INTRODUCTION TO AGITATION Agitation of liquids is usually accomplished in a container equipped with an impeller such as a propeller, paddle, or turbine.

The impeller is inserted into the liquid and rotated in such a manner as to cause both bulk motion and fine-scale eddies in the fluid. Mechanical energy is required to rotate the impeller, which in turn transmits this energy to the fluid. The mechanism of transmission is similar to that in the parallel-plate problem of Fig. 2.3, in which the moving top plate transmits velocity to the fluid nearby by the effect of viscosity. In agitation, the impeller is rotating, the sides and bottom of the tank are stationary, and the resultant velocity gradients cause mixing and dispersion. No doubt agitation of liquids has been practiced since early mankind made the first liquid containers. The general property balance equation from Chapter 3 is

where the last term is zero for an incompressible fluid, as is usually the case in agitation. Obviously, application of this or any similar equation inside an agitation vessel is highly complex. In the first place, the flow is threedimensional, and the initial and boundary conditions are not usually known. Often heat, mass, and momentum transfer must all be considered simultaneously. Moreover, in the case of agitation of liquids of low viscosity, such as water and hydrocarbons, the flow is highly turbulent, with intensities of turbulence ranging from near zero in dead zones to as much as 100 percent or greater near the impeller. Recall that the intensity of turbulence is defined in Eq. (6.31) as

With no quantitative solution to the general property balance possible, dimensional analysis approaches have been tried and found to be quite successful. Agitation in a process generally accomplishes physical changes, chemical changes, and/or increased rates of transport. These may occur simultaneously or singly. An example of a physical change is the increase in the surface area of a solid. An example of a chemical change is the occurrence of chemical reactions; agitation assists in bringing the reactants (or reactants and catalyst) together in order for the reaction to occur. Agitation promotes high rates of heat transport. Also, agitation can increase the rate of mass transfer when mixing a miscible solute (or other material) in a liquid solvent. If the solute consists of solid crystals, then agitation is typically responsible for producing and

maintaining the maximum possible concentration driving force between the solid interface and the solution. The solute may be a liquid or a gas as well. Agitation often disperses an insoluble material throughout the liquid; a common example is the case of pigments such as TiO,? being dispersed in paint. Agitation may disperse a gas in the form of small bubbles throughout the liquid for purposes of absorption or gas-liquid reaction. In batch chemical reactors, agitation often serves the double duty of maintaining high concentration gradients and moving the fluid over a heat transfer surface so as to control