oxI!

MmJm#o1M13/t

MASS

Laboratoue Asso&

TRANSFER
A LIQUID

FROM SUSPENDED
SOLIDS
IN AGITATED
VESSELS

BOON-LONG,

C N R S No

Chemm

de la Loge, 31 078-Toulouse,

Cbdex,

19 Apnl 1977, accepted 24 August 1977)

approach
Influence

to the formulation of mass transfer from suspended sohds to a hqutd m

of various dlmenslonless
groups on mass transfer IS studled usmg the
experimental work
previous works m wtated vessels and a correlattozt IS proposed

INTRODUCTlON

Solid-hquld mass transfer IS important m many tndustnal

processes such as dtssolutlon, crystalhzation, sohd-hqmd
extractton. fermentation, etc -tated
vessels are often
used because
they are effective
m suspendtng
sohd
particles, ensurmg that all the surface area available IS
utlllsed and because they lead to good transfer rates
A survey of techmcal literature [l-l 11 shows that extensive studies related to this field have been camed out
and tl~s would seem to mdtcate that the subJect is well
explored
However a detaded analysis proves that there exits a
wide divergence of theones, results and correlations
Fust of all, dtierent approaches have been used to
predict mass transfer from suspended
solids
dunensronal analysis, the slip velocity theory proposed by
Hamott[123,
the non-steady
state model according to
Htgbles penetration theory [ 131 and the KolmogoroRs
theory of local lsotroplc turbulence[14]
It ts not the purpose of th1.s work to discuss mdtvrdual
theories and contnbutlons
m detads smce excellent revtews have already been developed by many authors[8121 It suffices to say that d each theoretical approach
has received partial expenmental
support, all proved to
be unable to take mto account the influence of all the
vmables
controlling solid-hqutd mass transfer
Table 1 demonstrates
that there exist large dlsagreements between tnvestaators
as to the choice of the
vanables, even for the same type of sturer (four or su(
blade turbines)
The purpose of this work is, firstly to discuss this
choice wlthout reference to a part~cuiar theoretlcal posttton, then to carefully
develop
an experunental
mvestlgatlon on the influence of some of these vanables
-ON

TO

and J P COWDERC

192, lnstttut du Geme Chnmque,

France

(Received
Abstra&-A
new fundamental
agttated vessels IS presented
water-banzolc
acid system for
Results are compared w&h

LAGLJERIE

oo/a

OF THE FROBKSM

Muslonal
mass transfer from suspended solids m an
ag&ted
vessel has been measured m the case of the
dlssotution of benzoic acid parUcles m water
813

An overall mass transfer coefficient 1s defined through

a dtierenhal
mass balance over the particles which,
under low flux condttlons, takes the form
V dC = kA(C, - C) dt

(1)

On integrating eqn (1) with respect to time, the stmple

followmg result IS obtamed [15]

In eqn (2), k and A are mean values for the transfer

coefficient
and surface
area, which
are supposed
constant for integration In fact, the particle size vanes
dunng dissolution, but for the benzorc acid-water system
these vmations
are slow and never exceeded 10%
In this work, attentmn has been focused on the mass
transfer properttes of the often used standard system
constltuted
by a six-bladed disc turbme m a baRled
vessel
It IS proposed that the varrables of the problem be
classtied tn four groups
Geometry of the ugrtuted system
In the class of
geometncally
smular apparatus defined above it 1s only
necessary to determme the sue of the parttcular system,
for example by using the vessel dmmeter T
Properties of the solid part&es
With spherical parttcles of umform sue it ts only necessary to define theu
duuneter d and total mass M In the case of isothermal
mass
transfer,
physical
vmables
are, the denstty
daerence
(p, - p) and mass drffuslvlty D
Properties
of the lrqudd Always m the case of tsothermal mass transfer, physical varmbles are the densrty
p and vlscostty ~1
Q~~nrc cond1tton.s They are defined when the rotatlon angular velocity w ts known as well as the acceleratmn of gravity g whch plays an unportant role m
the suspenglon of sold mcles

814

BOON-LONG et al
Table 1

Systemst

Baffles

Partrcle
form

Schnudt
number

Reynolds
number

Water-barmm chloride
Water-naphtalene

No

Tablets

486-2 56 x lob

<67x
10.
>67x104

Water-benzox
acid
Methyl ale -benzotc acid

No

Spheres

HCI-Zn powder
Water-AgNO,
Water-Urea
Water-ammonium
chloride

No

Water-benzcnc acid
Water-bone acid
Sucrose sln-benzotc acid
Sucrose sin-bone acid

Yes

Granulars

Water-benzolc

Yes

Tablets

Iodmc-copper

Yes

Spheres

700-11,300

Ethyl ale -ammomum

mtrate
Ethyl ale -stearlc acid
EthyI ale -naphtalene

Yes

Spheres

267-35,000

Water-benzoic

acid

Yes

Pellets

Water-benzolc

acid

Yes

Granulars

tSturers

acid

Spheres
and
Granulars

Refs

103-ld

Correlation

[II

Shr = 2 7 x 10-sRe~~Scaso
ShT = 0 16ReToSco5

PI

Sk = a(Re,)PSc

[31

(d/ T)B

02O<p<O67
-08O<g<-032

Shr = 3 60 x lO*RefSc~X
X = (~).6*(~>,w(!!f)-~8*

735-55 X ld

Iti-lob

[41

Shr = 0 052RemoB3S~05

151

Shr = 3 30Re,,055Sco 3o

0 5 x 104-3x 10s

[8]

Sh =2+0 109[(~)(N~vuJ)llJlo3&

0 07-IOX

[91

Sh=2+047(7)-Sc=

24 x ld-12

x 10.

Sh = 2 + 0 44Re.O sorSco M5

628-1280

50.000

[lOI

Sh. = 8 48Re.0 SC~

Sh = 0 0267(2 + 1 10ReSc)N

l-10

IllI

Sh = [2 + 0 4(,/v)Sc]&
(& IS a shape factor)

626

are four or SIXblade turbines

Recapltulatmg
the above vanables, the coefficient
mass transfer k, could be expected to be a function
nme Independent variables
k =f(T,d,ps
Ihmenslonal

analysts

-p.p.cL,D.w,M,g)

of
of

2
-

(3)

would then lead to

Sh = f(Re, (T/d), Ga, SC, Q, Mu)

which seems to be a complete
formulation
of the mass
transfer phenomenon m the case of sphencal partlcles of
umform size m a six-bladed disc turbine -tated
vessel
with baffles

EQurpMwpFANDcENERALPRolXDuWC
Ftgure 1 IS a schematlc representation
of the equipment, the dlmenslons of which are summarized in Table
2
The aetator IS a standard six-bladed disc turbme posltloned m the vessel axis, at the center between bottom
and top of the still hquld The vessel IS cylmdncal. flat
bottomed and with four batTies at 90, extending over the
entve height of the tank
The general expenmental procedure IS sunple
The vessel IS filled W&I dlstllled water up to a level
equal to Its diameter and the temperature adjusted at the
value requued, without any particular regulatmg system
this temperature never vaned more than two tenths of a
degree dunng any one of the expenments performed

Fig

1 Agrtatlon system D. = T/3, S = 3D,J4, H = T, L = 0.14.

n,, = 6, W, = T/10, W = DJ5, H, = T/2, n, = 4

solids to a llquld m agitated vessels

Mass transfer from suspended

Table 2 Vessels and sturers dunenslons

T
(cm)

Ql
(cm)

S
(cm)

L
(cm)

W
(cm)

no

63 4
400
29 0
19 0
90

210
13 3
97
63
30

I5 8
100
73
47
23

53
33
24
16
08

43
27
19
13
06

6
6
6
6
6

Before mtroducmg
the solid partlcles in the vessel,
they are weighed and then wetted to avold any problem
of aa bubble adherence
on their surface,
the correspondmg mass transfer IS nedble
At the end of the experunent, the sohd particles are
quickly recovered, dned and reweighed
The mass transfer coefficrent IS determmed using eqn
(2) For a dlssolutlon process, the dnvmg potential IS
AC = C. - C The saturation concentration
C. is only a
function of temperature and C IS calculated knowing the
mass dissolved m and the liquid volume Experimental
condlhons have been chosen so that only a small fraction
of the mltlal solids 1s dissolved
dunng each run (the

815

vanatlon m diameter IS less than 10%, allowmg the use of

mean values for k and A in most of the expenments,
twenty
spherical
benzolc
acid particles
of umform
diameter have been used
For each vessel size, the agibtor speed range has been
fixed so that the lower limit corresponded to sohd partlcles suspension
defined so that no particle remained
more than two seconds on the bottom of the tank[ K-19],
the upper limit was determined by the begmnmg of au
bubbles formation at the surface of the liquid
The benzolc acid-water
system physlcal propertles
were collected m the hterature[20,21],
m particular,
average values between zero concentration
and saturation have been used for mass dlffuslvlty[21]
SAL

RESULT!4

All expenmental
results are presented
Detailed data can be found in Ref 1153

in Figs

Efiect of the Reynolds number

The effect of the Reynolds
number has been determined

number on the Sherwood

for a given diameter of

so-

ZCO-

S/r
I50

b,

15

R?

Fig 2 Effect of Reynolds number dp = 0 29 cm, I, T = 63 4 cm, A, T = 40 0 cm, 0, T = 29 0 cm. & T = 19 0 cm.
0, T=90cm

MO-

9r

0
0

X
Is0

I+g

3 Effect

of

geometrwai

ratlo

T/d

2-7

0,

CD_-

Re = 2 181 x Iti, x, Re = I 700x

IO*

816

BOON-LONG
et al

IQg 4 Effect of Galdeo Number

x80

400

Re = 18,600, x, T = 29 0 cm. 0, T = 19 Ocm

mo

300600

g)39ooKJoo

I300

2ooo

SC

Fig

5 Effect

Rg

of Schrnldt

number

Effect of the sohd quantity

Cl, Re = M,ooO, Ga = 157x1@.

33,100, Ga = 1 11 X lob

group

A. Re=27.600.

Re = 183.MJ0, Go = US,ooO, 0.
partlcuks

sohd parucles at constant temperature

by varying the
amtator speed N (or angular velocity o)
Figure 2 presents
some examples
of experlmental
resdts
It shows clearly that, m a lowthmlc
plot, data
can be conveniently
represented
by stight
hnes The

Gu=6SOxId.

wIthout mert partuxdes.

0,

X. with Inert

mass transfer coeflticlents or Sherwood

slowly wfih Reynolds numbers
Efiect of the geometrical ratro T/d
Startmg from Fig 2 Et IS possible.

Re=

numbers

by drawmg

mcrease

str&t

Mass transfer from suspended

sohds to a hquld m agtated

817

vessels

In this procedure the mfluence of the variations of the

ratio 7Yd has been neglected
It can be noted that the
determination
of the effect of the Schmidt number IS
feasible only becaitse the water-benzoic
acid system
physical properties and particularly the mass dlf[usivity
are acurately known
Figure 5 presents the experimental data, the Sherwood
number
increases
with the Schmidt
number
On a
logarithmic
plot straight lines represent conveniently
these variations

FU
7 Comparrson
with previous
Treybal[4], 0, Askew and Beckman[5],

al Cl11

works
x. Barker and
0. Levms [9], A. Sano ur

vertical lines, to determine the variations of the Sherwood number as a function of T/d at constant Reynolds
number (see Fig 3) Although the results are not so clear,
it seems that the mass transfer rate increases slightly
with the ratio 7Yd
As a llrst approximation,
this slight influence will be
neglected in the following experimental determinations
of the Galldeo number
Two dtierent vessel diameters were used in this investigation
Particle diameters were varied from 2 2 to
4 3 mm while all other dimensronless
groups were kept
constant It is interesting to note, on Fig 4, that the data
for the two dlaerent
vessel diameters
fall in close
agreement, this supports the hypothesis of no influence
of Tld
Figure 4 shows that the Sherwood number increases
with the Gahleo number, on a logarithmic plot, expenmental
data are conveniently
represented by a straight
line

Efect

Efiect of the Schmuit number

This effect has been determmed

by varymg
the
temperature of dissolution
To keep all other dlmensionless groups constant it IS necessary
to vary also the
particles diameter and water viscosity
The corresponding procedure IS as follows
-let
dr, N,, pl, 8, be the imtzal particle diameter,
agitator velocity, water viscosity and temperature,
the
corresponding 5oups
are Re,, Ga,, SC, The Sherwood
number Sh, IS measured
-a
second experiment
will be performed with the
same solids, of smaller diameter d2 It 1s possible to
determine the new vmzoslty p2 which gwes Ga2 = Gal,
there follows the temperature e2 A convenient choice of
veloctty N2 allows then Re2 = Re, At a new Schmidt
number value SCI corresponds Sha

Egecl of the sohds quantity group

All preceding experimental data have been obtained
with twenty solid particles, i e a very small quantity
This number has been increased to determine the effect
of the solids quantity group Q = Ml(p,d) (?r/Ci91 IS the
total number of particles)
As benzoic acid concentration
in the liquid phase
mm-eases towards saturation with the number of partlcles, it has not been possible to use more than 500
particles
Another experimental procedure with twenty
active benzoic acid particles mixed with inert benzoic
acid particles, protected from dissolution by a thin film
of paint, has then been used
Results are summarised on Fig 7 It can first be noted
that both procedures, with or without inert particles, gwe
quite the same results
It can then be noted a slight
decrease in Sherwood
number as Q increases
This
phenomenon seems to become much more important at
high values
ANUYSIS

OF DATA

preceding
graphical
representations
constitute
only a first approach to the problem of mass transfer in
agitated vessels Indeed it must be recalled that parameters
have been kept constant only approximately and dso that
the shght mfluence of the geometrical ratio T/d has been
neglected through the major part of the analysis Nevertheless this first study clearly shows that a power law type
equation would conveniently
represent the correlations
between all the adimensional groups mvolved
The numerical treatment of the 194 experimental runs
in that work, using the minimising of a quadratic cntenon of deviation then leads to
The

,& = 0 04me028Ga0

173~-0011(Tld)0019SCO~l

The mean deviation between experimental

and calculated values IS of 2 5% for a maximum value of 7 5%
The range of conditions covered IS
10,000 c Re -z 30,000
110,000 C Ga < 1,OOO,OOO
27<%<2,900
30~ Zdc215

300~sc-=2,000
It must be recalled that the effect of the densgty
niimber has not been studied and is included in tbe
numerical constant 0 046
It may be noted that thus new treatment of the results

818

BOON-LANG e& al

leads to a very low value of the exponent

of the
geometrical group Vd, which supports the hypothesis
made m the first part of the treatment of no mfluence It
may also be noted that the exponents obtained for the
other adimensional groups differ from the values which
could have been deduced from the slopes of the graphical representations
(Figs Z-6), this anew dlustrates the
approximate value of the graphical plots
Comparison
wrth previous mvestrgatlons
A complete and detailed comparison with other results
proves to be dficult,
owing to the fact that previous
workers have used different aatatmng systems, expenmental condltlons and, over all, dtierent approaches m
correlating their results, as shown in Table 1 Nevertheless comparisons have been developed m two ways
Firstly it can be noted that three dlmenslonal major
variables appear in all types of correlations, the mtator
speed N, the particle diameter d and the vessel diameter
T, the mdivldual effects of these variables can then be
examined
Concerning the agttator speed N, the reported results
correspond to exponents m the range 0 15-14 (see Table
1) For exponents above 0 5, Hamott[l21 concluded that
they may have resulted from breakage of solid particles
There IS some evidence to support this view
where
workers have used metal spheres and ion exchange
resins-these
materials
do not break easily-results
show a markedly lower exponent [8,9,22]
In this study,
experlmental condltlons were selected so that complete
suspension of particles was ensured and there was no
solld breakage, the exponent obtamed, 0 28, IS then in
rather good agreement with previous conclusions
For the effects of the particle diameter d and vessel
diameter T, there IS a considerable dispersion of results
m previous works The only possible conclusion 1s that
the exponents m that work, respectively-0
22 for d and
0 3 for T he m the range of values reported m the
literature
As many factors hinder a duect comparison of correlations, Fig 7 shows an overall presentation
of the
expernnental data obtamed m this work and calculated
values using different forms of correlation equations
reported
by Barker
and Treybal[4],
Askew
and
Beckman[S],
Levms[9]
and Sano et al [ll]
It can be
concluded that If all correlattons give results of the same
order m magmtude,
however
there exrsts important
devlatlons, reaching in some cases 50%
Comments
(1) It IS to be noted that the effect of the Reynolds
number IS less Important than for mass transfer around a
fixed sphere [23] m an agitated vessel In our opinion. this
suggests that the relative velocity between suspended
particles and hquld varies less rapidly than the agitator
speed It can even be thought that the time smoothed
relative velocity remains quite constant, the effect of the
Reynolds number representing vmations
in turbulence
properties, indeed It must be recalled that m agitated
vessels extsts a very high level of turbulencef24J
(2) The influence
of the diameters
ratio T/d, as

obtamed by a complete treatment of experimental data,

leads to a very low value of the exponent, 0019 This
result supports
the hypothesis
assumed
durmg the
experimental work of negIectmg this mfluence and shows
that the corresponding plots (Fig 4-6) represent with a
good approximation the influence of single variables
(3) The effect of the solids quantity group 1s very
shght (exponent - 0 011) Note that the data obtamed at
h&h values of the quantity group, % > 2,900, have not
been taken mto account into the correlation
Nevertheless
these few results seem to be slgmficant
and show a begmnmg of rapld decrease m Sherwood
number
At first, this effect can be attributed to an incomplete
suspension of sohd particles But another explanation IS
possible related to varlatlons
m the hydrodynamical
situation inside the vessel
Indeed It can be thought that when there are few
particles inside the vessel, the condltlons of flow and
particularly of turbulence that prevad are those created
by the agtator On the contrary, at high particle concentration It seems more reasonable to thmk that the nutlai
turbulence
level, as created
by the agitator, only
concerns a few pamcles
which are m the nnmedlate
vlcuuty of the center of the vessel The turbulence level
would then be rapidly damped away mslde the porous
suspended medium
These are not really explanations but onEy comments
Nevertheless
they seem worthwhile dlscussmg a little,
because they suggest that the problem IS not so simple
and that there could be important dtierences
between
mass transfer at low and at high values of the sohds
quantity group
In view of mdustrtal appllcatlons
It
seems necessary to go on with higher sohds quantity
groups
(4) It 1s interesting to note the result obtained during
experiments with and without mert paticles
the mass
transfer rate 1s quite the same This shows that the fiow
conditions prevallmg around each mdmldual partlcle are
identical when It IS surrounded with dlssolvmg particles or inert particles This conclusion IS only vahd when
physIcal propertIes of both kinds of particles are Ident1cal
(5) The exponent of the Schmidt number hes in the
range l/3-1/2 of values predicted respectively
by the
boundary
layer theory[25]
and the surface renewal
theory[l3,26-271
(6) The dlscrepancles between our results and those of
other workers mdlcate that mass transfer rate IS probably
a close function of the geometrrcal charactenstics of the
system studied, as welt from the point of view of the
agrtatmg device, agrtator and vessel as for the sold
particles Therefore, It appears that the kmd of work
presented here should be repeated every time that a new
class of geometrically slmllar apparatus IS used
CONCLUSION

Sohd-hqurd mass transfer in agitated vessels IS a subject of major interest for which it exists a great confusion m the choice of theoretical supports, forms of
correlatrons and even lists of variables

Mass transfer from suspended sollds to a hquld In agitated vessels

Thus work proposes a sunple, semr-empulcal

way of
treatment leading to a complete and clear list of varyables Experunental data have been obtamed from drssolution of benzmc acrd particles m water, usmg simple
but careful modes of operation
Individual effects of vanables have been determmed
and a power law type correlation proposed wluch covers
a large range of expenmental con&tlons for a six-bladed
&SC turbine in a baffled tank Companson
witi previous
work does not lead to defimte conclusions
A general
agreement can be noted, but with non neghglble dlscrepancies that show that addltlonal expenmentai
work
is still necessary

T vessel diameter, L
p1 =(&)/(p&),
solid concentration
group
V vessel volume, L
W stvrer balde width, L
W,
baffle width. L

819
or quantity

Greek symbols
/A vlscoslty

of hquld, M L- T-
Y kinematic vlscosdy, L* T-
p denstty of hqutd, M L-
p. density of acid particles, M L-
stirrer angular velocity = 2lrN. T-
u

NOTATION

surface area, L*
mean surface area, L*
concentration, M L--
concentration at saturation, M Le3
Logarrthmlc mean of drlvmg forces, M L-
particle diameter, L
sturer diameter. L
dlffuslvlty, L2 T-
gravltafional constant, L T-*
= (P%d)l(~)
hquid depth, L
stllfer clearance, L
mass transfer coefficient, L T-
stvrer blade length, L
we&t
loss per umt time, M T-
total mass of particle, M
= (P. - P)/P, density group
number of particles
number of bafRes
number of stu-rer baldes
sturer speed, T-
= (dTwlr)l(~). Reynolds number (referred to
particle)
Rem = (Nda2p)/(p), Reynolds number (referred to
sturer)
ReT = (NT*p)/(p), Reynolds number (referred to
vessel)
S turbine diameter, L
SC = (p)/(pD), Schmidt number
Sh = (kd)/(Dv), Sherwood number (referred to
particle)
Sh, = (kDa)/(D,). Sherwood number (referred to
sturer)
= (kT)/(D,), Sherwood number (referred to
Shr
vessel)

REFZlWNCE3

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191 L.evms D M , Ph D Thesis, Universtty of Sydney (1969)

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[I21 H&ottP,AIChEJ
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_
National Pblytcchmque, Toulouse (1976)
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the
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