CEBU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY

ChE 402
ChE Laboratory 1
Experiment No.7
Name: ___________________ Course and Year: ____________
Group: ___________________ Date: ______________________

I. TITLE: AGITATION

II. OBJECTIVE:
a. To calculate the power requirement in both baffled and unbaffled tanks.
b. To compare the NP vs NRe for both baffled and unbaffled tank.

III. THEORY:

Many processing operations are dependent to a great extent on effective

agitation and mixing of fluids. Generally, agitation refers to forcing a fluid by mechanical
means to flow in a circulatory or other pattern inside a vessel. While mixing usually
implies the taking of two or more separate phases, such as a fluid and a powdered solid
or two fluids, and causing them to be randomly distributed through one another.
Agitation is used in various applications, including: a.) dispersion of a miscible solute
throughout a solvent b.) blending of two miscible liquids c.) production of a slurry of a
finely divided solid in a liquid d.) mixing of reactants in a chemical reactor and e.)
stirring of a homogeneous liquid to improve heat transfer to the liquid.

Liquids are most often agitated in some kind of tank or vessel, usually cylindrical
in form and with a vertical axis. The top of the vessel may be open to the air; more
usually it is closed. The proportions of the tank vary widely, depending on the nature of
the agitation problem. Another important factor in designing an agitated vessel is the
power required to drive the impeller or mixing equipment. Baffles are often included to
reduce tangential motion.
Since the power required for a given system cannot be predicted theoretically, empirical
correlations have been developed to predict the power required. The presence or
absence of turbulence can be correlated with the impeller Reynolds number N Re,
2
NRe =
where Da is the impeller (agitator) diameter in m, N is rotational speed in rev/s, is fluid
density in kg/m3, and is viscosity in kg/ms. The flow is laminar in the tank for NRe <
10, turbulent for NRe > 104, and for a range between 10 and 104, the flow is transitional,
being turbulent at the impeller and laminar in remote parts of the vessel.

As stated, power required is an important consideration in the design of an

agitated vessel. Power consumption is related to fluid density , fluid viscosity ,
rotational speed N, and impeller diameter Da by plots of power number Np versus NRe.
The power number is,

Np = 35

where P = power in J/s or W. By rearranging the above equation, the theoretical power
requirement is defined as:
Ptheo= N3Da5Np
Efficient mixing is obtained when correct answers are available to such questions
as 1) Size of motor required to drive the mixing equipment 2) Speed of the unit for
quality of mixing desired 3) Type of impeller and use of baffles; the presence of the
baffles will affect the energy consumption materially.

For a rotating object, the linear distance covered at the circumference in a radian
of rotation is the product of the radius with the angular speed. That is: linear speed =
radius x angular speed.

By definition, linear distance=linear speed x time=radius x angular speed x time.

A centripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path. Its direction is
always orthogonal to the motion of the body and towards the fixed point of the
instantaneous center of curvature of the path. The magnitude of the centripetal force on
an object of mass m moving at tangential speed v along a path with radius of
curvature r is:
mv 2
F = mac =
r
This force is also sometimes written in terms of the angular velocity of the
object about the center of the circle, related to the tangential velocity by the formula
v = wr
therefore,
F = mw 2r
These values can be substituted into the definition of power:

The radius r and time t have dropped out of the equation. However angular speed
must be in radians, by the assumed direct relationship between linear speed and
angular speed at the beginning of the derivation. If the rotational speed is measured in
revolutions per unit of time, the linear speed and distance are increased proportionately
by in the above derivation to give the experimental power requirement which is:
Pexp = tw
2p
Pexp = FM
N
60
Where F = Force in N; M = Moment arm in m; N = Rotational speed in rev/min.
 IV. DATA AND COMPUTATION:

Case 1: Given the specifications of the tank, baffles and impeller:

a) Calculate for the power requirement of baffled tanks and unbaffled tanks.

b) Graph Power vs RPM

c) Compare and graph NP vs NRe for both baffled and unbaffled mixing tanks.
Tank Specifications Baffles Specifications Impeller Specifications
Diameter,
DT 0.2880 Height, m HB 0.4400 Diameter, m D' 0.3500
m
Height, m HT 0.4230 Width, m WB 0.0240 Elevation, m Z' 0.1060
Thickness, Thickness,
TT 0.0061 TB 0.0030 Length, m L' 0.0650
m m
Volume, m3 VT 0.0276 Thickness, m T' 0.0015
Shaft Length, m Lshaft 0.3170
Water at 26
Moment arm, m M 0.1160

Unbaffled Mixing
rev/min rev/s rad/s
, Nm Pexp, W NRe NP
RPM N FN, N
0 0
50 0.99
60 1.19
70 1.39
80 1.59
90 1.79
100 1.98
110 2.18

Baffled Mixing
rev/min rev/s rad/s
, Nm Pexp, W NRe NP
RPM N FN, N
0 0
50 1.08
60 1.29
70 1.51
80 1.72
90 1.93
100 2.15
110 2.37
V. GUIDE QUESTION:

Explain the difference between baffled and unbaffled mixing tanks and why does baffled
mixing tanks need more power requirement?

VI. CONCLUSION:

VII. RECOMMENDATION: