Agitatordesignandselection 131108020731 Phpapp01

Agitator Design and
Selection
Standard Engineers
vineet.shroff@gmail.com
Food for Thought
You wanted to STIR THINGS UP But, your MIXING
gave only AGITATION.
Theres many a slip between the Plant and the Lab.
The Mixing arena is the Boxing ring where Chemist
and Chemical Engineer fight
In the work done for synthesising a Chemical
molecule, what % is the mass transfer, reaction and
mixing and what % is separation
Mixing can be demystified
Lecture Flow
Single duty Agitator
Multi duty Agitator
Films showing some Interesting Mixing

systems
Two Types
Single Duty Agitator
Multi Duty Agitator
Agitator Selection & Design
Process
Impeller Type
Impeller Diameter
Impeller Speed
Mechanical
Power
Shaft
Process Imp. Type Selection
OOWW L OOWW
L
FFL L FFL
Flow (Axial) L
IAIAL
Shear (Radial) D IAIAL
Hydrofoil
X
AAX Cowles RRAAD
Axial Flow Turbine Rushton Turbine
Helical Stator Rotor
Propeller Parabolic Disc Turbine
Suspension Dispersion
Homogenisation Physical Duty
Heat Transfer
Liq-Liq & Liq-Sol Reaction Liq-Liq & Liq-Gas-Sol Reaction
Dissolution Emulsification
Process Duty
Blending Dispersion
Axial Flow Hydrofoils
High Discharge Hydrofoil
High Suction Hydrofoil
High Pitch Hydrofoil
High Solidity Hydrofoil

High Shear Impellers
High Shear Cowles
High Shear Stator-Rotor
Gas Induction Disperser
Parabolic Disc Turbine
Impellers with combined Flow
and Shear
UDIF or InterMig
Multi Stage
Large D/T
Flow and Shear
Process Imp. Diameter
D/T
Single Impeller v/s Multi Impeller

Bottom Clearance
Impeller Spacing
Baffling
Process Imp. Speed
TipSpeed = .r = 2..N.r = .N.D
High for Processes needing high Shear
Low for Processes need low Shear
Small diameter = Higher speed
Larger diameter = Lower speed
Agitator Design - Power
Power = .K.N3.D5
Low Power = Lower Cost ???
High Power = Higher Energy dissipated
Speed variation with constant Power
VFD and Power Issues
Agitator Design - Mechanical
Motor
Gearbox
Seal
Shaft
Impeller
Multi-duty mixer or Universal Mixer
Any Mixing Task requiring Flow or Shear

Any Unit Process or Any Unit Operation
From violent Dispersions to gentle

Crystallisation

All in same Reactor
When is it Needed?
Change in Product Specifications

New R&D Results
Change of Product
New Regulations
Thereare many unknowns in

modern day operations
Need 1
Change in Prod. Specs
Customers (Internal as well as External) are a Demanding Lot
Change in Particle Size (Increase / Decrease)
Different PSD
Higher Purity (bigger crystals with less ML)
Different Physical characteristics (colour, shape,
solution, emulsion, dispersion)
Additional step from downstream Processing
Different output Temperature
o w n
Many others n
Unk
Need 2
New R&D
Competiton, Cost Reduction and New Technologies
(ionic solvents, super acids, Green Chemistries,
surfactants, nanotechnologies) throw radical
possibilities of Process Intensification for
n
n k now
U
HigherYield / Conversion
Reduced by-Product formation
Reduced Utility consumption
Reduced batch cycle times
Need 3
Change of Product
Campaign based Production cycles demand
flexibility in capabilities
New Product w n
U nkno
Different Process
Different operating conditions
New Product Developed in the Lab or Pilot Plant

needs to be Produced on plant scale
Unexpected scale-up considerations
Process modifications based on IP / quality
Need 4
New Regulations
Banned raw materials, stringent disposal norms

can impose variabilities
RecipeChange
Change in operating conditions
Change in Process
o w n
n
n k wn
U nkno
U
Process Capabilities
What must it Have?
WHAT HOW
Range of Sp. Gr. Surplus motor Power
Large solids loading Large Pumping
Range of Viscosities Large D/T, multistage
Range of Duties from Significant Variation in
gentle crytallisation to Speed with reserve
violent Gas Dispersion power
Th.dynmcs 1 Temp. Good Reynolds No.
Th.dynmcs 2 Press. Mech. Sealing
Th.dynmcs 3 pH Exotic MOC
Mech. Capabilities
What must it Have?
Robust design of Shaft and Impellers to
deliver brute force if required
Natural Frequencies of Lateral Vibrations to
be substantially distanced from operating
speed ranges
Quick Change to be possible to handle new
conditions with minimum turn-around time
Derivation
Mixing energy goes into Flow and Shear
Flow is Measured as Pumping (KpND3)
Good metric for Shear is Tip Speed (ND)
Universal Mixer therefore has to

Increase or Decrease
Flow or Shear on demand
Derivation
Flow Proportional to D3
Reynolds No. & so Heat Transfer prop to D2
Bulk motion in viscous fluids needs large D
Large D/T obviously a must for Universality

Good homogenity in mixing
Multi impeller system advantageous
Axial flow required to prevent air curtain effects
Conventional Impellers D/T
Limit
Hydrofoils and Axial Flow
turbines have a D/T Limit
At 0.7 D/T, The c/s area
of the impeller cylinder
equals the c/s area of
the Annulus
Any further increase is
counter productive
Flow is throttled leading
to back mixing and
inconsistencies
Annulus Impeller zone
Up Flow Down Flow
Ideal Impeller System
D/T > 0.7
Achieved by up and down flow
on same impeller
Multiple staggered impeller
arrangement behaves as a
pseudo helix
Can be customised for
operation without baffles
The up-down throw can be
configured for different
conditions of shear and flow
Proven for Crystallisation, Gas
Dispersion as well as pretty
high viscosity blending
UDIF - Other Advantages
Large D/T = High Wall velocities = min.build-up at
vessel walls
Good for Sticky materials
Good for Crystallisation
In Gas Dispersion, further optimisation with bottom
impeller pumping up the catalyst, while top impeller
sucks and pumps down unreacted gas
2 bladed so easy to insert thru manhole w/o bolting
or split construction an allow location anywhere
along shaft
Extended Universality
If the mechanical design of
the Universal mixer is made
robust, then the same shaft
can be FITTED with
different impellers with
different speeds for
performance at both
extremes of Flow and Shear
Helical can mix viscosities
upto 100,000 cP
Parabolic or gas Induction
can do gas dispersion
Paradigm Shift
We had limited ourselves to single shaft mixers.
What about dual shaft, Co-axial systems?
Why not place the responsibility of Flow and Shear on
2 different impellers that are ideal for their respective
duties
One Impeller provides Flow, the Other Shear
Both are on different drives so that speeds and hence
magnitudes of Flow and Shear can be controlled at will
Impellers on the outer zone can be closed type -
Helical while inner can be hydrofoil or Cowles
operating at speeds as high as 3000RPM
Mechanical challenge, but a process marvel
Myths to be Shattered
Lower Motor Power means lower operating
cost
Hydrofoils can do everything
D/T to be around 1/3 to 0.4
Mixer should be low capital cost.
No option to GLR
50Hz barrier
Chemist and Chemical Engineer
Conclusion
Decide Single duty or Multi duty
If Single duty - Decide Duty driver is Flow or
Shear
Select impellers accordingly
If Multi duty, large D/T, multi impeller, variable

speed.
Ensure minimum hot spots (pH, temp.,
concentration)
Batch Crystalliser Mixer
Flow or Shear? Obviously Flow for larger crystals,
Shear for smaller
Impeller Type. Anchor is the worst
Temperature gradient
Conc. Gradient
Grinding at bottom
Impeller Diameter.
Impeller speed
Multi Impeller
Mechanical VFD.
In the end
Some Films
Video 1: Co-rotating Co-Axial Dispertron
Thank You
Start Again

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Agitator Design and

Films showing some Interesting Mixing

Multi Duty Agitator

Helical Stator Rotor

Propeller Parabolic Disc Turbine

High Discharge Hydrofoil

High Suction Hydrofoil

High Pitch Hydrofoil

High Solidity Hydrofoil

High Shear Cowles

High Shear Stator-Rotor

Gas Induction Disperser

Parabolic Disc Turbine

Single Impeller v/s Multi Impeller

Low for Processes need low Shear

Small diameter = Higher speed

Larger diameter = Lower speed

High Power = Higher Energy dissipated

Speed variation with constant Power

VFD and Power Issues

Any Mixing Task requiring Flow or Shear

From violent Dispersions to gentle

All in same Reactor

Change in Product Specifications

Thereare many unknowns in

Reduced Utility consumption

Reduced batch cycle times

Different operating conditions

New Product Developed in the Lab or Pilot Plant

Banned raw materials, stringent disposal norms

Universal Mixer therefore has to

Flow or Shear on demand

Bulk motion in viscous fluids needs large D

Large D/T obviously a must for Universality

D/T to be around 1/3 to 0.4

Mixer should be low capital cost.

Chemist and Chemical Engineer

If Multi duty, large D/T, multi impeller, variable

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