Agitation (Pharmacalculations, 2020)

An agitator is a device or mechanism to put something into motion by shaking or stirring.

(Indco, 2020)

Types of agitators

Paddle Agitators:
This is one of the most primary types of agitators with blades that reach up to the tank walls.
Paddle agitators are used where an uniform laminar flow of liquids is desired.
Anchor Agitators:
This simple agitator consists of a shaft and an anchor type propeller and can be mounted
centrally or at an angle. It is mainly used in reactors.

Radial Propeller Agitators: Radial agitators consist of propellers that are similar to marine
propellers. They consist of two to four blades that move in a screw like motion, propelling the
material to be agitated parallel to the shaft.
Propeller Agitators: A propeller agitator is shaped with blades tapering towards the shaft to
minimize centrifugal force and produce maximum axial flow. Propeller agitators are popular
for simple mixing jobs.

Turbine Agitators: Yet another type of process agitator is the turbine agitator. Turbine
agitators can create a turbulent movement of the fluids due to the combination of centrifugal
and rotational motion.
Helical Agitators: These agitators have blades with a twisted mechanism, just like the threads
of a screw. The curves result in a vigorous motion of the fluids to be agitated. Helical agitators
are most useful for mixing viscous liquids.

Diameter of Agitator: Usually the diameter of agitator depends on the Diameter of the vessel,
It is generally 1/3rd the diameter of the tank for Marine Propeller, Axial flow turbine, Turbo
Propeller, Disc Blade turbine, Flat Blade turbine, Backward Blade turbine.
It is generally 4/5th of the diameter of the tank for Paddle, Anchor, Gate.

Type of Agitators and their functions:

Marine Propeller is generally an item produced by casting process in a foundry and it has 3 or
4 blades. Cast agitators have two basic advantages, uniformity of material and hard surface.
These have tapering blades, and angle of blade varies from root to tip. This produces
maximum axial flow. The diameter of Marine Propeller impeller is 15% to 30% of diameter of
tank. These have tip speeds between 300 to 500 meters per minute.

Axial Flow Turbine, Turbo Propeller and Flat Blade Turbine have blades ranging from 3 to 6.
These have tip speeds between 200 to 300 meters per minute. The diameter of impeller is
25% to 60% of tank diameter. For Axial Flow Turbine and Turbo Propeller, the angle of blade
varies from 30 degrees (for less viscous liquids) to 60 degrees (for more viscous liquids).
Standard angle is 45 degrees. Power requirement increases with higher pitch angle. For Flat
Blade Turbine, the length of blade is 25% of diameter, and disk diameter is 60% to 70% of the
diameter of impeller.

Paddle, Anchor, or Gate have only 2 blades. These extend close to the tank wall and have tip
speeds between 80 to 150 meters per minute. These push and rotate the liquid in a laminar
flow. There is no axial or radial mixing. The width of blade is 1/8th or 1/10th of the agitator
diameter.

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