352 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

2006, 45, 352-359

Mixing Times in Coaxial Mixers with Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluids

Stéphane Foucault,† Gabriel Ascanio,†,‡ and Philippe A. Tanguy*,†
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal, Montreal QC H3C 3A7, Canada

Mixing time experiments were performed using a coaxial mixing system consisting of an anchor impeller
and three different types of impellers, namely a Rushton turbine, a Rayneri-Sevin impeller, and a new hybrid
dispersing impeller. Both co- and counterrotating modes were investigated with Newtonian and shear-thinning
fluids. It was found that mixing times were significantly reduced in corotating mode compared to the
counterrotating mode or with the only impeller rotating at the same power per unit volume in the transition
regimes. Among the various turbine impellers considered, the Rushton turbine was found to be the most
effective one in terms of homogenization with Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.

Introduction
Mixing time is a key process parameter in many dispersion
and homogenization processing applications in stirred tanks. It
is defined as the time necessary to reach a specified degree of
homogeneity established in some statistical sense, and it is a
function of the type of impeller and the operating conditions.
Several techniques have been proposed to measure mixing times
in an agitated vessel, based on the measurements of concentra-
tion, density, electrical conductivity, and temperature, or by
colorimetry and other optical methods.1 The most common ones
are the pulse input method and the discoloration method.2,3
To reduce the mixing time, mixers can be provided with
several impellers. The most common approach is to install two
or more impellers adequately spaced on the driven shaft. It is
then possible to significantly shorten the mixing time; however,
this comes at the expense of a considerable increase in power
consumption.4,5 Alternative designs include the combination of
different impellers on the same shaft or impellers on different
shafts. In polymerization reactors, Mozaryn et al.6 used a
combination of a helical ribbon impeller with draft tube and a
propeller to promote both the macro- and micromixing that are
essential to prevent the formation of undesirable products. John
et al.7 used a combination of independently driven Scaba and
Rushton turbines to improve mixing and mass transfer in a
fermenter. They reported that higher holdups could be obtained
with this configuration when compared to the single shaft
arrangement.
In the process industry, coaxial mixers are gaining in
popularity because of their high degree of flexibility and their
claimed efficiency.9 They are based on a combination of a
centered high-speed open turbine promoting efficient pumping
and a low-speed, close-clearance impeller cleaning up the vessel
wall. These mixers can be operated either in co- or counterro-
tating mode. Speed is adjusted independently using two drives
or by a common drive with a hollow shaft and a gearbox.
Coaxial mixers have been used extensively in the paper
industry to prepare coating fluids. In this case, a dispersing
turbine is mounted on the high-speed shaft, which can also be
fitted with rod impellers to facilitate pigment wetting.8 Thibault
9 observed that the specific power draw for an anchor-pitched
blade turbine combination in association with rometting devices
* Corresponding author. E-mail: philippe.tanguy@polymtl.ca.
† Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal.
‡ CCADET, National University of Mexico, Mexico City 04510,
Mexico.
10.1021/ie048761o CCC: $33.50 © 2006 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 12/07/2005
was much lower than that of a single Cowles disperser for the
preparation of rheologically identical kaolin clay slurries.
A very limited amount of information on mixing time with
coaxial mixers is available in the literature. To our knowledge,
Schneider and Todtenhaupt10 were the first to investigate the
performance of a coaxial mixer in counterrotating mode. Their
system consisted of two Viscopro impellers (Ekato) mounted
on the central shaft and a wall-scraping anchor arm. In the
transition flow regime with Newtonian fluids, they showed that
mixing time decreased in counterrotating mode when compared
to the single Viscopro impeller configuration. They explained
that the weak movement produced by the anchor in conjunction
with the impeller discharge was sufficient to enhance the
homogenization pattern.
Tanguy et al.11 studied the mixing performance of a dual-
impeller mixer composed of a disk turbine and a helical ribbon
impeller mounted on the same axis but rotating at different
speeds. The investigated criteria were the pumping profile, the
dispersion capabilities, and the power consumption. They
showed that this configuration performed better than the standard
helical ribbon in terms of top-to-bottom pumping, especially
when the fluid developed nonlinear rheological properties during
the process.
Espinosa et al.12,13 designed a coaxial mixer composed of a
Rushton turbine and a close-clearance helical ribbon impeller
for biotechnology applications. The authors justified their choice
based on the well-documented capabilities of the Rushton
turbine for gas dispersion and of the helical ribbon impellers
for bulk homogenization. When operating in counterrotating
mode with non-Newtonian fluids, they observed that the flow
pattern induced in the mixing tank depended on the speed ratio
between both impellers. For speed ratiossdefined as the fast
shaft speed over the low shaft speedslower than 10, two flow
patterns were observed: one imposed by the Rushton turbine
and the other one governed by the helical ribbon. For speed
ratios higher than 10, the flow pattern in the tank was controlled
only by the central turbine. For this specific system, there was
a critical speed ratio that generated an optimal pumping flow
in the tank. On the basis of these observations, Espinosa et al.14
studied the mixing time performance of a hybrid dual mixing
system (Rushton impeller-helical ribbon impeller), keeping
constant the rotational speed ratio. They observed a better
performance of this hybrid mixing system when compared to
the single-impeller configuration.
Recently, Foucault et al.15 compared the performance of
coaxial mixer configurations consisting of a wall-scraping

Figure 1. Experimental setup.
Figure 2. High-speed impellers: (a) Rushton, (b) Rayneri-Sevin, and (c) hybrid.
impeller and several dispersing impellers operating in counter-
and corotating modes with Newtonian and non-Newtonian
fluids. They noted that the corotating mode yielded a shorter
mixing time for both types of fluids in the transition regime.
In light of these observations, it is clear that the knowledge
on the real performance of coaxial mixers is in its infancy. In
most industrial cases, the design of coaxial mixers is based on
empirical considerations and hands-on experience, and limited
guidelines are available for system optimization. The purpose
of the present work is to clarify the mixing performance of
standard-configuration coaxial mixers in terms of mixing times
with both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. Three combi-
nations of dispersing impellers, namely, anchor-Rushton turbine,
anchor-Sevin disperser, and anchor-hybrid impeller, will be
compared. The present work is an extension of the previous
work by Foucault et al.16 on the characterization of coaxial mixer
power consumption.
Materials and Methods
Apparatus. The mixing setup consists of a transparent
polycarbonate vessel of 0.38 m inner diameter and 0.66 m height
with an open top (Figure 1). The dispersing turbines are fitted
on a centered shaft rotating at high speed (0-1800 rpm), while
the other shaft supporting a proximity impeller rotates at low
speed (0-120 rpm). Figure 2 shows the dispersing turbines used
in this work. The Rushton turbine has been selected because of
its widespread utilization, and the two-disk turbines have been
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 45, No. 1, 2006 353
selected because of their proven performance, as shown in our
earlier study.15 The Sevin turbine provided by the Rayneri
division of VMI (France) is a disc-based dispersing impeller
designed with circular holes surmounted by pitched tabs. These
tabs are fixed in an alternating pattern above and below the
circular holes. During the rotation, the tabs induce a suction
effect, which enables maintaining the fluid circulation, even if
the fluid develops nonlinear rheological properties.17 The hybrid
turbine is a blend of the Sevin design and a classical sawtooth
(Cowles type) disperser. All the impellers have been installed
at one-third of the liquid height, and they are of the same
diameter (0.2 m).
The turbine shafts are driven by independent, variable-speed
motors with accurate speed control. The power consumption
vs the rotating speed of each impeller is determined by means
of two independent, no-contact strain gauge torquemeters. The
torque measurement range is 0-22.6 N‚m for the high-speed
shaft and 0-11.3 N‚m for the low-speed shaft. The LabVIEW
software (National Instruments) is used to set the drive speed
and data acquisition.
Fluids and Rheology. Both Newtonian and non-Newtonian
fluids are considered in the study, and their rheological
properties have been determined with a Bohlin Viscometer 88-
BV using the concentric cylinder configuration at room tem-
perature (23 °C). The Newtonian fluids are made of aqueous
solutions of glucose (partially hydrolyzed corn syrup) at various
concentrations. The viscosity range is between 0.001 and 20
354 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 45, No. 1, 2006
Figure 3. Mixing-time curve in corotating mode for (a) Rushton-anchor
system, (b) Sevin-anchor system, and (c) hybrid-anchor system.
Pa‚s, and the density range is between 1000 and 1350 kg/m3.
Because the viscosity of glucose solutions is very sensitive to
temperature, a series of thermocouples have been fitted to the
vessel wall for temperature monitoring purposes (see Figure 1).
For the non-Newtonian fluids, aqueous solutions of xanthan gum
(Keltrol RD, CP Kelco, Inc.) at various concentrations have been
prepared. These fluids exhibit an inelastic shear-thinning
behavior that can be well-described by the classical power law
model. The shear-thinning index varies from 0.20 to 0.26, the
consistency index varies between 1.24 and 3.0 Pa‚sn, and the
density is 1020 kg/m3. The solutions have been prepared at least
24 h prior to the experiments and allowed to settle in order to
ensure a complete degassing. This minimizes the possible
influence of air bubbles on the mixing time, if any.
Mixing Times. In the present work, the mixing times are
evaluated by means of the color-discoloration method based on
fast acid-base indicator reaction.18,19 Since the reaction is
intrinsically very fast, the reaction is at local equilibrium at all
times. Approximately 200 mL of pH indicator solution (0.08
wt % purple Bromocresolsdiscoloring from pH 4.2 to 6.2) is
added to the tank to visually differentiate between acidic
(yellow) and alkaline (red) conditions. All experiments start
under alkaline conditions (red). Then, an acidic injection is made
at the inlet at t ) 0 along the shaft at the free surface level. The
change in pH, and consequently color, allows the identification
of well-mixed regions and segregated regions. The segregated
regions (containing nonreacted base) remain red as time
progresses, while the reacted regions turn to yellow. In this
study, all observations have been based on the human eye.
Results and Discussion
Newtonian Fluids. As reported by Espinosa-Solares et al.,13
the flow pattern generated by a coaxial mixer depends on the
speed ratio between both impellers (RN ) high speed/low speed).
At low speed ratio, the flow pattern is mainly controlled by the
proximity impeller, while at high speed ratio the dispersing
impeller governs the flow pattern. For these two extreme cases,
it is not a priory interesting to use the coaxial system because
the impellers do not collaborate efficiently and hardly contribute
to improve the mixing efficiency, although the total power
consumption can be high.
In the present work, it was felt essential to first determine
the speed ratio (RN) window in which a good pumping flow
rate can be produced so as to yield the shortest possible mixing
time. We show in Figure 3a the experimental results for the
Newtonian mixing time curve of the Rushton-anchor system in
corotating mode as a function of the speed ratio. For the three
different total power inputs (Pm) in the transition regime (10
Pa‚s), a minimum mixing time is obtained for a speed ratio
between 10 and 20. Similar results have also been obtained for
the Sevin and hybrid impellers in corotating mode (Figure 3
parts b and c, respectively). Because of poor mixing efficiency
in counterrotating operation,15 no experiments were carried out
to determine the speed ratio window in this mode.
On the basis of these results, for each impeller considered
(Figure 2), mixing times have been measured for the various
fluids in co- and counterrotating modes for a speed ratio varying
between 10 and 20, and the results have been correlated in a
dimensionless form using the Moo-Young et al.20 relationship:
Nθm ) a(Re)b. The Reynolds numbers were defined in coro-
tating and counterrotating modes for Newtonian and non-
Newtonian fluids by Foucault at al.16 as follows
F(Nt + Na)2-n Dt2
Reg(counterrotation) ) or
kKsn-1
F(Nt + Na)2-n Dt2
Reg(corotation) )
kKsn-1
where Nt is the fast shaft speed, Na is the anchor speed, and Dt
is the characteristic diameter of the turbine. The values k and n
are, respectively, the consistency index and the power-law index
of the fluid, equal to n ) 1 in the Newtonian case. The
correlation is valid for speed ratios >10 for all rotating modes.
The Ks constants for the Rushton, Sevin, and hybrid impellers
are 10, 11, and 12, respectively.16 In counterrotating mode, the
anchor and central turbine speeds are added, and they are
subtracted in corotating mode. Because the impeller dimensions
do not change during each experiment, the speed ratio (RN )
Nt/Na) and the tip speed ratio (Rn ) nt/na) are directly related as
a function of the diameter ratio (Da/Dt ) 1.8).
The study has been carried out in the transition and turbulent
regimes (10 < Re < 105). Because of the low pumping flow
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 45, No. 1, 2006 355

Table 1. Summary of Mixing Time Parameters in Newtonian Fluids

According to Moo-Young Correlation
agitator
type agitation mode range of Re a b
Rushton impeller only 10-103 1.3 × 104 -0.91
corotating 10-103 3.3 × 103 -0.78
counterrotating 10-103 3.0 × 105 -1.32
Sevin impeller only 10-700 6.7 × 104 -1.20
corotating 10-300 8.1 × 103 -0.98
counterrotating 10-1.5 × 103 6.4 × 105 -1.35
hybrid impeller only 10-700 4.6 × 104 -1.11
corotating 10-300 8.8 × 103 -0.99
counterrotating 10-1.5 × 103 6.0 × 105 -1.33
produced by the impeller. Indeed, the agitator used by Schneider
and Todtenhaupt10 generates an axial pumping flow in the bulk,
while the Rushton turbine produces a radial discharge. In
Figure 4. Correlation of mixing time with Newtonian fluids (Rushton-
anchor system). counterrotating mode, the radial and tangential flow field
generated by the Rushton turbine enters in competition with
generated by these turbines, no reliable mixing time character- the tangential movement of the anchor. This competition
ization could be obtained in the laminar regime. between both impellers decreases the total pumping flow in the
The variation of the dimensionless mixing time (Nθm) vs the tank and creates a larger segregated region close to the liquid
Reynolds number (Re) is shown in Figure 4 for the Rushton- surface. Figure 5 illustrates this phenomenon with a Newtonian
anchor system. The curves corresponding to all operating modes fluid for a Reynolds number of 100 and a speed ratio of 10. It
(corotating, counterrotating, and the turbine alone) exhibit the is noticed that after 1 min a larger segregated zone in the top
same trend, i.e., the dimensionless mixing time (Nθm) decreases of the tank is formed in counterrotating mode compared to the
when increasing the Reynolds number and becomes constant corotating case. This piece of information is a very interesting
for Reynolds numbers higher than a critical value (Rec). For result for practical industrial operations.
Reynolds numbers <103, the corotating mode gives the shortest Similar to the results of Figure 5, the same dimensionless
mixing times, followed by the Rushton turbine with a steady mixing times relationships have been plotted for the other
anchor and the counterrotating mode. For Reynolds number dispersing turbines. Figures 6 and 7 show these curves for the
>103, the dimensionless mixing times are all the same, transition and turbulent regimes (10 < RN < 20). Once again,
irrespective of the rotation operating mode, and remain constant we observed that the dimensionless mixing time (Nθm) decreases
(Nθm ) 25). Consequently, in the turbulent regime, the flow as the Reynolds number increases and remains constant for a
pattern in the tank is mainly governed by the Rushton impeller, critical value of Reynolds number (Rec). Contrary to the
which means that the anchor is not necessary to obtain a good Rushton-anchor system, the value of the critical Reynolds
mixing efficiency. Using the correlation proposed by Shiue and number is not the same one for all the rotating modes. In fact,
Wong21 for the turbulent regime, we calculated a dimensionless for both dispersing impellers, the following Rec values were
mixing time of 23, a value very close to the one obtained observed: Rec ) 300 for the corotating mode, Rec ) 1500 for
experimentally. This result confirms, if necessary, the effective- the counterrotating mode, and Rec ) 700 for the dispersing
ness of the discoloration method for measuring mixing times. impellers only. The new definitions of Reynolds number explain
No mixing improvement was observed when operating the the difference between critical values. If the Reynolds number
mixer under counterrotating mode or with the simple Rushton is defined for the central impeller alone, the critical Reynolds
impeller with a stationary anchor for Re <103. This finding, in numbers observed will be the same. Beyond these critical values,
disagreement with the results reported by Schneider and the dimensionless mixing time (Nθm) ) 35 is obtained for both
Todtenhaupt,10 can be explained in terms of the flow discharge the Sevin and hybrid impellers. In all the cases, the corotating

Figure 5. Segregated regions formed after 1 min in Newtonian fluid (Re ) 100): (a) Counterrotating mode, (b) Rushton impeller only, and (c) corotating
mode.
356 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 45, No. 1, 2006
Figure 6. Correlation of mixing time with Newtonian fluids (Sevin-anchor
system).
Figure 7. Correlation of mixing time with Newtonian fluids (hybrid-anchor
system).
mode gives a significantly better fluid circulation in the tank
for Re < 300.
The slope of the mixing time curve is different for the various
impellers and rotating modes used in this work. Table 1
summarizes the mixing time parameters for all impeller
combinations. A better dispersion is observed for Re < 700
with the new hybrid impeller compared with the Sevin impeller.
However, in corotating mode, both dispersing impellers behave
quite similarly. The inefficiency of the counterrotating mode
can be explained by the poor pumping capability close to the
liquid surface, which is not the case with the corotating mode.
In light of these observations, it can be concluded that the
Rushton impeller is the most effective in terms of the fluid
homogenization for the same rotational speed. For a homog-
enization application, this is not a surprising result, as the
Rushton turbine exhibits better pumping characteristics than disk
dispersers. Indeed, in the literature, the pumping number (NQ)
is ∼0.7 for the Rushton turbine and ∼0.3 for dispersing
impellers.22,23 This observation can be explained on the basis
of the flow patterns generated by each impeller along the lines
of Patwardhan and co-workers24,25 The energy efficiency of the
blending process should be dependent upon NQS/Np1/3 or NQS3/
Np. Patwardhan and co-workers proposed a mixing time
correlation for a large number of impellers based on the power
number, the discharge flow rate number, and the impeller
dimensions:
12.66Np1/3T2/3
θm )
NQS(P/M)1/3
Figure 8. Mixing time versus power consumption per unit volume for
Newtonian fluids for (a) Rushton-anchor system, (b) Sevin-anchor system,
and (c) hybrid-anchor system.
Using this correlation in the turbulent regime, the importance
of the pumping rate per unit power on the homogenization
efficiency can be explained.
The above results enable the identification of two different
flow regimes. For the turbulent regime (Re > Rec), all rotating
modes give a constant dimensionless mixing time, which
indicates that turbulence is mainly generated by the central
impeller. In other words, it is more advantageous in terms of
total mixing energy (defined as the product of the power
consumption and the mixing time) to use only the central
impeller in the turbulent regime. However, for Reynolds
numbers lower than the critical value, the corotating mode
appears the most appealing.
Figure 8a gives an example of the specific power consumption
(P/V) of the coaxial system (Rushton-anchor combination) with
a Newtonian fluid (1 Pa‚s). In this example, the Reynolds
number ranges from 10 to 103, and the speed ratio is 10. It can
be seen that, to obtain the same homogenization effectiveness,
a reduced specific power is needed when both impellers corotate.
Similar results (Figure 8 parts b and c) were obtained for the
Sevin and hybrid impellers, respectively.
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 45, No. 1, 2006 357

Table 2. Coefficients of Mixing Time Correlation (θm ) c(P/V)d)

with Newtonian Fluids (10 > RN > 20)
agitator
type agitation mode range of Re c d
Rushton impeller only 10-103 f(Re) -0.65
103-105 82.4 -0.33
corotating 10-103 f(Re) -0.61
103-105 87.6 -0.33
counterrotating 10-103 f(Re) -0.80
103-105 97.3 -0.33
Sevin impeller only 10-700 f(Regen) -0.86
700-105 53.5 -0.33
corotating 10-300 f(Regen) -0.77
300-105 56.8 -0.33
counterrotating 10-(1.5 × 103) f(Regen) -0.91
(1.5 × 103)-105 63.2 -0.33
hybrid impeller only 10-700 f(Regen) -0,85
700-105 55.3 -0.33 Figure 11. Correlation of mixing time with non-Newtonian fluids (hybrid-
corotating 10-300 f(Regen) -0,81 anchor system).
300-105 58.3 -0.33
counterrotating 10-(1.5 × 103) f(Regen) -0,93 Table 3. Summary of Mixing Time Parameters with Non-Newtonian
(1.5 × 103)-105 65.2 -0.33 Fluids According to Moo-Young Correlation

From an application perspective, it is desirable to achieve a agitator type agitation mode range of Regen a b
prescribed degree of fluid homogenization while requiring Rushton impeller only 100-103 3.0 × 106 -1.78
simultaneously a short time, t, and a minimum power input per corotating 50-103 2.1 × 105 -1.50
counterrotating 200-103 2.0 × 1010 -3.13
unit volume, P/V. Mixing time versus P/V data were analyzed Sevin impeller only 500-(6.0 × 104) 8.0 × 107 -1.69
using the correlation θm ) c(P/V)d. Table 2 shows the corotating 300-(5.0 × 104) 2.0 × 106 -1.31
coefficients of the correlation. It can be seen that the mixing counterrotating 1000-(6.0 × 104) 6.0 × 1012 -3.0
time is proportional to P/V to the power (-1/3) for all rotating hybrid impeller only 500-(6.0 × 104) 1.0 × 1010 -2.23
corotating 300-(5.0 × 104) 8.0 × 106 -1.38
modes when Re > Rec. counterrotating 1000-(6.0 × 104) 1.0 × 1015 -3.6
Non-Newtonian Fluids. Figures 9-11 show the mixing time
curves for the Rushton, Sevin, and hybrid impellers, respectively, For the anchor-Rushton turbine configuration, the critical
for non-Newtonian fluids in transition and turbulent regime. value of the Reynolds number is 103. For higher Reynolds
number (Re > 103), the dimensionless mixing time remains
constant at 25 for the three rotating modes, the same value as
for the Newtonian fluid. Once again, the corotating mode gives
better mixing times for Re < 103. Given the lower pumping
flow of both dispersing impellers, the critical Reynolds numbers
are much higher (Rec ) 5.0 × 104 for the corotating mode, Rec
) 6.0 × 104 for the counterrotating mode and the dispersing
impellers only). When Re > Rec the dimensionless mixing time
) 40 for the Sevin and hybrid impellers. Table 3 summarizes
the coefficients a and b from the Moo-Young correlation for
each impeller with non-Newtonian fluids.
Contrary to the Newtonian case, we observed an important
difference on the mixing time efficiency of both dispersing
impellers (for Re < Rec). Indeed, the Sevin turbine is more
effective than the hybrid turbine in all rotating modes (see Tables
Figure 9. Correlation of mixing time with non-Newtonian fluids (Rushton- 3 and 4). This variation could be attributed to impeller geometry.
anchor system). Indeed, the Sevin turbine containing 10 sets of pitched tabs is
likely to generate more flow than the hybrid turbine, which
includes only 8 pitched tabs (see Figure 2).
The inefficiency of the counterrotating mode is much more
prominent with non-Newtonian fluids. Indeed, while turning in
opposite direction, the anchor impeller transports the fluid in a
solidlike fashion, which increases the apparent speed of the fluid
close to the high-speed impeller. According to Metzner and
Otto,26 the average shear rate around the impeller can be
correlated with the rotational speed by means of a proportionality
parameter Ks, which is, in general, only a function of the
impeller geometry (γ̆a ) KsN). Thus, in counterrotating mode,
the average shear rate is more important close to the central
turbine in comparison with the two other rotating modes
(impeller alone and corotating mode). As a consequence, the
counterrotating mode generates a low viscosity zone close to
Figure 10. Correlation of mixing time with non-Newtonian fluids (Sevin- the central turbine that diminishes the overall pumping flow in
anchor system). the tank. Figure 12 shows an example of this phenomenon for
358 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 45, No. 1, 2006

Figure 12. Segregated regions formed after 5 min in non-Newtonian fluid (Regen ) 2 × 103): (a) counterrotating mode, (b) Sevin impeller only, and (c)
corotating mode.

Table 4. Coefficients of Mixing Time Correlation (θm ) c({P}/ impeller was found to be the most effective mixer for Newtonian
{V})d) with Non-Newtonian Fluids (10 > RN > 20) and non-Newtonian fluids. However, among the two dispersion
agitator type agitation mode range of Regen c d turbines studied, the Rayneri-Sevin turbine proved to be the
Rushton impeller only 10-103 f(Regen) -1.33 most judicious choice to mix Newtonian and non-Newtonian
103-105 82.4 -0.33 fluids.
corotating 10-103 f(Regen) -1.17
103-105 87.6 -0.33
counterrotating 10-103 f(Regen) -2.27 Acknowledgment
103-105 97.3 -0.33 The financial assistance of NSERC and Paprican is gratefully
Sevin impeller only 10-700 f(Regen) -1.83
700-105 53.5 -0.33 acknowledged.
corotating 10-300 f(Regen) -1.52
300-105 56.8 -0.33 Nomenclature
counterrotating 10-(1.5 × 103) f(Regen) -2.88
(1.5 × 103)-105 63.2 -0.33 Cw ) gap between the anchor and the wall, m
impeller only 10-700 f(Regen) -2.43 C ) clearance of the impeller off the tank, m
700-105 55.3 -0.33
hybrid D ) impeller diameter, m
corotating 10-300 f(Regen) -1.71 Da ) anchor impeller diameter, m
300-105 58.3 -0.33 Dc ) tank diameter, m
counterrotating 10-(1.5 × 103) f(Regen) -3.57 Dt ) turbine impeller diameter, m
(1.5 × 103)-105 65.2 -0.33
Hc ) tank height, m
Hl ) liquid height, m
a Reynolds number ) 2 × 103 and a speed ratio ) 10. After 5
k ) consistency index, Pa‚sn
min, it can be noticed that the counterrotating mode has only
Ks ) Metzner-Otto constant or shear constant, dimensionless
dispersed the fluid in the central region (the reacted zone is
close to the turbine), while in the corotating mode zoning almost L ) impeller height, m
disappeared. M ) mass of the liquid, kg
n ) shear-thinning index, dimensionless
The variation of the mixing time with P/V has been analyzed
na ) anchor tip speed, m/s
using the same correlation as for Newtonian fluids, and the
corresponding coefficients are shown in Table 4. Once again, nt ) turbine tip speed, m/s
it should be noted that the mixing time is proportional to P/V N ) rotational speed, rps
to the power (-1/3) for all rotating modes when Regen > Rec. Na ) anchor rotational speed (low-speed shaft), rps
NHR ) helical ribbon rotational speed (low-speed shaft), rps
Np ) power number, dimensionless
Concluding Remarks NQ ) flow number of the impeller, dimensionless
The objective of this paper was to determine the mixing time NQS ) secondary flow number of the impeller, dimensionless
induced by a coaxial mixer consisting of an anchor and different Nt ) turbine rotational speed (high-speed shaft), rps
dispersion impellers operating in co- and counterrotating mode P ) power, w
with Newtonian and shear-thinning fluids. We have shown that Pm ) total power of the system per unit mass, w/kg
the mixing time is significantly reduced when the impellers Rn ) tip speed ratio (nt/na), dimensionless
corotate in comparison with the standard configuration and with RN ) speed ratio (Nt/Na), dimensionless
the counterrotating mode for the same power per unit volume Re ) Reynolds number, dimensionless
in the transition regime (Re < Rec). For Reynolds numbers Rec ) critical Reynolds number, dimensionless
higher than the critical Reynolds number, the flow pattern is Regen ) generalized Reynolds number, dimensionless
mainly governed by the central turbine. In such a regime, it is Repl ) power-law Reynolds number, dimensionless
not necessary to use the proximity impeller for mixing purposes. T ) tank diameter, m
On the basis of the mixing-time experiments, the Rushton V ) volume of tank, m3

Wa ) anchor blade thickness, m
Greek Letters
γ̆ ) shear rate, s-1
γ̆a ) apparent shear rate, s-1
µa ) apparent viscosity, Pa‚s
F ) density, kg/m3
θm ) mixing time, s
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ReceiVed for reView December 22, 2004
ReVised manuscript receiVed August 18, 2005
Accepted September 28, 2005
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