Influence of impeller diameter on overall gas dispersion properties in a sparged multi-impeller stirred tank☆

The impeller configuration with a six parabolic blade disk turbine below two down-pumping hydrofoil propellers, identified as PDT + 2CBY, was used in this study. The effect of the impeller diameter D, ranging from 0.30T to 0.40T (T as the tank diameter), on gas dispersion in a stirred tank of 0.48 m diameter was investigated by experimental and CFD simulation methods. Power consumption and total gas holdup were measured for the same impeller configuration PDT + 2CBY with four different D/T. Results show that with D/T increases from 0.30 to 0.40, the relative power demand (RPD) in a gas–liquid system decreases slightly. At low superficial gas velocity V_S of 0.0078 m·s^-1, the gas holdup increases evidently with the increase of D/T. However, at high superficial gas velocity, the systemwith D/T=0.33 gets a good balance between the gas recirculation and liquid shearing rate, which resulted in the highest gas holdup among four different D/T. CFD simulation based on the two-fluid model along with the Population Balance Model (PBM) was used to investigate the effect of impeller diameter on the gas dispersion. The power consumption and total gas holdup predicted by CFD simulation were in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.     

常温及热态通气条件下多层桨三相搅拌反应器中局部气含率分布

Vertical distributions of void fraction in gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid stirred tanks have been measured in a fully baffled dished base vessel of 0.48 m diameter, using a conductivity probe. The impeller configuration (a hollow half elliptical blade dispersing turbine below two up-pumping wide blade hydrofoils, identified as HEDT+2WHU) recommended in previous work has been used in this work. The operating temperatures were 24°C and 81°C, identified as cold and hot respectively. The effects of superficial gas velocity, agitator speed and the corresponding power input on the local void fraction in two-phase systems are investigated and discussed. Results show that the increasing of agitator speed or gas flow rate leads to an increase in local void fraction at the majority of measurement points in both cold and hot systems. However, the uniformity of gas dispersion does not always increase as the rais-ing of agitator speed and power input. In either cold or hot sparged conditions, the two- and three-phase systems have similar vertical profiles for void fraction, with maxima in similar locations; however, the void fractions are significantly lower in hot sparging than with cold. In cold operation the presence of particles leads to a lower void fraction at most points, although the local void fractions increase a little with the addition of solid particles at high temperature, in good agreement with the global gas holdup results, and the possible reasons are discussed in this paper. This work can give a better understanding of the differences between cold-gassed and hot-sparged three phase stirred tanks.     

下沉颗粒气-液-固搅拌槽内微观混合特性研究（英文）

The parallel-competing iodide–iodate reaction scheme was used to study the micromixing performance in a multi-phase stirred tank of 0.3 m diameter. The impeller combination consisted of a half el iptical blade disk tur-bine below two down-pimping wide-blade hydrofoils, identified as HEDT+2WHD. Nitrogen and glass beads of 100μm diameter and density 2500 kg·m?3 were used as the dispersed phases. The micromixing could be improved by sparging gas because of its additional potential energy. Also, micromixing could be improved by the solid particles with high kinetic energy near the impeller tip. In a gas–solid–liquid system, the gas–liquid film vibration with damping, due to the frequent collisions between the bubbles and particles, led to the decrease of the turbulence level in the liquid and caused eventual y the deterioration of the micromixing. A Damping Film Dissipation model is formulated to shed light on the above micromixing performances. At last, the micromixing time tm according to the incorporation model varied from 1.9 ms to 6.7 ms in our experiments.     

Gas dispersion and solid suspension in a three-phase stirred tank with triple impellers

The hydrodynamics is still not fully understood in the three-phase stirred tank equipped with multi-impeller due to the intensive interaction between phases. In this work, the solid critical suspension speed(NJSG), relative power demand(RPD) and overall gas holdup(ε_G) were measured in an air–water–glass beads stirred tank equipped with multi-impeller, which consists of a parabolic blade disk turbine below two down-pumping hydrofoils. Results show that either the NJSGor the specific power consumption increases when increasing the volumetric solid concentration or superficial gas velocity. RPD changes less than 10% when solid volumetric concentration ranges from 0 to 15%. ε_G decreases with the increase of solid concentration, and increases with the increase of both superficial gas velocity and the total specific power consumption. The quantitative correlations of NJSG,RPD and εGwere regressed as the function of superficial gas velocity, specific power consumption, Froude number and gas flow number, in order to provide the reference in the design of such three-phase stirred tank with similar multi-impellers.     

Synergistic and interference effects in coaxial mixers: Numerical analysis of the power consumption

This paper is concerned with the design and application of coaxial mixers with the aid of analysis of interaction between each individual impeller.Two types of coaxial mixers pitched blade turbine (PBT)-helical ribbon (HR) and inner-outer HR operated in laminar regime were studied experimentally and numerically.The interaction implies synergistic and interference effects,which was revealed through the investigation of axial circulation rate,energy dissipation rate and power consumption.The influence factors including rotational speed ratio,rotating mode and impeller configuration were explored systematically.Quantitative analysis of power consumption involves three parameters:rate of variation in power consumption,interactive mode and ratio of power consumption.Analysis indicated that some important properties were embodied in the power curve.These properties are one-way and two-way interactions,critical speed ratio and dominant impeller.Finally,a new suggestion for power estimation was given.     

改善气液传质的新型表面曝气装置

A novel surface aeration configuration featured with a self-rotating and floating baffle (SRFB) and a Rushton disk turbine (DT) with a perforated disk has been developed. The SRFB, consisted of 12 fan blades twisted by an angle of 30° to the horizontal plane, is incorporated onto the impeller shaft to improve gas entrainment, bubble breakup, mixing in a φ154 mm agitated vessel. This new configuration is compared to the conventional DT surface aeration experimentally. The results suggest that the critical impeller speed for onset of gas entrainment is lower for the new configuration and it demands greater power consumption. Moreover, the SRFB system produces 30%-68% higher volumetric mass transfer coefficient per unit power input than that obtained in the conventional DT surface aerator under the same operation conditions.     

RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS,POWER CONSUMPTION,MASS AND HEAT,TRANSFER DURING XANTHAN GUM FERMENTATION

Xanthan gum fermentation is probably the most complex fermentation process in terms ofrheological property variations and associated mixing,power consumption,mass and heat transferproblems.In order to obtain these data,fermentations of Xanthomonas campestris were carried outon pilot scale bioreactor with different D/T ratios and different feeding strategies(batch andfed-batch).It was discovered that the rheology of xanthan fermentation broth is of paramountimportance to the above characteristics.The aerated power consumption and power number are both afunction of aeration rate during the initial stage of the fermentation when the viscosity is low andthe Reynolds number high.However when the becames viscous and Reynolds unmber≤10~3,thegas velocity does not show any effect on the power number.The oxygen mass transfer coefficientsand the overall heat transfer coefficients are both dependent on the impeller speed,the apparentviscosity of the broth and the D/T ratio.These data taken from practical fermentat     

半椭圆管盘式涡轮桨搅拌槽内湍流结构的时间解析PIV研究(英文)

The turbulence structure in the stirred tank with a deep hollow blade (semi-ellispe) disc turbine (HEDT) was investigated by using time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TRPIV) and traditional PIV. In the stirred tank, the turbulence generated by blade passage includes the periodic components and the random turbulent ones. Traditional PIV with angle-resolved measurement and TRPIV with wavelet analysis were both used to obtain the random turbulent kinetic energy as a comparison. The wavelet analysis method was successfully used in this work to separate the random turbulent kinetic energy. The distributions of the periodic kinetic energy and the random turbulent kinetic energy were obtained. In the impeller region, the averaged random turbulent kinetic energy was about 2.6 times of the averaged periodic one. The kinetic energies at different wavelet scales from a6 to d1 were also calculated and compared. TRPIV was used to record the sequence of instantaneous velocity in the impeller stream. The evolution of the impeller stream was observed clearly and the sequence of the vorticity field was also obtained for the identification of vortices. The slope of the energy spectrum was approximately &;#61485;5/3 in high frequency representing the existence of inertial subrange and some isotropic properties in stirred tank. From the power spectral density (PSD), one peak existed evidently, which was located at f0 (blade passage frequency) generated by the blade passage.     

Power consumption and flow field characteristics of a coaxial mixer with a double inner impeller

A coaxial mixer meeting the actual demand of a system with high and variable viscosity is investigated. It has an outer wal-scraping frame and a double inner impeller consisting of a four-pitched-blade turbine and Rushton turbine. The power consumption and flow field characteristics of the coaxial mixer in laminar and transitional flow are simulated numerically, and then the distribution of velocity field, shear rate and mass flow rate are analyzed. The simulation results indicate that the outer frame has little effect on the power consumption of the double inner impeller whether in laminar or transitional flow, whereas the inner combined impeller has a great effect on the power consumption of the outer frame. Compared with the single rotation mode, the power consumption of the outer frame will decrease in co-rotation mode and increase in counter-rotation mode. The velocity, shear rate and mass flow rate are relatively high near the inner impeller in all operating modes, and only under double-shaft agitation wil the mixing performance near the free surface be improved. In addition, these distributions in the co-rotation and counter-rotation modes show little difference, but the co-rotation mode is recommended for the advantage of low power consumption.     

Influence of impeller diameter on local gas dispersion properties in a sparged multi-impeller stirred tank☆

Vertical distributions of local void fraction and bubble size in alr–water dispersion system were measured with a dual conductivity probe in a fully baffled dished base stirred vessel with the diameter T of 0.48 m, holding 0.134 m3 liquid. The impel er combination with a six parabolic blade disk turbine below two down-pumping hy-drofoil propel ers, identified as PDT+2CBY, was used in this study. The effects of the impel er diameter D, rang-ing from 0.30T to 0.40T (corresponding to D/T from 0.30 to 0.40), on the local void fraction and bubble size were investigated by both experimental and CFD simulation methods. At low superficial gas velocity VS of 0.0077 m·s?1, there is no obvious difference in the local void fraction distribution for al systems with different D/T. However, at high superficial gas velocity, the system with a D/T of 0.30 leads to higher local void fraction than systems with other D/T. There is no significant variation in the axial distribution of the Sauter mean bubble size for al the systems with different D/T at the same gas superficial velocity. CFD simulation based on the two-fluid model along with the population balance model (PBM) was used to investigate the effect of the impel er diameter on the gas–liquid flows. The local void fraction predicted by the numerical simulation approach was in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.     

Coupling simulation of fluid structure interaction in the stirred vessel with a pitched blade turbine

The interaction between fluid and a down-pumping pitched blade turbine fixed with a flexible shaft in the stirred vessel,as a typical fluid structure interaction phenomenon,was simulated by coupling the Computational Fluid Dynamics and Computational Structural Dynamics.Based on the verification of the simulated impeller torque and dimensionless shaft bending moment with experimental result,the dimensionless shaft bending moment and various loads acting on impeller (including lateral force,axial force and bending moment) were discussed in detail.By separating and extracting the fluid and structural components from those loads,the results show that the shaft bending moment mainly results from the lateral force on impeller although the axial force on impeller is much larger.The impeller mass imbalance increases the shaft bending moment and the lateral force on impeller,but has little influence on the axial force and bending moment acting on impeller.The dominant frequencies of impeller forces are macro-frequency,speed frequency and blade passing frequency,and are associated with the impeller mass imbalance.     

Effects of rotor and stator geometry on dissolution process and power consumption in jet-flow high shear mixers

The jet-flow high shear mixer(JF-HSM)is a new type of intensified equipment with special configurations of the rotor and the stator.The mass transfer property and power consumption were studied in the solid-liquid system for a series of JF-HSMs involving different configuration parameters,such as rotor diameter,rotor blade inclination,rotor blade bending direction,stator diameter,and stator bottom opening diameter.The flow characteristics were examined by computational fluid dynamic simulations.Results indicate that the turbulent power consumption of the JF-HSM is affected by the change in rotor blade inclination and stator bottom opening.With the increase in the shear head size and the change in the rotor into a backward-curved blade,the solid-liquid mass transfer rate can be remarkably increased under the same input power.Dimensionless correlations for the mass transfer coefficient and power consumption were obtained to guide the scale-up design and selection of such a new type of equipment to intensify the overall mixing efficiency.     

搅拌釡中层流流场的模拟

Stirred tanks are used extensively in process industry and one of the most commonly used impellers in stirred tanks is the R.ushton disk turbine. Surprisingly few data are available regarding flow and mixing in stirred-tank reactors with Rushton turbine in the laminar regime, in particular the laminar flow in baffled tanks.In this paper, the laminar flow field in a baffled tank stirred by a standard R.ushton turbine is simulated with the improved inner-outer iterative method. The non-inertial coordinate system is used for the impeller region, which is in turn used as the boundary conditions for iteration. It is found that the simulation results are in good agreement with previous experiments. In addition, the flow number and impeller power number calculated from the simulated flow field are in satisfactory agreement with experimental data. This numerical method allows prediction of flow structure requiring no experimental data as the boundary conditions and has the potential of being used to scale-up and design of related process equipment.     

搅拌槽内温度对气含率的影响

Gas holdups in ambient gassed and hot sparged systems with multiple modern impellers and the effect of temperature on gas holdup are reported,The operating temperature has a great impact on gas holdup though the gas dispersion regime in the hot sparged system is similar to the ambient gassed condition,The gas holdup under the elevated temperature and the ambient gassed operation is successfully correlated.With the sarme total gas flow rate and power input,the gas holdup in the hot sparged system(say near the boiling point)is only about half of that in the ambient system ,The results imply that almost all existing hot sparged reactors have been designed on the basis of incorrect estimates of the gas holdup during operation.     

Assessment of k–ε models using tetrahedral grids to describe the turbulent flow field of a PBT impeller and validation through the PIV technique

In turbulence modeling, the RNG and Realizable models have important improvements in the turbulent production and dissipation terms in comparison to the Standard. The selection of the appropriate turbulence model has an impact on the convergence and solution in STRs, and they are used in mixing, multiphase modeling or as starting solution of transient models as DES and LES. Although there are several studies with the pitched blade turbine(PBT) impeller, most of them used the Standard model as representative of all k–ε models, using structured hexahedral grids composed of low number of cells, and in some cases under axial symmetry assumptions.Accordingly, in this work the assessment of the Standard, RNG and Realizable models to describe the turbulent flow field of this impeller, using the Multiple Reference Frame(MRF) and Sliding Mesh(SM) approaches with tetrahedral domains in dense grids, is presented. This kind of cell elements is especially suitable to reproduce complex geometries. Flow velocities and turbulent parameters were verified experimentally by PIV and torque measurements. The three models were capable of predicting fairly the pumping number, the power number based on torque, and velocities. Although the RNG improved the predictions of the turbulent kinetic energy and dissipation rate, the Realizable model presented better performance for both approaches. All models failed in the prediction of the total dissipation rate, and a dependence of its value on the number of cells for the MRF was found.     

Flow Field Around Rushton Turbine in Stirred Tank by Particle Image Velocimetry Measurement

In this paper, particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure the mean and root mean square(RMS) velocity in the stirred tank with six-flat blade Rushton turbine and with no baffles. Two types of motion patterns were studied. One was that the impeller runs at constant speed, the other was that the impeller runs at time-dependent speed and in a periodic way. The emphasis of the paper was on the comparison of mean and RMS velocity vector maps and profiles between these two types of motion patterns, and especial attention was paid to the comparison of the mean velocity, time-averaged RMS velocity, phase averaged RMS velocity between the constant 3 RPS (revolution per second) and time-dependent operation. The Reynolds number was between 763 and 1527. The study explained the mechanism that time-dependent RPS is more efficient for mixing than that of constant RPS.     

Gas-liquid hydrodynamics in a vessel stirred by dual dislocated-blade Rushton impellers☆

Towards the objective of improving the gas dispersion performance, the dislocated-blade Rushton impeller was applied to the gas–liquid mixing in a baffled stirred vessel. The flow field, gas hold-up, dissolved oxygen, power consumption before and after gassing were studied using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. Dispersion of gas in the liquid was modelled using the Eulerian–Eulerian approach along with the dispersed k–εturbulent model. Rotation of the impeller was simulated with the multiple reference frame method. A modified drag coefficient which includes the effect of turbulence was used to account for the momentum exchange. The predictions were compared with their counterparts of the standard Rushton impeller and were validated with the experimental results. It is concluded that the dislocated-blade Rushton impeller is superior to the standard Rushton impeller in the gas–liquid mixing operation, and the findings obtained here lay the basis of its application in process industries.     

高温高压浆态鼓泡床反应器中的气-液传质

The gas-liquid mass transfer of H2 and CO in a high temperature and high-pressure three-phase slurry bubble column reactor is studied. The gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficients kLa are obtained by measuring the dissolution rate of H2 and CO. The influences of the main operation conditions, such as temperature, pressure,superficial gas velocity and solid concentration, are studied systematically. Two empirical correlations are proposed to predict kLa values for H2 and CO in liquid paraffln/solid particles slurry bubble column reactors.     

折流式旋转床的流体力学行为(英文)

As a high gravity (HIGEE) unit, the rotating packed bed (RPB) uses centrifugal force to intensify mass transfer. Zigzag rotating bed (RZB) is a new type of HIGEE unit. The rotor of RZB consists of stationary discs and rotating discs, forming zigzag channels for liquid-gas flow and mass transfer. As in RPBs, some hydrodynamic behavior in RZB is interesting but no satisfactory explanation. In this study, the experiments were carried on in a RZB unit with a rotor of 600 mm in diameter using air-water system. The gas pressure drop and power consumption were measured with two types of rotating baffle for RZB rotors, one with perforations and another with shutter openings. The circumferential velocities of gas were measured with a five-hole Pitot probe. The pressure drop decreased rapidly when the liquid was introduced to the rotor, because the circumferential velocity of the liquid droplets was lower than that of the gas, reducing the circumferential velocity of gas and the centrifugal pressure drop. The power consumption decreased first when the gas entered the RZB rotor, because the gas with higher circumferential velocity facilitates the rotation of baffles.     

Application of KHX Impeller in a Low-shear Stirred Bioreactor☆

In our previous work, a low-shear stirred bioreactor was explored. With a pitched blade turbine impeller downflow (PBTD) used, the shear stress generated is high compared with that in some low shear ax...