Gasliquid mass transfer in unbaffled dual-impeller mixers

F. Cabaret, L. Fradette, P.A. Tanguy

URPEI, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique, P.O. Box 6079 Station Centre-Ville,
Montreal, Que., Canada H3C 3A7
Received 6 July 2007; received in revised form 6 November 2007; accepted 11 November 2007
Available online 22 November 2007
Abstract
The gasliquid mass transfer performance of different unbaffled dual-impeller mixers was
investigatedexperimentally using low- and highviscosity Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids. The
tested configurations were composed of two Rushton turbines located at two different height levels in
the vessel in centered or off-centered positions.
Keywords: Multiphase reactors; Mixing; Dispersion; Absorption; Unbaffled; Shaft off-centering

Introduction
Stirred tank reactors under gassed conditions are often used with single impeller or multiple impellers
stacked on a common shaft to intensify the contact between gas and liquid. These reactors have
numerous industrial applications such as chemical synthesis, aerobic fermentation and wastewater
treatment. Problems encountered in these viscous reactors are multiple and include: (Yoshida et al.,
2001):

the presence of large gas-filled cavities behind the impeller blades,

the need to use a small gas sparging rate to avoid flooding of the impeller
and the insufficient generation of small bubbles due to the low shearing action of the impeller.
2. Materials and methods

2.1. Apparatus
Fig. 1. Dual-impeller mixing systems: (a) single shaft centered with baffles, (b) single shaft centered without
baffles, (c) single shaft off-centered, (d) dual shaft.

Experiments were conducted in a cylindrical stirred tank equipped with two impellers. As shown in Fig.
1, four different configurations were studied. In Fig. 1, configurations (a), (b) and (c) are single shaft
configurations where both impellers are located on the same shaft; and configuration (d) is a dual
shaft configuration where the two impellers are mounted on two different shafts. Gas was fed into the
system using a ring sparger with a diameter d = 0.75D (as recommended in Paul et al.,
2004)
and a cross-section of 9.5 mm.
2.2. Fluids and rheology

Water and aqueous solutions of glucose (Glucose Enzose 62DE, Univar) were chosen as the
Newtonian fluids and aqueous solutions of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC solution) (Cekol,
Noviant) which showed shear-thinning behavior were used as the non-Newtonian liquids.
2.3. Gasliquid mass transfer

The experimental setup used to determine the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coefficient
(kla) by the standard dynamic gassing out method is described in Fig. 2. After checking for each of the
two halves of the vessel (top and bottom parts) that the mass transfer time is high compared to the
mixing time, we assume an ideal mixing of the two phases and thus the oxygen balance in each part
gives:
dC 02
=kla (CO2* CO2 ). (1)
dt
Fig. 2. Gasliquid mass transfer experimental setup.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Water
. Using water as the liquid, a comparison of the four mixing configurations is presented in
Fig. 3. This figure represents klamean in the tank against gas flow rate at Fr = 1.04 (which
corresponds to an impeller speed of 12.5 s-1). Warmoeskerken et al. (1981) reported that
the minimum Fr for gas dispersion is given by Eq. (7). And, Nienow et al. (1985) proposed Eq.
(8) to determine
the maximum gas flow rate before flooding the impeller.
 0.04

0.03
f(x) = 0.01x - 0
0.03 Rf(x) = 0x + 0.02
= 0.99
R = 0.98 1000RPM
Kl a mean (1/s)

0.02 Linear (1000RPM)

0.02 0RPM
Linear (0RPM)
0.01 750RPM
500RPM
0.01 300RPM
0.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50
Q(vvm)

Fig. 3. Mass transfer coefficient in water against gas flow rate for the different configurations: N = 750
RPM, Fr = 1.04.

D 5
Fl = 13Fr2 ( ) (2)
T

D 3.5
Fl=30Fr( ) (3)
T

In order to compare the different configurations the following equation was proposed:
kla = C.NaQb (4)

3.2. Viscous Newtonian fluids

Some experiments presented in Fig. 9 have been carried out to determine these conditions, which are
summarized in Table 1. Firstly, it appears in Fig. 9a that when Re and the gas flow rate are high, the
impeller is flooded and thus it is better to do not mix (see the intersection between the bubble column
curve and the other curves).

Kla=C.NaQbc.

Table 1
Agitationno agitation comparison for the single shaft configuration without baffles
Re<14 800
Agitation preferred if:

Re_14 800
and
No agitation preferred if: Fl>Flc = 1.407 10-
Re+ 7.654 10-2
Table 2 presents the h values in water for the different configurations. Surprisingly, the smallest h values
have been obtained for the configurations where a vortex was seen.

Table 2
Homogenization criteria values in water

Configuration h(%)
Centered shaft with baffles
5,16

Centered shaft without baffles

1,45

Off-centered shaft
4.53

Dual shaft co-rotating

3,52

Dual shaft counter-rotating

7,17

3.3. Non-Newtonian fluids

As it can be seen in Fig. 16, when the liquid shear thinning effect increases, the centered shaft
configuration without baffles shows good mass transfer, and the off-centered configurations show poor
mass transfer.
4. Conclusions
Different configurations of unbaffled dual-impeller gasliquid reactors have been compared in
terms of mass transfer performance using low- and high-viscosity Newtonian and non- Newtonian
liquids.
Notation

d ring sparger exterior diameter, m

D Impeller diameter, m
a Eqs. (10) and (13) model parameter, dimensionless
K Eq. (11) model parameter, dimensionless
V tank volume, m3
kla volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coefficient, s -1
Fl flow or aeration number (Fl = Q/ND3), dimensionless
T tank diameter, m
Q gas flow rate, m3/s1 orvvm
N impeller rotational speed, s-1
References

Nienow, A.W., Warmoeskerken, M.M.C.G., Smith, J.M., Konno, M., 1985. On the flooding/loading
transition and the complete dispersal condition in aerated vessels agitated by a Rushton-turbine. In:
Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Mixing, Wurzburg, West Germany, June 1012 1985,
pp. 143154.

Paul, E.L., Atiemo-Obeng, V.A., Kresta, S.M., 2004. Handbook of Industrial Mixing. Wiley, New Jersey.
Warmoeskerken, M.M.C.G., Feijen, J., Smith, J.M., 1981. Institution of Chemical Engineers Symposium
Series 64, J1J14.

Yoshida, M., Yamagiwa, K., Ito, A., Ohkawa, A., Abe, M., Tezura, S., Shimazaki, M., 2001. Flow and
mass transfer in aerated viscous Newtonian liquids in an unbaffled agitated vessel having alternating
forreverse rotating impellers. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology 76, 11851193