Agitation and Mixing

• Effective agitation and mixing of fluids is one of the primary criteria for successful
completion of many processing operations.

• Agitation refers to the induced motion of a material in a specified way, usually in a

circulatory pattern inside some sort of container.

• Mixing is the random distribution, into and through one another, of two or more
initially separate phases.

• A single homogeneous material, such as a tankful of cold water, can be agitated, but it
cannot be mixed until some other material (such as a quantity of hot water or some
powdered solid) is added to it.
• Consider, in one case, two gases that are brought together and thoroughly mixed and, in a
second case, sand, gravel, cement, and water tumbled in a rotating drum for a long time.

• In both cases the final product is said to be mixed. Yet the products are obviously not
equally homogeneous.

• Here, we deals mainly with agitation of liquids of low to moderate viscosity, mixing of
liquids, liquid-gas dispersions and liquid-solid suspensions.

• Blending: Mixing solid ingredients.

• Mixing: many different substances together (miscible/immiscible)
 Mixing
• Purposes of mixing
I. Suspending solid particles Suspended solids refers to small solid particles which remain in suspension in water as a colloid or due to motion of
the water.

II. Blending miscible liquids, e.g., methyl alcohol and water

III. Dispersing a gas through the liquid in the form of small bubbles

IV. Dispersing a second liquid, immiscible with the first, to form an emulsion or
suspension of fine drops.
V. Preparation of emulsions, pastes and creams.

VI. Promoting heat transfer between the liquid and a coil or jacket
 Mixing of Liquids
• Liquids are usually mixed by impellers / agitator, which produce shear force for inducing the
necessary flow patterns in the mixing container.

• Mixing happens due to the three components acting on liquid

• Radial component

• Tangential component

• Axial / Longitudinal component

• Type of flow depends on

• Type of impeller

• Characteristics of fluid

• Size proportion of tank, baffles and impeller

 Agitation Equipment
• Liquids are most often agitated a tank or vessel, usually
cylindrical in form and with a vertical axis.

• The top of the vessel may be open to the air; more usually it is
closed.

• The proportions of the tank vary widely, depending on the

nature of the agitation problem.

• The tank bottom is rounded to eliminate sharp corners or

regions into which fluid currents would not penetrate.

• The liquid depth is approximately equal to the diameter of the

tank.
• An impeller is mounted on an overhung shaft, i.e., a shaft 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, jackets, and wells for thermometers or
other temperature-measuring devices are usually included.
• The impeller creates a flow pattern in system, causing the liquid to circulate through
the vessel and return eventually to the impeller.
Impellers
• Impeller agitators are divided into two classes:
• Axial impellers that generate currents parallel with the axis of the impeller shaft
• Radial impellers that generate currents in a tangential or radial direction.
• The three main types of impellers are
propellers, paddles, and turbines.

• Other special impellers are also useful in

certain situations, but the three main types
solve perhaps 95 percent of all liquid-
agitation problems.
 Propellers
• A propeller is an axial-flow, high-speed impeller used for liquids of low viscosity.
• Small propellers turn at full motor speed, either 1150 or 1750 r/min; larger ones turn at 400
to 800 r/min.

• The flow currents leaving the impeller continue through the liquid in a given direction until
deflected by the floor or wall of the vessel.

• The propeller blades vigorously cut or shear the liquid.

• Because of the persistence of the flow currents, propeller agitators are effective in very
large vessels.

Look at this for comparison

https://www.pharmacalculations.com/2016/05/types-of-agitators.html
• A revolving propeller traces out a helix, if there were no slip between liquid and
propeller in the fluid and one full revolution would move the liquid longitudinally to a
fixed distance depending on the angle of inclination of the blades.
• The ratio of this distance to the propeller diameter is known as the pitch of the propeller.
• A propeller with a pitch of 1.0 is said to have square pitch.
• Standard three-bladed marine propellers with square pitch are most common; four-
bladed, toothed, and other designs are employed for special purposes.
• Propellers rarely exceed 0.45 m in diameter regardless of the size of the vessel
• In a deep tank two or more propellers may be mounted on the same shaft, usually
directing the liquid in the same direction.
• Sometimes two propellers work in opposite directions, to create a zone of especially
high turbulence between them.
 Paddles
• For the simpler problems an effective agitator consists of a flat paddle turning on
a vertical shaft.
• Two-bladed and four-bladed paddles are common.
• Sometimes the blades are pitched; more often they are vertical
• Paddles turn at slow to moderate speeds in the center of a vessel; they push the
liquid radially and tangentially with almost no vertical motion at the impeller
unless the blades are pitched. (laminar flow)
• The currents they generate travel outward to the vessel wall and then either
upward or downward.
• In deep tanks several paddles are mounted one above the other on the same
shaft.
• In some designs the blades conform to the shape of a
dished or hemispherical vessel so that they scrape the
surface or pass over it with close clearance.
• A paddle of this kind is known as an anchor agitator. anchor agitator

• Anchors are useful for preventing deposits on a surface, as in a jacketed

process vessel, but they are poor mixers.
• Industrial paddle agitators turn at speeds between 20 and 150 r/min.
• The width of the blade is 1/6th to 1/10th of its length.
 Turbines
• Most of them resemble multi-bladed paddle agitators with short blades,
turning at high speeds on a shaft mounted centrally in the vessel.
• The blades may be straight or curved, pitched or vertical.
• The diameter of the impeller is smaller than of paddles,
ranging from 30 to 50 percent of the diameter of the vessel.
• Turbines are effective over a very wide range of viscosities.
• In low-viscosity liquids turbines generate strong currents that persist throughout the vessel,
seeking out and destroying stagnant pockets.
• Near the impeller is a zone of rapid currents, high turbulence, and intense shear.
• The principal currents are radial and tangential.
• The tangential components induce vortexing and swirling, which must be stopped by
baffles if the impeller is to be most effective.
 Flow patterns in agitated vessels
• The type of flow in an agitated vessel depends on the type of impeller; the characteristics of
the fluid; and the size and proportions of the tank, baffles, and agitator.
• The velocity of the fluid at any point in the tank has three components, and the overall flow
pattern in the tank depends on the variations in these three velocity components from point
to point.
• The first velocity component is radial and acts in a direction perpendicular to the shaft of the
impeller.
• The second component is longitudinal and acts in a direction parallel with the shaft.
• The third component is tangential, or rotational, and acts in a direction tangent to a circular
path around the shaft.
• In the usual case of a vertical shaft, the radial and tangential components are in a horizontal
plane, and the longitudinal component is vertical.
• The radial and longitudinal components are useful and provide the flow necessary for the
mixing action.
• 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 creates a vortex in the
liquid, for a flat-bladed turbine.
• If solid particles are present, circulatory currents tend to throw the particles to the outside by
centrifugal force, from where 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 In an
unbaffled vessel is virtually the same regardless of
the design of the impeller.

• At high impeller speeds the vortex may be so deep that it reaches the impeller
and gas from above the liquid is drawn down into the charge.
 Prevention of swirling
• Circulatory flow and swirling can be prevented by
any of following methods. In small tanks, the
impeller can be mounted off center, as shown in
Figure.
• The shaft is moved away from the centerline of the
tank, then tilted in a plane perpendicular to the
direction of the move.
• 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.
• 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. Baffles are flow-directing or obstructing vanes or panels used to direct a flow of liquid or gas.
• A simple and effective baffling is attained by installing vertical strips perpendicular to the
wall of the tank.
• Except in very large tanks, four baffles are sufficient to prevent swirling and vortex
formation.
• For turbines, the width of the baffle need be no more than one-tweleth of the vessel
diameter; for propellers, no more than one-eighteenth the tank diameter is needed.
• Once the swirling is stopped, the specific flow pattern in the vessel depends on the type of
impeller.
• Propellers are used when strong vertical currents are desired, e.g., when heavy solid
particles are to be kept in suspension (<50 P).
• Pitched-blade turbines with 45° down-thrusting
blades are also used to provide strong axial
flow for suspension of solids. baffling
 Draft tubes
• The return flow to an impeller of any type
approaches the impeller from all directions,
because it is not under the control of solid
surfaces
• When the direction and velocity of flow to
the suction of the impeller are to be
controlled, draft tubes are used, as shown in
Figure

• Draft tubes for propellers are mounted around the impeller, and those for
turbines are mounted immediately above the impeller
 shape factors
Standard Turbine Design (shape factors)

• The number of baffles is usually 4

• the number of impeller blades

ranges from 4 to 16 but is generally
6 or 8.
 Power required for mixing

Reynold’s No= Inertia force / viscous force

D N
2
N '
 a


Re

Froude’s No= Inertia force / gravitational

Da2 N 
N Fr 
g
Power No= External force per unit volume / Internal force per unit volume
P
Np 
N 3 Da5
 Power Requirements
• Power requirement depends on shape factor, density, viscosity and velocity of liquid
• P= f(µ, ρ, Da,N,g)
• Power Number

P  ND N Da 2 2
 f( , ) a

 N Da
3 5
 g
When we include shape factor

P
 f ( N Re , N Fr , S1 , S 2 , S3 , S 4 ,......S n )
 N Da
3 5
Baffled tanks
Figure : Power correlations for various impellers and baffles
(Geankoplis, 4th ed.)
 CONTD.
Curve 1. Flat six-blade turbine with disk; Da/W = 5; four
baffles each Dt/J = 12.
Curve 2. Flat six-blade open turbine ;Da/W = 8;four baffles
each Dt/J = 12.
Curve 3. Six-blade open turbine (pitched-blade) but blades at
450 ; Da/W = 8; four baffles each
Dt /J = 12.
Curve 4. Propeller (like Fig. 3.4-1); pitch 2D four baffles
each Dt /J = 10; also holds for same propeller in
angular off-center position with no baffles.
Curve 5. Propeller; pitch = Da four baffles each Dt /J = 10;
also holds for same propeller in angular off-center
position with no baffles.
Curve 6. High-efficiency impeller (like Fig. 3-4-4a); four
baffles each Dt /J = 12.
 PROBLEM
Example 1:Power Consumption in an Agitator
A flat blade turbine agitator with disk having six blades is installed in a tank.
The tank diameter Dt is 1.83 m, the turbine diameter Da is 0.61 m, Dt = H,
and the width W is 0.122 m. The tank contains four baffles, each having a
width J of 0.15 m. The turbine is operated at 90 rpm and the liquid in the
tank has a velocity of 10 cp and a density of 929 kg/m3.

a) Calculate the required kW of the mixer.

b) For the same conditions, except for the solution having a viscosity of
100,000 cp, calculate the required kW.
 AGITATOR SCALE-UP

 Scale-up the laboratory-size or pilot-size agitation system to a

full-scale unit.
 Scale-up procedure:
1. Calculate the scale-up ratio R. Assuming that the original
vessel is a standard cylinder with DT1 = H1, the volume is:
 DT21   DT31 
V1   ( H1 )    ----------------- Eq. (3.4-6)
 4   4 
The ratio of the volume is
V2  DT22 / 4   DT3 2 
  2 ( H1 )   3  ----------------- Eq. (3.4-7)
V1  DT 1 / 4   DT 1 
The scale-up ratio is then
1/ 3
V  D 
R   2    T 2 
 V1   DT 1  ----------------- Eq. (3.4-8)
2. Using this value of R, apply it to all of the dimensions in to
calculate the new dimensions. For Example,
Da2 = RDa1, J2 = RJ1…
3. Determine the agitator speed N2, to be used to duplicate the
small scale results using N1. The equation is:
n
D 
n
1
N 2  N1    N1  T 1 
R  DT 2 
Where n = 1 for equal liquid motion, n = ¾ for equal
suspension solids and n = 2/3 for equal rates of mass transfer
(which equivalent to equal power per unit volume, P1V1 =
P2V2 ). This value of n is based on empirical and theoretical
considerations.
4. Knowing N2, the power required can be determined using Eq.
Example 2: Scale up of Turbine Agitation System
An existing agitation system is the same as given in
Example:1a for a flat-blade turbine with a disk and six
blades. The given conditions and sizes are DT1 = 1.83 m,
Da1 = 0.61 m, W1 = 0.122 m, J1 = 0.15 m, N1 = 90/60 =
1.50 rev/s, ρ = 929 kg/m3 and µ = 0.01 Pa.s. It is desired
to scale up these results for a vessel whose volume is
3.0 times as large. Do this for the following two process
objectives:
a) Where equal rate of mass transfer is desired.
b) Where equal liquid motion is needed.