Mixing Flashcards
Baffles
Number required for mixing and suspension
- At least 3 required (better 4)
- B = T/10
- Suspended from vessel lid or integrated into cylindrical vessel shell
Ideal height of a tank in terms of its diameter for mixing
H = T
Ideal Clearance of the stirrer/impeller
C = T/3
Ideal shape of the base of a vessel
Dish based for optimum mixing
Axial Flow
- Thrust in direction of axial (vertical in tank)
- Low shear
- Good for solid suspension
Radial Flow
- Thrust Perpendicular to axial direction
- High shear
- Good for dispersions
Static Volume
Liquid Volume beneath the impeller
~1% V
Minimum stirred Volume
- Volume that upon impeller motion induces liquid motion
- Impeller is partially submerged
(~ 5% V)
Minimum mixed volume
- Impeller + baffle are both submerged
- Must operate above this
~30-40% V
Conical Tanks
- Good Separators
- Bad Mixers
- High Vmin,mix
- Low Vmin,stir
Mixed flow impeller
Flow predominantly in axial direction with also a radial component
Close clearance impeller
Ensures good motion near vessel walls
Good for high viscous mixtures to facilitate heat transfer near the walls
Application of radial flow impellers
- Turbulent & transitional regime
- Gas-Liquid (Provided gas introduced below impeller)
- Liquid-Liquid dispersions (provided density difference is not too great and the impeller is relatively close to the liquid-liquid interface)
Applications of axial and mixed flow
- Turbulent and transitional regime
- Blending
- Solid Suspension
- Liquid-Liquid dispersions
Applications of close clearance impellers
- Laminar regime
- Blending
Baffles
- Promote flow pattern characteristic of the impeller types
- Tangential flow prevails in unbaffled tank (air entrainment, vortex formation and poor top-to-bottom mixing)
Controlling duty of processes
- Liquid blending
- Solid-liquid mixing
- Gas-liquid mixing
- Dispersing immiscible liquid
- Heat Transfer
Importance of power dissipation
Aids for predicting:
mixing time, mass transfer coefficient, droplet size
Power Consumption Equation
P = 2piN*Lambda
N = Stirrer Rate Lambda = Torque
Impeller Power equation
P = Po roN^3 * D^5
Po = Power Number
Factors affecting Impeller power Number (Po)
- Impeller type
- Impeller/vessel dimensions
- Properties of the phases present
Impeller Re Number
Re = roND^2/mu
N = impeller rotation rate
Power Curve Details
- Laminar (Re < 10)
(Po proportional to 1/Re) - Transitional (10 1000)
Po = Constant
Blend Time Definition
Time to 95% homogeneity (Theta)