Heuristics

19 Oct 12

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 Agitators and Mixing Equipment

Suspend solids
Disperse gases and liquids
Emulsify one liquid in another
Promote heat transfer
Blending two or more materials together

Overmixing maybe undesirable

in biological application, high shear may damage organisms
polymer molecules may be damaged by long mixing or high shear

For design or consideration of mixing process should understand:

mechanism of mixing
scale-up criteria
power consumption
flow patterns
mixing time/rates
types of equipment available

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 2
 Agitators and Mixing Equipment
Fluid mixing

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 3
 Agitators and Mixing Equipment

Fluid mixing: Baffles

Unbaffled mixing tanks often used:

in transition region
for sticky materials
where perfect cleaning is required
in large tanks where baffle effects are
small
processes where it is not clear baffles
have an effect on mixing performance

G.B. Tatterson., Fluid Mixing and Gas Dispersion in Agitated Tanks, Coulson and Richardsons Chemical
McGraw-Hill, 1991 Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 4
 Agitators and Mixing Equipment
Fluid mixing: Baffles Fluid mixing: off-center

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 5
 Agitators and Mixing Equipment
Side mounted mixers.

Flow patterns for side-entering propeller

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. Paul, et.al., Handbook of Industrial Mixing, Wiley, 2004
6
 Agitators and Mixing Equipment
Common Impellers

Figure 7.20 Commonly used impellers (a)

Three-bladed propeller (b) Six-bladed disc
turbine (Rushton turbine) (c) Simple paddle (d)
Anchor impeller (e) Helical ribbon.

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 7
 Agitators and Mixing Equipment
Various Turbine Impellers

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 8
 Various Impeller Types

Axial Flow Impellers

Hydrofoil Impellers

High-Shear Impellers

Radial Flow Impellers

Paul, et.al., Handbook of Industrial Mixing, Wiley, 2004

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Various Impeller Types

R. Hesketh, mixing notes

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Various Impeller Types

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Agitators and Mixing Equipment

Selecting Agitator Type

Used to make preliminary agitator

selection based on tank volume and
liquid viscosity.

Turbines, Pitched Blade

Turbines, and Propellers are
typically used at high Re and
low viscosity.

Anchor, Helical Ribbon, and

Paddle agitators are used for
higher viscosity (more
laminar-like Re) fluids.

Coulson and Richardsons Chemical

Engineering Volume 1, 6th ed. 12
 Flow Patterns for Various Impellers

Flat Blade Turbine = FBT

Pitched Blade Turbine = PBT
Paul, et.al., Handbook of Industrial Mixing, Wiley, 2004
13
Typical Dimensions for Mixing Equipment

G.B. Tatterson., Fluid Mixing and Gas Dispersion in Agitated Tanks,

McGraw-Hill, 1991 14
Typical Dimensions for Mixing Equipment

G.B. Tatterson., Fluid Mixing and Gas Dispersion in Agitated Tanks,

McGraw-Hill, 1991 15
 Power Consumption and Scale-up in Mixing

Consider geometry, fluid properties, flow patterns, power, and so on. Has
been considered through dimensional analysis.
a b
ND 2 N 2D T
c d
P C
NP K ...
N D
3 5
g D D

With: For geometrically similar vessels,

N P Power number ratios of all terms to right of the
P Power [W ] Froude number are negligible.

fluid density
kg
m3 The Froude number is only important
N speed of impeller Hz or rotations
s
when significant vortex develops (in
unbaffled tanks); for baffled tanks the
D diameter of impeller [m] NP does not depend on the Froude
ND 2 number.
N Re reynolds number

fluid vis cos ity [ Pa s or mkgs ]
N 2D
N Fr Froude number
g
Tatterson & Colson and Richardson. 16
 Power Consumption and Scale-up in Mixing
a b
Consider low viscosity, unbaffled systems. ND 2 N 2D
N P K
g

at N Re 300 : N P K N Re
a

T 1.37 H 1.37 C 0.3

4.57 4.57 1
D 0.3 D 0.3 D 0.3
Colson and Richardson. 17
 In-Class PS Exercise

Consider a solution of sodium hydroxide with the properties listed below.

It is agitated by a propeller mixer that is 0.5m in diameter in a 2.28m
diameter unbaffled tank. The liquid depth is 2.28m. The impeller is
located 0.5m above the bottom of the tank. If the propeller is rotated at
2 Hz, what power is required?

density 1650 mkg3

vis cos ity 50 cP

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 Power Consumption and Scale-up in Mixing
a
Consider low viscosity, baffled systems. ND 2
N P K

Colson and Richardson. 19

 Power Consumption and Scale-up in Mixing
Consider low viscosity, baffled systems (wall baffles).

Figure 10.59 Power correlations for turbine impellers in a tank

with 4 baffles. [w, D, impeller width and diameter, respectively.] Colson and Richardson. 20
 In-Class PS Exercise

Assume you are mixing a small amount of material into water in a standard
configuration baffled tank. The diameter of the pitched blade turbine is 1
m and it is desired to operate at 84 RPM. Estimate the power required.

21
 Power Consumption and Scale-up in Mixing
Consider low viscosity, baffled systems (wall baffles).

N.P. Cheremisinoff, Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, B-H, 2000 22

 Power Consumption and Scale-up in Mixing

Propeller pitch:

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 Other Terms in Mixing
Pumping Capacity: discharge flowrate from an impeller:
Q
NQ [unitless ]
ND 3
where :
N Q impeller disch arg e coefficient
Q volumetric disch arg e rate [ ms ]
3

Tip Speed of an impeller: ut ND [ ms ]

P N P N 2 D 5
Torque: twist force acting on agitator shaft: Tq [W s ]
2N 2

Power per unit volume:

P N P N 3 D 5
V
2
W
m3
4T H

Blend time (estimation to within 5% desired concentration):

1.5 0.5 0.33 TD 0.5
5.40 T H
95 13 s T 0.33
C
NP N D D
0.50 HT 1.0
N Re 10,000
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 Discharge Coefficient

N.P. Cheremisinoff, Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, B-H, 2000 25

 Mixing Time

t m 90
Ni N
Blend time (estimation to within
10% desired concentration):

P.M. Doran, Bioprocess Engineering Principles, 2nd Ed., Academic Press 2012 26
 Mixing Time

Doran suggests that for turbulent mixing conditions, irrespective of the

impeller type, that (baffled vessel, single impeller, H=T):

V T
1 1
3 3

t m 5.9T
2
3

P D
Verified under aerated conditions also (impeller not flooded) and for:
D
0.2 0.7
T
D 2.7m

P.M. Doran, Bioprocess Engineering Principles, 2nd Ed., Academic Press 2012 27
 In-Class PS Exercise

A fermentation broth with properties as given below, is agitated in a 2.7 m3

baffled tank using a Rushton turbine with a diameter of 0.5 m and a stirred
speed of 1 Hz. Estimate the mixing time.

density 1000 mkg3

vis cos ity 10 2 Pa s

28
Additional Plots for Non-Standard Mixing

N.P. Cheremisinoff, Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, B-H, 2000 29

Additional Plots for Non-Standard Mixing

N.P. Cheremisinoff, Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, B-H, 2000 30

Additional Plots for Non-Standard Mixing

N.P. Cheremisinoff, Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, B-H, 2000 31

Additional Plots for Non-Standard Mixing

N.P. Cheremisinoff, Handbook of Chemical Processing Equipment, B-H, 2000 32

Heuristics
Questions?

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