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.     

剪切变稀体系同心双轴搅拌釜内的气液分散模拟

气液搅拌设备因其良好的适用性被广泛应用于过程工业中。为更好地比较不同工况下剪切变稀体系中的气液分散情况,通过实验研究整体气含率和相对功耗确定适宜的转动模式,进而模拟研究表观气速、体系黏度、搅拌转速对气含率和气泡尺寸的影响。结果表明,相同功率下内外双桨反向旋转模式在理想气液分散条件下,相较于单轴内桨和内外双桨同向旋转模式具有更高的气含率和更好的气体泵送能力;表观气速的增加有利于气泡的均匀分散,但气泡尺寸也会随之增大;有效黏度的增加使得搅拌桨的影响区域变小,不利于气泡的均匀分散,气泡尺寸也随之增大;搅拌转速的增加使得循环涡流的影响区域变大,高气含率区不断扩大。     

Role of sparger design in mechanically agitated gas-liquid reactors. Part II: Liquid phase mixing

Liquid phase mixing time was measured in 0.57, 1.0 and 1.5 m i.d. mechanically agitated gas-liquid reactors. Transient conductivity technique was used for the mixing time measurement. Pitched blade downflow turbine was employed. The design details of PTD impellers such as diameter (0.22 T to 0.5 T) and blade width (0.25 D to 0.35 D) were studied. The influence of sparger types and their design on mixing time has been investigated. For this purpose, pipe, ring, conical, and concentric ring spargers were employed. The design details of the ring sparger, i.e. ring diameter, number of holes and hole size were also studied in depth. Sparger location with respect to the impeller was found to be the most important variable and, therefore, it was varied for practically all the spargers studied in this work. It was found that the liquid phase mixing time depends on the impeller design, sparger design, sparger location, impeller speed and superficial gas velocity. Correlations have been developed for the dimensionless mixing time.     

多层组合桨搅拌槽内气-液分散特性的研究

在直径为0,476m的椭圆底搅拌槽中,采用由六叶半椭圆管叶盘式涡轮桨(HEDT)及四叶宽叶翼型桨的上提(WHU)及下压(WHD)操作组合的六种不同的三层桨,研究了气-液两相体系中的通气功率变化及气含率特性,获得不同桨型的通气搅拌功率及气含率的关联式;结果表明,底桨为HEDT的组合桨通气功率下降幅度最小,相同输入功率时气含率最高,其次为WHD,WHU为底桨时气液分散性能最差。因此,适用于气液两相操作的优化组合桨应以HEDT为底桨。此研究结果可为工业用多层组合桨气液搅拌反应器的设计提供参考。     

一种高效的双流道自吸气叶轮搅拌器(下)

对高效自吸气叶轮在长搅拌罐高位处向下喷射气液流的现象进行了实验研究。实验发现，搅拌器混合时间大大缩短，罐内传质均匀，叶轮兼具径流式和轴流式叶轮的优点。和十二叶Ｒｕｓｈ－ｔｏｎ透平及它在低位时的情况相比，比传质系数在１１７０～１７５０ｒ／ｍｉｎ范围内是十二叶Ｒｕｓｈｔｏｎ透平的１．９７～２．７４倍，是它在低位时的１．３３～２．０８倍。利用三维气泡运动方程分析了气泡的运动轨迹及下沉深度，计算结果和实验观测值基本相符。     

LIQUID PHASE MIXING IN MECHANICALLY AGITATED VESSELS

Liquid phase mixing and power consumption have been studied in 0.3, 0.57, 1.0 and 1.5 m i.d. mechanically agitated contactors. Tap water was used as liquid phase. The impeller speed was varied in the range 2-13.33 r/s. Three types of impellers namely disc turbine (DT), pitched turbine downflow (PTD) and pitched turbine upflow (PTU) were employed. The impeller diameter to vessel diameter ratio was varied in the range of 0.25 to 0.58. The effect of impeller clearance from tank bottom was also studied. Mixing time was measured using the transient conductivity measurement.

The PTD impeller was found to be the most energy efficient for mixing in liquid phase alone. Further, PTD (T/3) was found to be most energy efficient as compared with other impeller diameters. The effect of clearance was found to be design dependent and it was found to be diameter dependent in the case of pitched turbines.

Flow patterns of different impellers have been studied by visual observations (using guide particles). These observations were supported by the measurements using Laser Doppler Velocimetry. A model has been developed for the prediction of mixing time. In the case of all the three impeller designs, a fairly good agreement was found between the predicted and experimental values of mixing time.     

新型同心双轴搅拌器功率与混合特性的数值模拟

基于同心双轴搅拌器的结构与运行特点,建立了兼顾其流动、混合过程的三维数学模型,并以过程工业应用较多的两种不同尺寸双层组合桨作为内桨、框式桨作为外桨构成的同心双轴搅拌器为研究对象,数值模拟了其在中高黏牛顿流体中同向及反向转动模式的功率特性、流场特性及混合特性。模拟结果表明,同向转动模式下,整个系统的搅拌功耗更小、混合效率更高;外桨功耗受内桨影响较大,一般随内桨转速的增大,恒速外桨的功耗同向转动时会减小、反向转动时会增大;对由桨式搅拌器构成的组合式内桨而言,当内桨直径与釜体直径之比为0.35左右时,相同Reynolds数下的单位体积混合能更小;中高黏牛顿流体中,同心双轴搅拌器的内桨采用上层六斜叶桨+下层六直叶桨的组合形式时更高效节能,仅在体系Reynolds数小于36时,上层二斜叶桨+下层二直叶桨的内桨组合形式才具有相对优势。     

Effects of the Stirred Tank's Design on Power Consumption and Mixing Time in Liquid Phase

The influence of the stirrer type and of the geometrical parameters of both tank and agitator (clearance of an impeller from tank bottom, impeller diameter, draft tube and geometry of the tank bottom) on power consumption and mixing time in liquid phase under turbulent regime conditions (Re > 10⁴) have been studied. Different types of agitators have been used, namely Rushton turbine, 45° pitched‐blade turbine, MIXEL TT and TTP propellers and 1‐stage or 2‐stage EKATO‐INTERMIG propellers. All these stirrers were tested with the same power consumption per unit mass of liquid. On the basis of measured power consumption per unit mass, which is required to achieve the same degree of mixing, the results obtained in the present work show that the TTP propeller is the most efficient in liquid phase. Recommendations on the optimum geometric configuration have been made for each type of stirrer.     

A Non‐Conventional Approach for the Make‐Down of Concentrated Suspensions

Concentrated suspensions made of delaminated kaolin clay in water were prepared using two approaches, namely steady stirring and dynamic perturbation operating modes. In the first approach, the impeller was rotated at constant speed in one direction. For the second approach, the flow into the tank was dynamically perturbed by rotating the impeller cyclically in both directions. Two high‐shear impellers were used: a Sevin impeller and a Cowles turbine. During the mixing, the evolution of torque was measured and samples were taken at regular intervals. All the results were compared in terms of the mixing energy consumption, particle average size and distribution, as well as the shear rheology. Suspensions prepared with the dynamic perturbation approach were found to require less energy and exhibited, in general, smaller particles and lower viscosity than with conventional mixing, which indicates that the proposed method could be an efficient alternative to conventional mixing.     

Studies in multiple impeller agitated gas-liquid contactors

Experiments have been performed to study the effect of the density and the volume of the tracer pulse on the mixing time for two impeller combinations in the presence of gas in a 0.3 m diameter and 1 m tall cylindrical acrylic vessel. The tall multi-impeller aerobic fermenters, which require periodic dosing of nutrients that are in the form of aqueous solution, is a classic case under consideration. Conductivity measuring method was used to measure the mixing time. Two triple impeller combinations; one containing two pitched blade downflow turbines as upper impellers and disc turbine as the lowermost impeller (2 PBTD-DT) and another containing all pitched blade downflow turbines (3 PBTD) have been used. Other variables covered during experiments were the density and the amount of the tracer pulse, the impeller rotational speed and the gas superficial velocity. Fractional gas hold-up, Power consumption and mass transfer coefficient have also been measured for both the impeller combinations. Influence of aeration and impeller speed on the mixing time has been explained by the interaction of air induced and impeller generated liquid flows. Three different flow regimes have been distinguished to explain the hydrodynamics of the overall vessel (i.e., multiple impeller system). A compartment model with the number of compartments varying with the flow regimes have been used to model liquid phase mixing in these flow regimes. A correlation for the prediction of the dimensionless mixing time in the loading regime has been proposed in order to account the effect of the density and the amount of the tracer pulse on the mixing time. Correlations have also been proposed to predict fractional gas hold-up and k_La.     

Breakage of drop nucleated granules in a breakage only high shear mixer

Wet granule breakage is a significant mechanism, particularly in high shear mixer granulation. This paper presents a study of the wet breakage mechanism using a Breakage Only Granulator. Granules with varying powder and liquid binder properties were created using single drop nucleation. These granules were inserted in a Breakage Only Granulator, a high shear mixer granulator with non-granulating cohesive sand as the bulk medium. Two different impellers were used at impeller speeds of 500 and 750 rpm. An 11° beveled edge impeller was used to create both impact and shear in the granulator, and a flat plate impeller was used to minimize impact and maximize shear in the granulator. The fraction of granules which broke during the granulation process was used as a measure of granule breakage within the granulator. These results were compared with Stokes deformation numbers calculated using mean dynamic peak flow stresses measured in unconfined uni-axial compression tests. Results for the beveled edge impeller blade show increasing breakage with increasing Stokes deformation number. Significant breakage was observed at high Stokes deformation number. Increasing impeller speed increased the magnitude of breakage. The Stokes deformations number appears to be a reasonable predictor for granule breakage within the granulator. Results for the flat plate impeller show very little breakage at 500 rpm, and significant breakage for only one formulation at 750 rpm. This suggests that either impact is dominant over shear for breakage within the granulator, or that the two impeller designs give substantially different collision velocities in the granulator. The impeller speed, type and shape have a profound effect on granule breakage in high shear mixer granulators.     

GAS-LIQUID MASS TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGE-SCALE IMPELLERS: EMPIRICAL CORRELATIONS OF GAS HOLDUPS AND VOLUMETRIC MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS IN STIRRED TANKS

Gas dispersion with large-scale impellers consisting of modified large paddle impellers in stirred tanks, with rather large ratios of both impeller diameter and impeller height to tank diameter, was experimentally examined in transition and turbulent mixing ranges. Gas holdups and volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients with large-scale impellers, i.e., Maxblend and Fullzone impellers, were measured in 0.31 and 0.6 m I.D. stirred tanks, and the gas dispersion performance of large-scale impellers was compared with that of double conventional small-scale high-speed impeller systems, i.e., double four-flat blade disk turbine impellers and double four-flat paddle impellers.

The gas holdups of the large-scale impellers were comparable with those of the small-scale impeller systems at a given rotational speed. The volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients for large-scale impellers were also similar to those of the small-scale impeller systems. It was found that the large-scale impellers are not more energy efficient than the small-scale impellers in obtaining good gas dispersion.

Empirical correlations for gas holdups and volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients were developed. They fit the experimental data in transition and turbulent mixing ranges reasonably well, with correlation factors greater than 0.84.     

GAS-LIQUID MASS TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF LARGE-SCALE IMPELLERS: EMPIRICAL CORRELATIONS OF GAS HOLDUPS AND VOLUMETRIC MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS IN STIRRED TANKS

Gas dispersion with large-scale impellers consisting of modified large paddle impellers in stirred tanks, with rather large ratios of both impeller diameter and impeller height to tank diameter, was experimentally examined in transition and turbulent mixing ranges. Gas holdups and volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients with large-scale impellers, i.e., Maxblend and Fullzone impellers, were measured in 0.31 and 0.6 m I.D. stirred tanks, and the gas dispersion performance of large-scale impellers was compared with that of double conventional small-scale high-speed impeller systems, i.e., double four-flat blade disk turbine impellers and double four-flat paddle impellers.

The gas holdups of the large-scale impellers were comparable with those of the small-scale impeller systems at a given rotational speed. The volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients for large-scale impellers were also similar to those of the small-scale impeller systems. It was found that the large-scale impellers are not more energy efficient than the small-scale impellers in obtaining good gas dispersion.

Empirical correlations for gas holdups and volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients were developed. They fit the experimental data in transition and turbulent mixing ranges reasonably well, with correlation factors greater than 0.84.     

Bubble size distribution and energy dissipation in foam mixers

The bubble size distribution of a foam produced in a rotor-stator mixer has been determined as a function of several mixing parameters such as the rotor speed, residence time, gas/liquid ratio and the viscosity of the liquid used. A Newton-Reynolds expression for a foam mixer has been determined using energy consumption measurements. Two types of shear fields have been distinguished in the foam mixer, laminar and turbulent, the type of shear field depending on the properties of the foam mixer. After a certain mixing time the bubble size distribution characterised by the mean bubble size was found to reach a stationary value. The stationary bubble size distribution has been correlated with the mixing conditions by a critical Weber number. Both in the laminar and in the turbulent shear field bubble size distributions have been determined as a function of several mixing parameters.     

4WS型转子密炼机气液两相流场分析

采用瞬态计算方法与滑移网格技术,对4WS型密炼机流场全填充条件与气液两相条件进行对比分析。结果表明,全填充条件下,流场的最大速度以及最大剪切速率均位于转子棱顶位置,压力最大正压位于转子推进区,最大负压出现在背压区,转子棱顶掠过部位具有较高的混合指数,背压区混合指数最低;气液两相条件下,胶料流出两侧密炼室时几乎没有扩散流动,速度与剪切速率最大位置不仅位于转子棱顶,还存在于两侧密炼室内胶料相与空气相交界面处,左右密炼室胶料群内具有较高的混合指数,且没有明显分布规律。     

Measurement of gas and liquid flows in stirred tank reactors with multiple agitators

The gas flow in a 3:1 aspect ratio vessel agitated by triple Rushton turbines has been measured by an ultrasound Doppler probe and by means of residence time studies. Strong recirculation around each impeller is found which fits in well with the compartmentalisation found in earlier liquid mixing studies. Surprisingly, when two axial A315 impellers above a Rushton turbine were used, gas recirculation around each impeller was still found. Study of the liquid phase mixing by a decolourisation technique confirmed that the gas flow essentially destroyed the strong axial liquid flow expected. Indeed, even under unaerated conditions, compartmentalisation was found between each impeller.     

搅拌生物反应器的循环时间分布和混合结构模型

利用磁粒子流动跟踪法对搅拌生物反应器的循环时间分布进行测定,并将Rushton径向流桨和两种新型轴向流桨在不同介质粘度和转速下的循环时间分布进行比较和性能评价。建立了单桨搅拌生物反应器的混合结构模型,对循环时间分布数据进行拟合,求得模型参数,进而讨论了不同实验条件下模型参数的变化。结果表明,对于非牛顿、高粘度发酵过程,轴向流桨比Rushton桨具有更好的混合特性。     

Hydrodynamics and volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of a stirred vessel equipped with a gas-inducing impeller

Hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of a gas-liquid stirred tank provided with a radial gas-inducing turbine were studied. The effect of the rotation speed and the liquid submergence on global hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters such as the critical impeller speed, the induced gas flow rate, the gas holdup, the power consumption and the volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient were investigated. The experiments are mainly conducted with air-water system. In the case of critical impeller speed determination, two liquid viscosities have been used. The volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient k_La has been obtained by two different techniques. The gas holdup, the induced gas rate and the volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient are increasing functions with the rotation speed and decreasing ones with the liquid submergence. The effects of these operating parameters on the measured global parameters have been taken into account by introducing the dimensionless modified Froude number and correlations have been proposed for this type of impeller.     

用激光多普勒测速计（LDA）分析粘弹性对Metzner和Otto系数的影响

The Metzner and Otto correlation is the single practical method for incorporating non-Newtonian effects in the mixing process. In this article, the Metzner and Otto' s idea, the role of viscoelasticity on the Metzner and Otto coefficient, ks, effects of flow regime on ks and the determination of ks for Rushton turbine impeller have been studied using the direct method of the laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) velocity measurement for the case of viscoelastic liquids. The normalized mean tangential velocity profiles are independent of Rushton turbine impeller speeds. Contrary to literature findings, it is shown that the variation of local shear rate against the impeller speed is better correlated by the power equation, i.e. γ= ks' · Nb' , in the transition region, i. e. ～ 30 < Re <～ 2000. Also, a correlation between improved coefficient, ks', and the elasticity number of viscoelastic liquids is given which is very helpful in designing of the mixing of both viscoelastic and inelastic non-Newtonian fluids t     

Design and characterization of a multistage,mechanically stirred column absorber

A multistage, mechanically stirred column absorber has been designed and built with a modular construction, based on preliminary experiments with a test column. The column has been characterized as a gas-liquid contactor by its gas holdup, gas and liquid axial dispersion, mixing times, oxygen transfer coefficients and power consumptions, determined as a function of gas velocity, liquid velocity and impeller speed for one and two impellers per stage.Gassed power was correlated with ungassed power, gas rate and impeller speed. The gas phase axial mixing was essentially plug flow and the liquid phase axial mixing varied between 5 and 12 equivalent stages.Oxygen transfer coefficients were correlated with power consumptions and aeration rates by the equation K_La γ (P/V)^a(υ_sg)^b. The oxygen transfer coefficients with single stiffer stages were 25% above those for the double stirrer stages for equal power consumption and gas rates. Except for the low aeration and high power consumption extremes, the column showed superior oxygen transfer performance. in comparison to tubular loop and tank fermenters.