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Purpose of agitation vessel:

Liquids are agitated for number of purposes which are given as follows
 Dispersing a second liquid, immiscible with the first, to form an emulsion or
suspension of fine drops.
 Promoting heat transfer between the liquid and a coil or jacket.
 Suspending solid particles
 Blending miscible liquids ,e.g. Methyl alcohol and water
 Dispersing a gas through the liquid in the form of small bubbles.

Prevention of swirling

There are three methods of prevention of swirling and vortex formation:

 Use of baffles

 Off-centre mounting of the impeller

 Use of diffuser ring with turbine

In small tanks, the impeller can be mounted off-centre as shown in Fig 1 In larger tank.., the
agitator may be mounted in the side of the tank with a shaft in horizontal plane but at an angle
with radius, as shown in Fig2.

Figure 1: Propeller of-centre and angular (unbaffled) figure 2: side entering propeller

In large tanks with vertical agitators, most common method of reducing swirling is to install baffles which
impede rotational flow without interfering with radial or longitudinal flow.
In an unbaffled vessel, there are strong tangential flows and vortex formations at moderate
speeds In the presence at baffles, the vertical flows are increased and there is more rapid mixing of
the liquid.
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Figure 1: Propeller of-centre and angular (unbaffled) figure 2: side entering propeller

With side entering. Inclined and off-centre propellers, baffles are not needed.
In case of turbines, the principal currents are radial and tangential. The tangential components induce (lead to
swirling and vortex.ing that must be stopped by the baffles or by the use of diffuser ring for impeller to be most
effective.

Blending and mixig:

Many different agitator applications fall into the category of Blending and Motion.  Among
these applications, simple liquid blending, liquid storage, heat transfer and batch reactors are
some of the more common.   The ChemScale design procedure emphasizes the common
elements or turbine agitator design, but also does not neglect unique features of some
applications.  To express and quantify the common characteristics of blending problems,
terms such as size, difficulty, and dynamic response are used throughout this procedure.  For
Blending and Motion problems, size is the equivalent volume, difficulty is the viscosity of the
liquid, and dynamic response is the bulk fluid velocity.  The Blending and Motion
ChemScale design procedure is broken down as follows:

Category:The Blending and Motion ChemScale design procedure should be considered

whenever the material to be
agitated is liquid or a combination of liquids.  In some cases the Blending and Motion
procedure is used when small quantities of solids or gases are present as finely divided
materials which behave as if they were part of the liquid.

Size: The size of an agitator problem for the Blending and Motion ChemScale is the
“Equivalent Volume”.  Equivalent Volume is equal to the actual volume multiplied by the
specific gravity.

Difficulty: Fluid viscosity is the ultimate resistance to fluid motion even in turbulent flow. 
By studying the effects of viscosity on liquid velocities and process results we can determine
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the appropriate relationship between fluid properties and agitator size, which is incorporated
into the ChemScale design procedure.

Dynamic Response: The ultimate purpose of a turbine agitator is to achieve a desired

process result.  However it is often difficult to state the process result with precision, or to
relate that result to one specific agitator.  Therefore, the design logic begins with the selection
of an appropriate dynamic response, followed by the design of agitators that will give that
response.  

The dynamic response for Blending and Motion applications is the Bulk Fluid Velocity.   The
Bulk Fluid velocity is calculated from the pumping capacity of the impellers divided by the
cross sectional area of  a square vessel of equal volume as the actual vessel.   Extensive
process experience has shown that the magnitude of the fluid velocity has a direct effect on
the process results associated with the agitation intensity and that equal velocities generally
result in similar “intensities” regardless of the batch size.  A Bulk Fluid Velocity ranging
from 6 to 60 ft/min characterizes the majority of applications of turbine agitators for Blending
and Motion.  For convenience and consistency a ChemScale level from 1 to 10 is assigned to
the bulk fluid velocities associated with Blending and Motion applications as follows:

BulkFluidVelocity(ft/min)
ChemScale=
6

Although ChemScale levels are related directly to bulk velocities, the real intent is to relate
the agitation intensity to process results as shown in the table below.  The utility of these
definitions can be enhanced with application experience.  Since ChemScale levels are based
on fluid motion and process performance the design levels do not change for different
impeller designs.  The agitator selections, horsepower and speed combinations, will change
based on the efficiency of the impeller.  For Blending and Motion applications, high
efficiency impellers such as the XE-3, HE-3, and SC-3, will provide the most optimum
selection.
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Mixing of liquids:

Considered when two fluids are mixed together, the molecular behavior of the
dispersed fluid falls between two extremes. If molecules are completely free to
move about, the dispersed fluid behaves as a micro fluid and exhibits no fluid
segregation. At the opposite extreme, the dispersed fluid remains as clumps
containing a large number of molecules and is termed a macro fluid. Furthermore,
as the macro fluid is transformed to a micro fluid by physical mixing processes
(e.g., turbulence or molecular diffusion), the degree and scale of segregation (i.e.,
the average of the segregated clumps) decrease. An important mixing operation
involves bringing different molecular species together to obtain a chemical
reaction. The components maybe miscible liquids, immiscible liquids, solid
particles and a liquid, a gas and a liquid, a gas and solid particles, or two gases. In
some cases, temperature differences exist between an equipment surface and the
bulk fluid, or between the suspended particles and the continuous phase fluid.
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The same mechanisms that enhance mass transfer by reducing the film thickness
are used to promote heat transfer by increasing the temperature gradient in the
film. These mechanisms are bulk flow, eddy diffusion, and molecular diffusion.
The performance of equipment in which heat transfer occurs is expressed in
terms of forced convective heat transfer coefficients.

Single-phase blending

Mixing of liquids that are miscible or at least soluble in each other occurs frequently in process
engineering (and in everyday life). An everyday example would be the addition of milk or cream to
tea or coffee. Since both liquids are water-based, they dissolve easily in one another. The
momentum of the liquid being added is sometimes enough to cause enough turbulence to mix the
two, since the viscosity of both liquids is relatively low. If necessary, a spoon or paddle could be used
to complete the mixing process. Blending in a more viscous liquid, such as honey, requires more
mixing power per unit volume to achieve the same homogeneity in the same amount of time.

Agitator vessel:

Agitator vessels represent equipment often used in process engineering. They are used in the
manufacture of chemical compounds, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and foods. The
functions of this apparatus range from the creation of a homogenous mixture via the
manufacture to emulsions and suspensions, right up to heating, cooling and evaporating.
They can be used for the absorption of gases in liquids, as reactors for chemical syntheses
and for aerobic fermentation. Several basic operations occur simultaneously in an agitator
vessel, including the important function of energy transmission for heat and material transfer.

We manufacture reactors for chemical reaction processes which feature diverse constructions
and material combinations according to the application conditions.

The high-precision implementation of high-quality equipment designs is imperative in order

to fulfil the demands of process engineering.

We manufacture agitator vessels according to your individual specifications – application-

related and product-orientated. On request we supply vessels completely with agitators and
the associated components.
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References:

[1] "Stirred Vessels". Bakker.org. 10 April 1998. Archived from the original on 14
August 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
[2] "Turbine principles". Cercell.com. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017.
Retrieved 23 June 2017.
[3] Edward L. Paul; Victor Atiemo-Obeng; Suzanne M. Kresta, eds. (2003). Handbook of
Industrial Mixing: Science and Practice. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-26919-9. Archived
from the original on 21 November 2012.
[4] "Power Number (Np) for turbines". Cercell.com. Archived from the original on 11
June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
[5] Nguyen, Nam-Trung; Wu, Zhigang (1 February 2005). "Micromixers—a review".
Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 15 (2): R1–R16.
Bibcode:2005JMiMi..15R...1N. doi:10.1088/0960-1317/15/2/R01.
[6] "Microfluidic Mixing - Redbud Labs". redbudlabs.com. Archived from the original on
2 January 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
[7] "High Viscosity Mixers: Dual and Triple Shaft Mixers". Hockmeyer.com. Archived
from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017