AGITATION AND MIXING

Nirmit Dave
CH-05, GUIDED BY:
SEM:-VIII Mr.M.N.VYAS
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Agitation:-
Agitation refers to the induced motion of a material in a
specified way, usually in circular pattern inside some sort of
container.

Mixing:-
Mixing is the random distribution, into and through one
another , of two or more initially separate phases.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Purposes of agitation:-
1.Suspending solid particles.
2.Blending miscible liquids.
3.Dispersion of liquid, which is immiscible with other liquids, to form
emulsion or a suspension of fine drops.
4.Dispersion of gas through a liquid in the form of small bubble.
5.Promoting heat transfer between the liquids and a coil or jacket.
 AGITATION AND MIXING
Agitated Vessels:-
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Agitated vessels:-
- In agitation mostly cylindrical vessel with a vertical axis is used.
- The tank bottom is rounded, not flat, to eliminate sharp corners or
regions into which fluid currents would not penetrate.
- Liquid depth is approximately equal to the diameter of the tank.
- An impeller is mounted on shaft, that is, a shaft is supported from
above.
- The shaft is driven by a motor, sometimes, directly connected to the
shaft but more often connected to it through a speed-reducing
gearbox.
- Accessories such as inlet and outlet lines, coils, jackets, and wells
for thermometers or other temperature-measuring devices are
usually included.
- Baffles are usually included to reduce tangential motion.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Impellers:-
1.Axial flow impellers:-
Generate currents parallel with the axial of the impeller
shaft.
2.Radial flow impellers:-
Generate currents in a radial or tangential direction .

- For low to moderate viscosity liquids propellers, turbines, and high

efficiency impellers are used.
- For very viscous liquids, the most widely used impellers are helical
impellers and anchor agitators.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Various type of impellers:-

 AGITATION AND MIXING

Propellers:-
- It is an axial flow, high speed impeller for liquids of low viscosity.
Small propellers speed is 1150 to 1750 rpm; larger one speed is 400
to 800 rpm.
- The direction of rotation is usually chosen to force the liquid
downward, and the flow currents leaving the impeller continue until
deflected by the floor of vessel.
- As shown in figure the standard three-blade marine propellers with
square pitch are most common; four blade, toothed, and other
designs are sometimes employed for special purposes.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Turbines:-
- The simple straight blade turbine pushes the liquid radically and
tangentially with almost no vertical motion at the impeller.
- The currents it generates travel outward to the vessel wall and then
flow either upward or downward. Such impellers are sometimes
called paddles
- It can rotate at the speed of 20 to 150 rpm.
- A pitched blade turbine is used when good overall circulation is
important, because it provides some axial flow in addition to the
radial flow.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Flow pattern:-
The way a liquid moves in an agitated vessel depends on
- Type of impeller
- Characteristics of the liquid, specially its viscosity
- Size and proportions of the tank
- Baffles
- Impeller
The liquid velocity at any point in the tank has three components
1. Radial component acts in a direction perpendicular to the shaft of
impeller.
2. Longitudinal component acts in a direction parallel with the shaft.
3. Tangential component or rotational acts in a direction tangent to a
circular path around the shaft.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

- When the shaft is vertical and centrally located in the tank, the
tangential component is generally disadvantageous. The tangential
flow follows a circular path around the shaft and create a vortex in
the liquid.
- If solid particles are present, circulatory currents tend to throw the
outside by centrifugal force; from there they move downward and to
the center of the tank at the bottom. Instead of mixing, its reverse
concentration occurs.
- If the swirling is strong, the flow pattern in the tank is virtually the
same regardless of the design of the impeller, and gas from above
the liquid is drawn down into the charge.
 AGITATION AND MIXING
Prevention of swirling:-
Circulatory flow and swirling can be prevented by three methods.
1. In small tanks, the impeller can be mounted off center. The shaft is
moved away from the centerline of the tank, then tilted in a plane
perpendicular to the direction of the move.
2. In larger tanks, the agitator may be mounted in the side of the tank,
with the shaft in a horizontal plane but at an angle with a radius.
3. In large tanks with vertical agitators, the preferable method of
reducing swirling is to install baffles, which impede rotational flow
without interfering with radial or longitudinal flow.
- Except in very large tanks, four baffles are sufficient to prevent
swirling and vortex formation.
- For viscous liquids even narrower baffles are generally used, and
baffles are not needed at all when µ>10 Pa·s.
- Baffles are also not needed with side-entering, inclined, or off-center
propeller.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Flow number:-
- Volumetric flow rate in the agitator is proportional to the cube of
impeller diameter.
q∞nDa³
- The ratio of these two quantities is called the flow number NQ,
which is defined by

NQ=q/nDa³

- For marine propellers NQ=0.50

- For a four blade 45º turbine NQ=0.87
- For a disk turbine NQ=1.30
- For HE-3 high efficiency impeller NQ=0.47
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Velocity patterns and velocity gradient:-
- As the fluid leaves the impeller blades, the radial component of the
fluid velocity, at the centerline of the impeller is about 0.6 times the
tip speed.
- The radial velocity decrease with vertical distance from the
centerline.
- As the jet travels away from the impeller, it slows down because of
the increased area for flow and because more liquid is entrained.
- Along the centerline of the impeller, the velocity drops more or less
linearly with radial distance.
- The total volumetric flow increases with radius because of further
entrainment and then drops near the vessel wall because the flow
has started to divided into the upward and downward circulation
loops.
- The velocity gradients in an agitated vessel vary widely from one
point to another in the fluid.
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- Increasing the impeller speed increases the tip velocity and the
circulation rate. It does not increase the fluid velocity at a given
location in the same proportion, for a fast-moving jet entrains much
more material from the bulk of the liquid than a slower-moving jet
does, and the jet velocity drops very quickly with increasing,
distance from the impeller.
- The velocity near the wall is very much less because near the wall
shear rate is much lower and the apparent viscosity may be much
higher.
- To avoid forming stagnant regions in the vessel an axial flow
impeller or helical impeller is required.
 AGITATION AND MIXING

Power consumption:-
- An important consideration in the design of an agitated vessel is the
power required to drive the impeller.
- When the flow in the tank is turbulent, the power requirement can be
estimated from the product of the flow q produced by the impeller
and the kinetic energy Ek per unit volume of the fluid.
q=nDa³NQ
and Ek = ρ(v2)²/2
if v2 = απnDa and the power requirement is
P = nDa³NQρ(απnDa)²/2
=ρn³Da5(α²π²NQ/2)