Impeller Power Numbers in Closed Vessels

Alvin W. Nienowl and David Miles

Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London, W.C.L.,England

Power numbers are presented for 6-blade

disk turbines, 2-blade flat paddles, a n d

4-blade, 45-pitch turbines in 6-in. a n d 12-in. diam closed vessels for Reynolds numbers

>

2 x lo4. The effect of impeller size and clearance above the base i s reported
disk turbines are extremely
sensitive t o changes in carrier disk thickness. For disk turbines, power numbers for

in detail. It also i s shown that power numbers for small

closed vessels are greater than for open ones of otherwise identical geometries.

F o r geometrically similar baffled agitated vessels, the

power input from the impeller is related to rotational
speed and physical properties by the equation

NP = K ( N R ~ )

(1)

where N p is the power number, P N3D5p, NRe is the

Reynolds number, N D L u ,and K and a are dimensionless
constants dependent on the system geometry. Above a
certain minimum Reynolds number, (NRe)mln,
Np becomes
constant (Bates et al., 1966).
This paper reports values of Np above ( N R , ) ~for
,~
a variety of impeller-vessel geometries as set out in Figure
1. The data were collected as part of a study of solidwater mass transfer but are presented separately because
they represent the most comprehensive data available
giving N P values for closed vessels-i e., with no airwater interface. I n particular, the effect of impeller size
and clearance from the base of two sizes of such vessels
is investigated for 6-blade disk turbines, 4-blade, 45 pitch turbines, and 2-blade flat paddles. One set of runs
was carried out with an air-water interface to facilitate
comparison of the results from this work with those of
previous investigations.
The experimental equiment has been reported in detail
elsewhere (Nienow and Miles, 1969). Basically, the dynamometer consisted of a minimum-friction, combined thrust
and journal air-bearing which supported the vessel. The
torque was then detected by the angular displacement
of the vessel which was opposed by a calibrated helical
spring. All the runs were carried out a t 25C using water
as the working fluid and in all (625 data pairs were
obtained), each torque reading was the mean of three
separate measurements. For each geometry, the maximum
impeller speed was that necessary to achieve a Reynolds
number of 10.

general, K p tended to fall very slightly with increasing

NRe, probably a result of the effect of enhanced skin
friction because of the lid of the vessel. Though few results
were obtained for the open top vessel in this work, the
power numbers appeared constant unless aeration occurred
through the upper surface of the liquid when, as reported
previously (Clark and Vermeulen, 1964), the power number fell most markedly.
All these constant N p values are given in Table I
for each system geometry studied. The geometry for each
run is identifiable by a letter-number combination.
Discussion

As seen from Table I , the variation of power number

with system geometry is somewhat erratic. For instance,
comparison of the results for the geometrically identical
large and small systems shows a very close correspondence
between N P values for the 4-blade, 45O-pitch turbine, a

t.
+Wade

Z-T=b*;N-40

2/.

L -T-l;t

to

2400RW

N = 10 t o

1000 RPM

Dirk Turbine

4-Blade 15-Pitch

Turbine

2-Blade

Flat Paddle

Results

Power numbers were determined for Reynolds numbers

from about 6 x 10 to lo, the range of importance for
the dissolution studies.
I n general, the power number fell a t the beginning of
the range, and, though leveling off, never became exactly
constant. However, for each impeller above a Reynolds number of 2 x lo4, variations from a constant value
were always less than i.105 and usually less than & 5 5 .
KO unique variation from constancy was found but, in
I

To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Figure 1. Closed vessel and impeller dimensions

Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Develop., Vol. 10, No. 1, 1971

41

Table I. Power Numbers for 2 X lo4 < NRe < 10

Identifica ti on,
run no.

T, in.

Air/water
interface

Impeller clearance, C/Z

%(B)

%(A)

?4(C)

%(D)

%(E)

3/4(F)

x/D,

4.1
5.0
5.6
Aerated
5.6
5.9
5.8

3.9
4.8
5.0
Aerated
5.0

3.7
4.7
4.6
Aerated
4.8

0.44
0.33
0.22
0.22
0.14
0.10
0.05

3.0
3.4
3.0
3.3
3.5

2.8
3.2
2.8

2.7
3.0
2.7

1.9
1.6
2.3
1.8
1.7

1.9
1.6
2.1

1.8
1.5
2.0

6-Blade Disk Turbine

1
2
3
4

5
6
7

6
6
6
6
6
12
12

no
no
no
Yes
no
no
no

3.6
4.4
4.6
4.2
4.3

3.8
4.7
4.9
4.8
5.0
5.5
5.5

3.9
4.9
5.3
5.0
5.3

2-Blade Flat Paddles

8
9
10
11
12

6
6
6
12
12

no
no
no
no
no

2.7
2.6
2.5

2.8
3.1
2.7
2.8
3.0

2.9
3.3
2.9

4-Blade, 450-Pitch Turbine

13
14
15
16
17

6
6
6
12
12

no
no
no
no
no

1.9
1.6
2.3

1.8
1.4
2.2
1.7
1.4

reasonable correspondence for the 2-blade flat paddle, and

an approximately 50% difference for the 6-blade disk turbine. Because of this erratic behavior, the data have been
presented in tabular form. No satisfactory graphical presentation was apparent.
Disk Turbine Results. Consider first the very low N P
values obtained in the small vessel with the smallest
impeller (set 1) as compared with those for apparently
identical geometrical ratios on the larger scale (set 6).
In fact, because of the mode of manufacture, strict geometrical similarity could not be maintained except for the
major dimensions, as set out in Figure 1. Though the
importance of observing very strict geometrical similarity
has been pointed out previously (Bates et al., 1963), the
magnitude of Np changes with minor dimension changes
has not been reported. Though all minor dimension ratios
changed very slightly, the major variation was in the
carrier disk thickness t o blade width ratio as shown in
Table I. As x i D , increases, the friction loss from the
inside edge of the blades of the disk turbine would tend
to decrease and therefore so would N p .
Some measure of the magnitude of the contribution
of the inside edge to the total power number can be
obtained from the work of Bates et al. (1963). They found
that N p for an open, flat-blade turbine was about 25%
less than that for a disk turbine of the same overall
dimensions, even though the latter has blades only half
the length of the former. Assuming that the loss per
unit length of blade perimeter from top and bottom edges
is the same for each type and also that losses from the
inside and outside edges of the disk turbine are equivalent,
then the contribution to Np is five times as high from
the ends of the blades as from the sides.
On this basis, since N P for configuration 6B is 5.5,
Spfor configuration 1B should be 4.4 or 3.3, depending
on whether it is assumed that the inner edge contributes
half an edge or no edge. Therefore, the major reason
for the difference in Nps between set 1 and set 3 probably
is owing to the change in xID,.
42

Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Develop., Vol. 10, No. 1, 1971

1.7
1.4
1.9

For the impeller used in the set 3 runs ( x / D , = 0.22),

the effect of the carrier disk would be much less and
in fact in this case the results are in better agreement
with the equivalent large system (set 7, x/D,, = 0.05).
However, since x / D , is so obviously an important parameter, the Np data for the small system must be used
with considerable caution; the absolute values should not
be taken as applicable for larger scale work. Only trends
resulting from changes of impeller position within the
vessel are strictly reliable.
Bearing the above discussion in mind, apparently there
is reasonable agreement between the currently accepted
value of Np for an open vessel ( D / T = 54, C / Z = %)
of 5.0 (Bates et al., 1963) and the present result for geometry 4C ( D / T = %, C / Z = f/l) since the increase in Np
due to the increase in D / T above % (Bates et al., 1963)
would probably be balanced by the reduction in N P owing
to a thick carrier disk. This work suggests that there
is also an increase in Np with increasing D I T in closed
vessels but the effect is masked since a t the same time
N P is increased by the reduction of x/D,.
The reduction in NP as the base is approached confirms
the results of Bates et al. (1963) for open vessels. I n
addition, an almost identical reduction was found as the
lid was approached (see the results for geometries 2B
and 2F and for geometries 5B and 5F). However, for
open vessels, Bates et al. (1963) have shown that the
proximity of a turbine to the free surface for clearances
greater than C / D = 1 would have a negligible effect on
power provided aeration did not occur. These results show
that in the case of closed vessels, this statement does
not hold and that the power number is a maximum when
the impeller is placed midway between the top and bottom.
Closing the vessel increased the N P value when using
the disk-turbine impeller. This can be seen by comparing
Nps for each of the closed geometries of set 3 with the
equivalent open geometries of set 4. On the other hand,
Laity and Treybal (1957) using 12-in. and 18-in. vessels
with geometrical ratios identical to those of run 2D except

for 16.7% baffles, found that Np was constant between

about 5.5 and 6.2 for both open and closed vessels. These
values are in good agreement with those of this work
for the 12-in. closed vessel. Yet in an earlier work, not
quantitatively comparable with this because of the low
Reynolds number used, Flynn and Treybal (1955) found
N p values of 6.0 and 9.5 for open and closed vessels,
respectively, again suggesting that closing the vessel increased Np. Though there is some conflict in these results,
it seems reasonable that closing the vessel enhances Np
and that the data for the 12-in. system is satisfactory
for large-scale work.
Many workers in agitated systems have used the disk
turbine in studies covering a very wide variety of processes;
often these studies were on different scales, some of them
very small. However, it is very difficult to construct disk
turbines with constant x / D , ratios in both very small
and large systems. Yet, generally power numbers were
not measured and it was assumed that they were constant
for all sizes of systems. From these present measurements.
obviously, such an assumption could lead to very substantial errors in NP and therefore, in any correlation based
on ?Jp.
2-Blade Flat Paddle. For this impeller and also for the
45O-pitch turbine discussed below, very close geometrical
similarity was maintained and the results for the
equivalent large and small systems were in good agreement.
The variation of N P with system geometry is lessi e , 2.5 to 3.5, than with the other types of impeller.
Again, for each impeller the maximum value of Np corresponds to a clearance midway between the top and
bottom of the vessel. This is in disagreement with the
early work in open vessels of Mack and Kroll (1948)
who found impeller clearance had no effect. Also, in all
cases except with the K clearance, the power number
increases as D i T increases from 14 to 3.1. and then falls
again as D I T goes from % to 3/1.
K O other data for closed systems have been reported.
For open vessels with geometrical ratios identical t o 2C
(except for the different impeller type) Rushton et al.
(1950) reported NP = 1.8 for vessels from 9- to 96-in.
diam while Brown (1965) found N P = 2.8 for 6- and
9-in. diam vessels. Thus, in this case, no conclusion can
be drawn regarding the effect of closing the vessel.
4-Blade, 450-Pitch Turbine. I n this case, as D I T goes
to /r to 3/1, so Np first falls and then increases
from
again. Bates et al. (1966) reported a fall for propellers
in open vessels as D J T increased from 0.33 to 0.4 but
the subsequent increase has not been reported.

Bates et al. (1963) found that, for small clearances in

open vessels, as the impeller clearance was increased so
the power number fell from about 1.9 to about 1.4. This
work shows that a similar effect is obtained in closed
vessels as C / Z increases from 1% to 5 i . However, in addition, a further increase i? C J Z to ?< produces a sudden
increase in NP while a still further increase again causes
N P to fall.
Again no other results are available for closed systems.
For open systems with geometrical ratios identical to those
of 2C except for impeller type, Rushton et al. (1950)
found N P = 1.2. Apparently the closing of the vessel
caused an enhancement of N P but no definite conclusion
should be drawn.
Nomenclature

a = constant, dimensionless
baffle width, L
impeller clearance above the tank bottom, L
impeller diameter, L
length of turbine blade, L
width of impeller blade, L , see Figure 1
constant, dimensionless
impeller speed, T-I
power number, P / p N 3 D b ,dimensionless
Reynolds number, NDiv dimensionless
impeller power, M L T
tank diameter, L
u! = 45O-pitch turbine blade width, L , see Figure 1
x = carrier disk thickness, L , see Figure 1
Z = liquid height, L
p = fluid density, ML-
Y
= fluid kinematic viscosity, LT-

B =
C =
D =
Dr. =
D,, =
K =
N =
NP =
NRe =
P =
T =

Literature Cited

Bates, R. L., Fondy, P. L., Corpstein, R. R., IND. ENG.

CHEM.PROCESS
DES. DEVELOP.
2, 310 (1963).
Bates, R. L., Fondy, P. L., Fenic, J. G., in Mixing,
Uhl, V. W., Gray, J. B., Eds.. Vol. 1, Ch. 3, p 129,
Academic Press, New York, 1966.
Brown, D. E., Ph.D. Thesis, University of Newcastle,
1965.
Clark, A. W., Vermeulen, T., AIChE J . 10, 420 (1964).
Flynn, A. W., Treybal, R . E., A I C h E J . 1, 324 (1955).
Laity, D. S., Treybal, R . W., AIChE J . 3, 176 (1957).
Mack, D. E., Droll, A. E., Chem. Eng. Progr. 44, 189
(1948).
Yienow, A. W., Miles, D., J . Sci. Instrum. 2 (a), 994 (1969).
Rushton, J. H., Costich, E. W., Everett, H. J., Chern.
Eng. Progr. 46, 395, 4467 (1950).
RECEIVED
for review December 1, 1969
ACCEPTED
September 3, 1970

Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Develop., Vol. 10, No. 1, 1971

43