Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

1999, 38, 2809-2816 2809

Power Consumption in Stirred Tanks Provided with Multiple

Pitched-Blade Turbines

Piero M. Armenante,*,† Barbara Mazzarotta,‡ and Gwo-Ming Chang†

Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of
Technology, University Heights, Newark, New Jersey 07102-1982, and Department of Chemical Engineering,
Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, Italy

The power consumed by one, two, or three downward pumping, 45° six-blade pitched-blade
turbines (6-PBTs) mounted on the same shaft was experimentally determined in stirred tanks
under turbulent conditions. The power drawn by each individual impeller (in single- or multiple-
impeller configurations), as well as the total power consumption, was measured with strain
gauges mounted on the shaft and reported as individual or total power numbers. The power
dissipated by single downward pumping, 45° four-blade pitched-blade turbines (4-PBTs) was
also determined. Different combinations of the number of impellers, impeller diameter-to-tank
diameter ratio, off-bottom clearance of the lowest impeller, Cb1, and spacing among impellers
were tested. The overall power numbers of double 6-PBT systems were typically found to be
smaller than twice the power number of a single 6-PBT. When Cb1 was low and the upper impeller
distant from the lower impeller, the power number of the lower impeller and the overall power
number were higher. Reducing the distance between the impellers lowered the overall power
number and that of the lower impeller. Similar results were obtained with three 6-PBTs. The
results of this work can be used to predict the power consumed by individual impellers in multiple
6-PBT systems in a turbulent flow regime and to determine the optimal impeller configurations
to minimize energy consumption.

Introduction experimentally for different combinations of the number

The determination of the power consumed by rotating
impellers in mixing tanks or reactors is important not
only for the calculation of the energy requirements of
the system but also for scaling up processes (such as
those involving mass-transfer operations) in which
power consumption per unit mass is a key parameter.
Power consumption is a function of a number of param-
eters such as the type and number of impellers, stirring
speed, physical properties of the fluid and the phases
to be dispersed, and geometry of the system, including
all dimensions and position(s) of the impeller(s) within
the tank. Data are available in the literature on the
power consumed by single impellers, but limited and
scattered information is available on multiple-impeller
systems. Even less information is available on the power
dissipated by individual impellers in multiple-impeller
configurations. Consequently, the designer often esti-
mates the total power dissipated by multiple impellers
from the knowledge of that consumed by single impel-
lers. This is often incorrect.
Recently, this research group has published data on
the power dissipated by single and multiple disk tur-
bines.1 The present study extends that work to pitched-
blade turbines (PBTs) and quantifies the total power
requirements in mixing tanks provided with one or more
PBTs, as well as the power consumption of individual
PBTs in multiple PBT systems. This was achieved
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Phone:
(973)596-3548.Fax: (973)596-8436.E-mail: armenant@megahertz.
njit.edu.
† New Jersey Institute of Technology.
‡ Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”.
10.1021/ie980692o CCC: $18.00 © 1999 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 06/09/1999
of impellers, off-bottom clearance of the lowest impeller,
and spacing among impellers.
The results of this study can be used to predict the
power requirements of single and multiple PBTs, as well
as the power dissipated by individual PBTs in multiple
PBT systems. This information can be important espe-
cially in all those cases in which the presence of
additional impellers may be required to achieve not only
a primary process requirement, such as solid suspension
off the tank bottom, but also a secondary objective, such
as a greater level of homogenization of the tank content
(especially if the tank is tall). For example, Armenante
and Uehara Nagamine2 and Armenante et al.3 have
shown that the minimum agitation speed for complete
off-bottom solid suspension (Njs) is fairly insensitive to
the number of impellers but that the presence of a
second impeller makes the flow near the tank bottom
more parallel to it and reduces the fillet region near the
tank wall. However, the power consumed by each
impeller in the multiple-impeller systems was shown
to be significantly lower (as little as 48% and as high
as 84%) with respect to the single-impeller case and
strongly dependent on the position of the lower impeller
relative to the tank bottom. The resulting total power
consumption also varied greatly, and for some impeller
configurations (especially at very low impeller clear-
ance), the total power consumed by two PBTs at Njs was
nearly identical (as little as 7% different) with that of a
single PBT also at Njs.2 Therefore, knowledge of the
power consumed by individual impellers can help the
designer decide the optimal number and location of
impellers to achieve all the required process objectives
while minimizing power consumption.
2810 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999

Literature Review
Single PBT Systems. Many investigators4-6 have
experimentally determined the power characteristics of
single PBTs and have found that the impeller power
number, Ne, reaches a constant value for a given
geometry if the agitation intensity is high enough to
produce turbulent flow (Re > 10 000). Power numbers
for single PBTs have been reported in a number of
studies. Rushton et al.6 found that Ne for downward
pumping pitched-blade turbines with six blades inclined
at 45° (6-PBTs) was 1.42 when D/T ) 0.3, H/T ) 0.92,
C′1/D ) 1, L/W ) 2.3, and B/T ) 1/10. Bates et al.4
produced Ne-Re plots for D/T ) 1/3, C′1/T ) 1/3, H/T )
1. They also studied the effect of geometric factors such
as blade angle and off-bottom clearance on the power
consumed by 6-PBT impellers. O’Kane7 investigated the
effect of blade width and the number of blades. The
power number he obtained at standard conditions for a
6-PBT was 1.52. Shiue and Wong8 found Ne to be 1.74
for a downward pumping pitched-blade turbine having
four blades inclined at 45° (4-PBT) in a tank with a
hemispherical bottom (D/T ) 0.325, H/T ) 1, C′1/T )
0.5, L/D ) 0.346, and wb/D ) 0.231). Chudacek9 reported
a value for Ne of 1.63 for 6-PBTs in a flat-bottom tank
(D/T ) 1/3, H/T ) 1, C′1/T ) 1/3, and W/D ) 0.2). Machon
et al.10 found that Ne ) 1.72 for a 6-PBT with D/T ) Figure 1. Setup for experiments with 6-PBTs: (a) experimental
0.5, H/T ) 1, C′1/D ) 0.5, and an unspecified blade apparatus; (b) tanks used in this work [Tank #1 (H/T ) 1; B/T )
width. Raghava Rao and Joshi11 studied the flow pat- 0.1); Tank #2 (H/T ) 2; B/T ) 0.088)].
tern and power consumption in tanks stirred by differ-
ent impellers. For downward pumping 6-PBTs (D/T ) Table 1. Dimensions of Tanks Used in the Experiments
1/ , H/T ) 1, and w /D ) 1/ ), they found that Ne was with 6-PBTs
3 b 5
1.29, 1.35, and 1.61, when C′1 was equal to T/3, T/4, and tank tank liquid baffle
T/6, respectively. Rewatkar et al.12 studied the effect on diameter, height height, width, B/T
Ne of a number of geometrical factors such as impeller tank T (m) (m) H (m) H/T B (m) (%)
clearance, impeller diameter, blade angle, blade width, #1 0.289 0.386 0.289 1 0.029 10
and number of blades. They found Ne to be 1.67 for a #2 0.289 0.688 0.578 2 0.025 8.8
standard 6-PBT (D/T ) 1/3, C′1/D ) 1, and wb/D ) 1/5).
Ne was strongly dependent on the flow pattern gener- pension and power consumption in single and double
ated by the impeller and increased with decreasing off- 6-PBT systems when the lower impeller was close to
bottom clearance. They obtained the following overall the tank bottom (1/48 < Cb1/T < 1/8). They found that
dimensional correlation for the power number of a the lower and upper impeller had different power
6-PBT: numbers and that the total power consumed was
smaller than twice that consumed by a single impeller.

() ( )
0.11 C′1 -0.23
T
Ne ) 0.653T0.26 nb0.68A1.82
D T
where T is in meters and the equation is valid for 6 e
T/D < 3, W/D ) 0.3, H/T ) 1, 0.125 e C′1/T e 0.33, 0.5
e A e 1.05, and 4 e nb e 8. Fasano et al.13 produced
Ne-Re plots for 4-PBTs with D/T as the parameter.
Armenante and Uehara Nagamine14 obtained power
numbers for 6-PBTs as a function of D/T and Cb1/T and
showed that Ne decreased with impeller clearance in
the Cb1/T range tested (1/48-1/4).
Multiple PBT Systems. Little information is avail-
able on multiple PBT systems. Bates et al.4 studied the
effect of impeller spacing on power consumption in two-
impeller systems. They found that a dual 6-PBT system
does not consume twice the power of a single turbine
for S12/D e 4 and that the total power dissipated
decreases with impeller spacing for S12/D < 1. Other
investigators have measured the power dissipated by
two 6-PBTs pumping against each other, i.e., one
upward and the other downward.15,16 Because of the
different fluid dynamic regimes, this configuration
cannot be directly compared to that studied here.
Armenante and Uehara Nagamine2 studied solid sus-
No additional information is available on the power
(1) dissipated by the individual PBTs in multiple-impeller
configurations. Triple PBT systems have not been
studied.
Apparatus and Method
Experiments with 6-PBTs. Figure 1a shows a
diagram of the apparatus. Agitation was provided by a
2.0 HP variable-speed motor (G. K. Heller Corp., Floral
Park, NY) with a maximum speed of 1800 rpm. The
rotational speed was measured with a digital tachom-
eter connected to a photoelectric pick-up sensor (Cole-
Parmer, Chicago, IL), accurate to within (1 rpm. The
tanks consisted of two open, flat-bottomed, cylindrical,
Plexiglas vessels provided with four baffles spaced 90°
apart and filled to different liquid heights. Their geo-
metric characteristics are given in Figure 1b and Table
1. The impellers were downward pumping 6-PBTs with
a diameter of 0.0762 m. The blades were inclined at a
45° angle. The blade width projected along the vertical
axis, wb, was equal to D/8 (9.53 mm, i.e., W ) 13.5 mm).
The length of each blade was 27 mm, and the blade
metal thickness, k, was 1.6 mm. Depending on the
experiment, one, two, or three impellers were mounted
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999 2811

on the shaft. When the effect of the impeller diameter

on power consumption was studied, another geometri-
cally similar impeller with a diameter of 0.102 m was
also used.
The shafts were hollow aluminum tubes of different
lengths provided with strain gauges (Measurements
Group Co., Raleigh, NC, Part No. CEA-06-187UV-350)
mounted above the impellers. The gauges were electri-
cally connected to a signal conditioner and an amplifier
system (2120A system, Measurement Group Co., Ra-
leigh, NC) via a slip ring assembly (Airflyte Electronics
Co., Bayonne, NJ, Part No. CAY1030-12-2), so that the
torque and hence the power dissipated by each impeller
could be experimentally determined. The data were
collected and analyzed with a data acquisition system
(Labtech Notebook) connected to a computer. The
sampling frequency of the data acquisition system was
30 min-1. The value of each experimental variable was
determined by calculating the average of the 30 readings
obtained during a 60 s sampling time. The reproduc-
ibility was within (5.2%. Additional details on ap-
paratus construction, operation, and calibration and
data analysis are given elsewhere.1
The distances, Sij, between the impellers could be
varied, and the tank could be translated vertically to
change the position of the impeller-shaft assembly
relative to the tank (and especially the off-bottom
impeller clearance of the lowest impeller, Cb1, measured
from the bottom of the impeller blade). Single-impeller
experiments were carried out in Tanks #1 and #2 Figure 2. Single-impeller system: (a) effect of the Cb1/D ratio on
(Figure 1b). Double- and triple-impeller runs were the power number; (b) effect of the D/T ratio on the power number.
conducted, respectively, in Tanks #1 and #2. In the
latter case the spacing between the top and bottom having four blades inclined at 45° and diameters of
impellers (S13) was kept constant, while the position of 0.103 m (L ) 41.5 mm, W ) 20 mm, k ) 4 mm, hub
the middle impeller was varied. All experiments were diameter ) 20 mm, and hub height ) 27 mm) and 0.152
performed at room temperature using tap water. Its m (L ) 66 mm, W ) 30 mm, k ) 4 mm, hub diameter )
physical properties were taken at 19 °C.17 20 mm, and hub height ) 27 mm), respectively. Only
Once the power consumed by each impeller, Pi, was one impeller at a time was mounted on the shaft. Shafts
experimentally derived, the corresponding Newton num- of different lengths were used so that the impeller
ber (power number) for each impeller, Nei, was calcu- clearance could be varied in the range of 11-222 mm.
lated as6 The torque was measured with a commercial torqueme-
ter (Leane International, Parma, Italy; model TR10C)
Nei ) Pi/FN3D5 (2) consisting of a short shaft provided with four strain
The impeller Reynolds number was defined as Re ) gages and a brush-free electronic signal transmitter
FND2/µ. All experiments were run in duplicate at connected to a signal conditioner and digital readout
agitation speeds of 6.67 and 8.33 rps (400 and 500 rpm, meter (Digitec Corp., Marion, OH; model IQ-280A). The
respectively), corresponding to Re in the range of reproducibility of the measurement was 0.3 N‚m. Ex-
38 700-48 400 (fully turbulent regime). The results periments were conducted at 6.67 and 8.33 rps (400 and
were interpreted using the following equation:1 500 rpm, respectively) using the 0.103 m impeller and
at 5 and 6.67 rps (300 and 400 rpm, respectively) using
Nei ) f (
Cb1 T S12 S23
, ,
D D D D
, ,n ) (3)
the 0.152 m impeller, corresponding to Re in the range
of 69 300-154 100 (fully turbulent regime). The results
were interpreted as mentioned above. Additional infor-
The assumptions under which this equation holds are mation is provided elsewhere.18
discussed elsewhere.1
Experiments with 4-PBTs. Agitation was provided Results and Discussion
by a variable-speed motor (300-2000 rpm) connected
to a 15-mm-diameter shaft and provided with a strobo- Single 6-PBT and 4-PBT Systems. Ne for 6-PBTs
scopic optical sensor with digital readout (IKA Labortech- was found to be independent of N (standard deviation:
nik, Staufen, Germany) to measure the agitation speed 1.76%) when the flow was turbulent. Regressing P vs
(reproducibility: (1 rpm). The agitation tank was a N resulted in an exponent of N equal to 2.91 ( 0.03
glass vessel, having an internal diameter of 0.3 m and (Tank #1; D/T ) 0.264; Cb1/D ) 1; H/T ) 1), i.e., very
a height of 0.445 m. The tank was provided with four close to the value of 3 that can be obtained from eq 2
metal baffles, 30 mm wide, 5 mm thick, and spaced 6 when Ne is constant.4
mm away from the tank wall. The gap between the Figure 2a shows the effect of off-bottom clearance on
baffles and the tank bottom was 9 mm. The tank was Ne for single PBTs. The power number for 6-PBTs is
filled with tap water up to a height equal to the tank within the range of 1.39-1.9 and is about 1.5-1.6 for
diameter. The impellers were downward pumping 4-PBTs Cb1/D g 3. A minimum can be observed for Cb1/D ) 1.5.
2812 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999

Figure 4. Double 6-PBT system: (a) effect of the Cb1/D ratio on

Figure 3. Double 6-PBT system: power numbers of individual
the ratio of the total power number (equal to the sum of the power
impellers and total power number (equal to the sum of power
numbers of individual impellers) to the power number of a single
numbers of individual impellers) as a function of (a) Cb1/D ratio
impeller at standard conditions (Cb1/D ) 1, NeSingle Std. ) 1.49);
and (b) S/D ratio. Note: NeSingle Std. ()1.49) was obtained at Cb1/D
(b) effect of the Cb1/D ratio on the ratio of the power number of
) 1, as per its definition, and is not a function of Cb1/D.
the upper impeller (Ne2) to that of the lower impeller (Ne1).

For lower Cb1/D values Ne was found to increase with

decreasing impeller clearances. As observed before,11,14
this phenomenon can be attributed to the change in flow
direction that occurs when the downward jet discharged
by the impeller impinges on the tank bottom (“throttling
effect”). The smaller the impeller clearance, the more
abrupt the change in flow direction will be (from down-
ward to upward), generating more turbulence and
resulting in an increased power consumption. For Cb1/D
) 1, D/T ) 0.264, and H/T ) 1 (taken here as the “stan-
dard conditions”), Ne for 6-PBTs was found to be 1.49
(NeSingle Std.). This value is in line with those reported
by previous investigators under similar conditions (1.42,
Rushton et al.;6 1.3, Bates et al.;4 1.52, O’Kane;7 1.7
(wb/D ) 1/5), Kuboi and Nienow;16 1.63, Chudacek;9 1.72,
Machon et al.;10 1.29 (wb/D ) 1/5), Raghava Rao and
Joshi;11 1.67 (wb/D ) 1/5), Rewatkar et al.12).
The dependence of Ne on Cb1/D found here (Figure
2a) is in agreement with that of Bates et al.,4 who
examined a range for Cb1/D (Cb1/D < 1.2) narrower than
that studied here and could only report a monotonic
decrease of Ne with increasing Cb1/D. Figure 2a shows
that the dependence of Ne on Cb1/D for 6-PBTs is more
complex and that a minimum in Ne occurs for Cb1/D in
the range of 1.5-2. Chudacek9 also reported Ne to
decrease with increasing Cb/T: for a 6-PBT with W/D
) 0.2, Ne was 1.63, 1,75, 1.92, and 2.07 for Cb/T equal
to 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/12, respectively. The ratios among Figure 5. Double 6-PBT system: (a) effect of the S/D ratio on
these Ne values are very similar to those found here. the ratio of the total power number (equal to the sum of the power
Raghava Rao and Joshi11 also reported increasing numbers of individual impellers) to the power number of a single
Ne’s for decreasing impeller clearances. For example, impeller at standard conditions (Cb1/D ) 1, NeSingle Std. ) 1.49);
when C′1 was equal to T/6, the power number they found (b) effect of the S/D ratio on the ratio of the power number of the
upper impeller (Ne2) to that of the lower impeller (Ne1).
was 24% greater than that at C′1 ) T/3, while in this
work the corresponding increase in Ne was 17%. In those found here despite their use of larger impellers.
general, the Ne values they obtained were lower than More recently, the same group12 reported higher values

Figure 6. Triple 6-PBT system: (a) power numbers of individual
impellers and the total power number (equal to the sum of the
power numbers of individual impellers) as a function of the Cb1/D
ratio; (b) effect of the Cb1/D ratio on the ratio of the total power
number to the power number of a single impeller at standard
conditions (Cb1/D ) 1, NeSingle Std. ) 1.49).
for Ne, which can also be calculated with eq 1. For
example, for D/T ) 0.264, C′1/D = Cb/D ) 1, and nb )
6, A ) 45° (the “standard conditions” in this work), eq
1 predicts Ne to be 1.62. This value can be corrected by
extrapolating the data in Rewatkar et al.’s Figure 912
to account for the different W/D ratio used here (0.177).
The resulting value for Ne is approximately 1.5, i.e., very
close to the value found here (1.49). Rewatkar et al.12
also reported an increase in Ne with decreasing impeller
clearance (e.g., 20% more when C′1/T was 1/6 than when
was it was 1/3, compared to a corresponding increase of
17% in this work).
Figure 2a also shows the results for single 4-PBTs.
For D/T ) 0.343 the dependence of Ne on Cb1/D for a
4-PBT was found to be very similar to that of 6-PBTs.
However, for D/T ) 0.507 the dependence was very
different, especially in a narrow range of Cb1/D (0.3-
0.6) where a minimum was observed. Additional experi-
ments (as well as control and calibration experiments)
conducted at a later date to verify the data confirmed
the results obtained previously. A possible explanation
for these results is that in the region in which the
experiments with the larger impeller were conducted
the impeller may experience flow reversal.19 Accord-
ingly, the downward-angled discharge flow generated
by the PBT impinges on the tank wall rather than the
tank bottom, resulting in a different power number. The
Ne value found here (1.46) for Cb/D ) 1 is in line with
the value of 1.74 of Shiue and Wong8 for a larger
impeller (W/D ) 0.326 instead of 0.194 in this work)
and the power numbers (∼1.2-1.4) of Fasano et al.13
The effect of Cb1/D on Ne for 6-PBTs and 4-PBTs
differs significantly from that for disk turbines, for
which Ne increases monotonically with Cb1/D and ap-
proaches an asymptotic value for large Cb1/D values.1
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999 2813
Figure 7. Triple 6-PBT system: ratio of power consumed by each
impeller to the total power consumption as a function of Cb1/D:
(a) S12/D ) 0.667; (b) S12/D ) 2.5; (c) S12/D ) 4.
The liquid height has a negligible effect on power
consumption (Figure 2a), if no surface aeration or air
entrainment is present.6,12 The extent of baffling (B/T
ratio equal to 10% and 8.8% for Tank #1 and #2,
respectively) has a minor effect on Ne once fully baffled
conditions are achieved.
In Figure 2b Ne is plotted as a function of D/T,
keeping either Cb1/D or Cb1/T constant. The effect of the
D/T ratio on Ne for 6-PBTs is very limited in both cases.
Ne varied more appreciably with D/T for 4-PBTs, also
because the D/T range was higher. Previous investiga-
tors13 also reported that Ne dropped with D/T although
not monotonically, because large impellers (D/T ) 0.5)
had power numbers much larger than those of smaller
impellers. However, a comparison between parts a and
b of Figure 2 shows that the difference in Ne between
4-PBT impellers with different D/T ratios increases
more sharply when 0.3 < Cb1/T < 0.6.
Double 6-PBT Systems. The effect of Cb1 on the
power numbers of individual impellers is shown in
Figure 3a. This figure also shows the value of NeSingle Std.
(obtained, by definition, at Cb1/D ) 1 and therefore
independent of Cb/D) as a reference horizontal line.
Neither Ne1 nor Ne2 changes appreciably with Cb1/D
except for Ne2 at low Cb1/D values. Comparing Figures
2a and 3a shows that while Ne1 is similar, for all Cb1/
D’s, to NeSingle Std., Ne for single impellers increases with
decreasing Cb1/D. This implies that the upper impeller
exerts a dampening effect on the power number of the
lower impeller at low Cb1/D values. Despite the ap-
preciable impeller spacing (S/D ) 1.5), Ne2 is always
smaller than Ne1, probably as a result of the overall
2814 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999
Figure 8. Triple 6-PBT system: (a) power numbers of individual
impellers and the total power number (equal to the sum of the
power numbers of individual impellers) as a function of the S12/D
ratio; (b) effect of the S12/D ratio on the ratio of the total power
number to the power number of a single impeller at standard
conditions (Cb1/D ) 1, NeSingle Std. ) 1.49).
circulation flow and the fact that the upper impeller flow
is less affected by the presence of the tank bottom than
the lower impeller. This behavior is opposite to that of
radial impellers (disk turbines), for which Ne1 is always
smaller that Ne2.1
The effect of S is shown in Figure 3b. Both impellers
always have individual power numbers smaller that
NeSingle Std., although Ntot stays nearly constant with S.
For S/D g 1 the upper impeller always dissipates less
power than the lower impeller. Only when the impellers
are closer together (S/D ) 0.667) does the situation
reverse itself.
The effect of Cb1 on power consumption as a function
of S/D is reported in Figure 4a,b. Combined, these parts
can be used to calculate the individual and total
turbulent power numbers as a function of Cb1/D for any
double 6-PBT system for which H/T ) 1 and the
impellers are geometrically similar to those used here.
Double 6-PBT systems consume significantly less power
(12-25%) than two single 6-PBTs, even when the
impellers are well spaced (Figure 4a). Only for large
spacing (S/D ) 1.5) and low impeller clearances (Cb1/D
) 0.333) does Ntot become equal to twice NeSingle Std. This
implies that the addition of a “tickler impeller” (i.e., an
impeller close to the tank bottom) to another impeller
placed higher in the tank may be advantageous from a
process point of view (if agitation is needed even when
the tank is nearly empty) but not from an energy
standpoint.
For S/D g 1 the upper impeller almost always
consumes less power than the lower impeller (Figure
4b). The opposite is true, somewhat unexpectedly, for
smaller spacing (S/D ) 0.667). One can speculate that
under such conditions the proximity of the two impellers
reduces the throttling effect described above, lowering
the power consumption of the lower impeller as well as
the overall power consumption. A comparison between
parts a and b of Figure 4 for 6-PBTs and the corre-
sponding figures for disk turbines1 reveals that the
behavior of these two types of impellers is very different
when it comes to the dependence of Nei on impeller
clearance and spacing: reducing Cb1/D lowers the power
consumption of disk turbines but increases that of
6-PBTs.
In Figure 5a Netot/NeSingle Std. is plotted as a function
of S/D with Cb1/D as the parameter. These data show
again that the power dissipated by two 6-PBTs is
typically 10-20% lower than twice that of a single
6-PBT, except when the lower impeller is very close to
the tank bottom (Cb1/D ) 0.333) and the spacing is in a
narrow range (1.33 < S/D < 2). In general, the lower
impeller draws more power than the upper one, espe-
cially at larger spacing (Figure 5b) but not at low S/D
ratios (S/D ) 0.667). Bates et al.4 also reported that dual
6-PBT systems consume less power than twice the
power of a single 6-PBT. However, they only examined
one clearance.
Triple 6-PBT Systems. In Figure 6a, individual (for
each impeller) and cumulative (total) Ne values are
plotted as a function of Cb1/D. As before, this figure also
shows NeSingle Std. (Cb1/D ) 1) as a reference horizontal
line. For 0.5 e Cb1/D e 1.5 all three impellers have
similar power consumptions, and all Nei’s are slightly
smaller than NeSingle Std., probably because each impeller
reinforces the rotating flow generated by the others.
When the off-bottom clearance of the lower impeller is
reduced, Ne1 increases, similarly to the single- and
double-impeller cases (Figures 2a and 4a, respectively),
Ne2 decreases by about the same amount, and Ne3
remains nearly unchanged. The net result is that Netot
changes only slightly (less than 7%) even when Cb1/D
is varied in the entire range tested here. The effect of
off-bottom clearance on Netot is shown in Figure 6b. The
total power consumption is 4-18% smaller than
3NeSingle Std. and decreases nearly monotonically with
Cb1/D.
Figure 7 shows the effect of Cb1/D on the fractional
power consumption of each individual impeller, Pi/Ptot.
When the lower impeller is very close to the middle
impeller (S12/D ) 0.667), the latter typically consumes
more power than the former (Figure 7a). This is the
reverse of what is observed at higher S12/D ratios
(Figure 7b,c) but is consistent with the double-impeller
case for S12/D ) 0.667 (Figure 4b). The lower impeller
typically consumes significantly more power than the
other two if it is near the tank bottom (Figure 7b,c) or
the upper and middle impellers are close together
(Figure 7c).
Figure 8a shows the variation of Netot and Nei as a
function of S12/D, for Cb1/D ) 1. The total power number
remains nearly unchanged independently of S12/D (maxi-
mum deviation: 4.9%). However, Ne1 is larger or
smaller than Ne2 depending on the value of S12/D. In
Figure 8b the effect of spacing between the lower and
middle impellers on Netot is reported at different Cb/D’s.
Full power is drawn only when the lower impeller is
very close to the tank bottom, as observed before, and
only for some S12/D values. In all other cases Netot is
lower than 3NeSingle Std. by as much as 15%. Confirming
the conclusions reached with the two-impeller system,
the presence of a “tickler impeller” significantly in-

Figure 9. Triple 6-PBT system: ratio of the power consumed by
each impeller to the total power consumption as a function of S12/
D: (a) Cb1/D ) 0.167; (b) Cb1/D ) 0.5; (c) Cb1/D ) 1.
creases the overall power consumption of the system
with respect to configurations in which the third impel-
ler is placed not as close to the tank bottom. However,
even in such a case, the overall energy consumption is
only as high as that of three “standard” single impellers.
Finally, in Figure 9 the effect of impeller spacing on
the individual fractional power consumptions is given.
At low impeller clearance (Cb1/D ) 0.167), the throttling
effect is clearly present and the power dissipated by the
lower impeller is always higher than that of the upper
impeller (Figure 9a). P1 is also larger than P2 except
when the lower and middle impellers are close to each
other (S12/D e 1). A similar trend, although not as
pronounced, can be seen at a higher Cb1/D value (0.5;
Figure 9b). However, for Cb1/D ) 1 (Figure 9c) the lower
impeller typically consumes less power than the upper
one (but not for S12/D > 3). These results indicate that
except at low Cb1/D’s the relative power consumptions
of 6-PBTs in a triple-impeller configuration are rela-
tively similar. This is the opposite of what is observed
with disk turbines.1
Conclusions
The power numbers of single PBTs were found to be
relatively constant in a wide Cb1/D range and to increase
with decreasing Cb1 for Cb1/D < 1 because of the
throttling effect caused by the proximity of the impeller
to the tank bottom. The overall power number of double
6-PBT systems was typically found to be significantly
smaller than twice the power number of a single 6-PBT.
However, when the Cb1/D ratio was low and the upper
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999 2815
impeller distant from the lower impeller, the throttling
effect caused an increase in the power number of the
lower impeller and hence the overall power number.
Reducing the distance between the impellers limited
this effect and lowered the overall power number as well
as the power number of the lower impeller. In triple
6-PBT systems with equally spaced impellers, the
cumulative power dissipated was typically lower than
that of three single 6-PBTs and relatively constant over
a wide range of Cb1/D values. However, at low Cb1/D the
lower impeller power consumption increased and that
of the middle impeller decreased.
The results obtained in this work can be used to
determine the overall power consumption as well as the
power consumed by individual 6-PBTs in single- and
multiple-impeller systems under turbulent flow condi-
tions.
Acknowledgment
This work was partially supported by the National
Science Foundation (Grant No. EEC 9520573), whose
contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
List of Symbols
A ) impeller blade angle (rad)
B ) baffle width (m)
Cb1 ) off-bottom clearance of the lower impeller, measured
from the bottom edge of the impeller blade to the bottom
of the tank, as shown in Figure 1b (m)
Cb2 ) off-bottom clearance of the upper impeller (in double-
impeller systems) or the middle impeller (in triple-
impeller systems), measured from the bottom edge of the
impeller blade to the bottom of the tank, as shown in
Figure 1b (m)
Cb3 ) off-bottom clearance of the upper impeller (in triple-
impeller systems), measured from the bottom edge of the
impeller blade to the bottom of the tank, as shown in
Figure 1b (m)
C′1 ) off-bottom clearance of the lower impeller, measured
from the middle of the impeller to the bottom of the tank
(m)
D ) impeller diameter (m)
H ) height of liquid in the tank (m)
L ) blade length (m)
n ) number of impellers
nb ) number of blades
N ) agitation speed (rotations/s, rps, or rotations/min, rpm,
as indicated)
Ne ) Newton number or power number
Nei ) Newton number or power number of individual
impeller i (with i ) 1, 2, or 3), as defined in eq 2
Netot ) total (cumulative) Newton number or power number
of all impellers
NeSingle Std. ) Newton number or power number of a single
impeller at standard conditions (Cb1/D ) 1, D/T ) 0.264,
and H/T ) 1)
Pi ) power drawn by individual impeller i (with i ) 1, 2,
or 3; W)
Ptot ) total (cumulative) power drawn by all impellers (W)
PSingle Std. ) power drawn by a single impeller at standard
conditions (Cb1/D ) 1, D/T ) 0.264, and H/T ) 1; W)
Re ) impeller Reynolds number (FND2/µ)
S ) spacing (distance) between impellers in double-impeller
systems (m)
Sij ) spacing (distance) between impeller i and impeller j
(with i ) 1, 2, or 3; j ) 2 or 3) in triple-impeller systems
(m)
T ) tank diameter (m)
2816 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 7, 1999
W ) blade width (m)
wb ) blade width projected along the vertical axis (m)
Greek Symbols
F ) liquid density (kg/m3)
µ ) liquid viscosity (kg/(m‚s))
Acronyms
PBT ) 45° pitched-blade turbine
4-PBT ) four-blade 45° pitched-blade turbine
6-PBT ) six-blade 45° pitched-blade turbine
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Received for review November 5, 1998
Resubmitted for review April 20, 1999
Accepted April 28, 1999
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