required for a given system is difficult to predict, empirical correlations have been
developed to calculate the power needed. The discussion that follows describes one typical procedure
used to estimate power requirements and offers actual performance data for a large Parr reactor using
a variety of agitators and two different drive assemblies. These results are then used to predict the
drive requirements for a hypothetical situation.

The power needed to drive an impeller in a liquid medium is related to the fluid density, rotational speed
and the impeller diameter as shown in the following equation.

P = Np ρ N3 D5
Where P is power in watts
Np A dimensionless value known as the turbulent power number. This value is a
characteristic of the particular impeller geometry as well as the liquid viscosity
and generally ranges from 0.5 to 10.
ρ The liquid density in kg/m3. Water has a density of 1000 kg/m3.
N The rotational speed in rotations per second.
D The impeller diameter in meters.

It’s clear from this relationship that the rotational speed and more so the diameter of the impeller have a
profound effect on the power necessary to agitate a liquid. Doubling the stirring speed increases the
power requirements eight fold. An increase of 25% in a given impeller diameter requires three times the
power to drive it.

The turbulence in agitation is quantified with respect to another dimensionless value known as the
impeller Reynolds number. This value is analogous to that used in pipe flow and is defined as follows.

NRe = D2 N ρ / µ

Where µ is the liquid viscosity in Pa s. Water has a viscosity of 0.001 Pa s. In agitation, turbulent
conditions exist for NRe > 10000 and laminar conditions exist for NRe < 10. When the NRe is less than
1000, the turbulent power number of a given impeller geometry increases in a predictable manner. As a
practical matter, for Parr reactors, the increase in the turbulent power number of an impeller only
becomes important for liquid viscosities greater than about 100 times the viscosity of water.
These relationships assume that the impeller is located more than one impeller diameter from the
bottom of the vessel in addition to a fully baffled condition. This generally consists of four equally
spaced vertical plate type baffles which are 10% of the tank diameter in width. When the liquid viscosity
exceeds 5 Pa s, no baffles are required for most applications since the liquid itself prevents
uncontrolled swirling.

Tech Note No. 231 06/02/16 Page 2

Torque is a measure of how much force it takes to cause an object to rotate. The relationship between
torque and power is given by the following relationship.

T = P / (2 π N)

Where T = torque in N m

This equation and the first one can be combined as follows.

T = Np ρ N2 D5 / 2 π

The torque developed at the motor shaft is equal to the friction torque of the drive train plus the
resisting torque due to external mechanical loading. Our experience with Parr reactors is that the
friction torque of the drive train is fairly constant. With that, the overall or total torque required for
agitation can be expressed as follows.

TTotal = Np ρ N2 D5 / 2 π + TFriction

The following tables illustrate the drive train performance for four different impeller assemblies used in
conjunction with a Parr 4555 series 20 liter reactor. The reactor was equipped with a cooling coil, filled
with 11 liters of water and operated at room temperature. The reactor was equipped with a 560 W
permanent magnet 180 VDC motor capable of providing up to 3.1 N m of torque. The motor armature
was protected with a 4 ampere fuse. The four impeller assemblies were operated both in a direct drive
arrangement as well as with a 5:1 gearbox between the motor and the magnetic drive. The coupling
torque of the magnetic drive is 6.8 N m. The tabulated power and torque values are derived from
electrical measurements. Motors of this type generally have a mechanical efficiency of about 80%. It’s
worthwhile mentioning that for DC motors, the output torque is proportional to the motor current
irrespective of the motor speed.

A quick look at the tables shows that the friction torque for the gearbox drive train is significantly larger
than that of the direct drive arrangement. An estimate of the friction torque can be realized by plotting
the torque against the square of the stirring speed. The direct drive friction torque is approximately 0.4
N m while the same value for the system with the gearbox is 2 N m.

The data for the standard impeller arrangement shown in Table 1 shows the torque values leveling off
above 1300 RPM. This implies that additional mobilization of the liquid diminishes above this stirring
speed.

References
Dickey, D. S., SECTION 12 "Liquid Agitation," Handbook of Chemical Engineering Calculations, Third
Edition, Editor: N. P. Chopey, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2004.

Tech Note No. 231 06/02/16 Page 3

Table 1

Standard 6-blade Dual Impeller A2138HC3 5:1 Gearbox

RPM Power/W Current/A Torque/N m Power/W Current/A Torque/N m
50 11 0.41 2.1
100 5 0.4 0.5 26 0.50 2.5
150 44 0.56 2.8
200 16 0.7 0.8 63 0.61 3.0
250 85 0.66 3.3
300 31 0.9 1.0 113 0.73 3.6
350 138 0.76 3.8
400 50 1.1 1.2
500 73 1.3 1.4
600 94 1.4 1.5
700 126 1.6 1.7
800 152 1.7 1.8
900 191 1.9 2.0
1000 235 2.1 2.2
1100 270 2.2 2.3
1200 321 2.4 2.6
1300 362 2.5 2.7
1400 404 2.6 2.8
1500 431 2.6 2.7
1600 460 2.6 2.7

Tech Note No. 231 06/02/16 Page 4

Table 2

Gas Entrainment 2100HC / A2514HC 5:1 Gearbox

RPM Power/W Current/A Torque/N m Power/W Current/A Torque/N m
50 10 0.40 2.0
100 3 0.3 0.3 26 0.50 2.5
150 45 0.57 2.8
200 11 0.5 0.5 64 0.62 3.1
250 86 0.66 3.3
300 20 0.6 0.6 109 0.70 3.5
350 136 0.75 3.7
400 35 0.8 0.8
500 49 0.9 0.9
600 72 1.1 1.1
700 92 1.2 1.2
800 122 1.4 1.5
900 147 1.5 1.6
1000 174 1.6 1.7
1100 216 1.8 1.9
1200 249 1.9 2.0
1300 284 2.0 2.1
1400 321 2.1 2.2
1500 360 2.2 2.3
1600 403 2.3 2.4

Table 3

Paddle QW16115AH / 1770HC 5:1 Gearbox

RPM Power/W Current/A Torque/N m Power/W Current/A Torque/N m
50 11 0.42 2.1
100 8 0.6 0.7 28 0.54 2.7
150 52 0.67 3.3
200 37 1.4 1.8 85 0.82 4.1
250 130 1.00 5.0
300 114 2.7 3.6 186 1.19 5.9
350 272 1.48 7.4
400 Blows Fuse

Tech Note No. 231 06/02/16 Page 5

Table 4

U-bar Anchor Stirrer 3246HC / A3245HC 5:1 Gearbox

Power/W Current/A Torque/N m Power/W Current/A Torque/N m
RPM
50 11 0.42 2.1
100 6 0.5 0.6 27 0.52 2.6
150 46 0.59 2.9
200 22 0.9 1.1 72 0.70 3.4
250 101 0.78 3.9
300 56 1.5 1.8 136 0.88 4.3
350 179 0.99 4.9
400 111 2.2 2.6
500 215 3.3 4.1
600 Blows Fuse

The tabulated values can be used to estimate the power and torque requirements for situations that
deviate appreciably from what’s presented here.

Example
The U-bar anchor impeller in table 4 will be used to agitate a liquid with the density of water and a
viscosity of 50 Pa s at 300 RPM with the drive train incorporating the 5:1 gearbox. What are the torque
and power requirements?

From Table 4 we see that the torque required based on electrical measurements, assuming 100 %
efficiency, is 4.3 N m. Frictional loss in the drive train is estimated at 2 N m. The mechanical torque
requirements are estimated at 80 % of the difference or 1.8 N m.

When a fluid with a viscosity of 50 Pa s is agitated, the Reynolds number is calculated as follows.
NRe = 0.232 × 5 × 1000 / 50 or ~ 5

Where 0.23 is the diameter of the impeller in meters, 5 is the rotational speed in s-1 and 1000 is the
density of the fluid in kg/m3.

Tech Note No. 231 06/02/16 Page 6

The increase in the power number for the impeller can be estimated from the following graph.

The viscosity power factor for straight-blade impellers with a Reynolds number of 5 is 4. This implies
that the mechanical torque and power necessary will increase 4-fold.

1.8 N m × 4 = 7.2 N m (mechanical) or 9.0 N m (electrical) plus 2 N m of frictional loss for a total of 11
N m. At 300 RPM the power necessary is 350 W. The torque requirements indicate that the standard
heavy duty magnetic drive is unsuitable for this application. The extra heavy duty magnetic drive with
13.6 N m of coupling force is necessary. This may change the frictional loss of the drive train. The
power requirements for the motor are consistent with the use of the 560 W DC motor.

Parr Instrument Company • 211 Fifty-Third Street, Moline, Illinois 61265-1770 U.S.A.
Phone: 800-872-7720 or 309-762-7716 • Fax: 309-762-9453 • parr@parrinst.com • www.parrinst.com

Tech Note No. 231 06/02/16 Page 7