Agitation and Mixing

Agitation and Mixing
 Many operations depend upon effective agitation and mixing of

components
 Agitation: induced motion of a material
 Mixing: random distribution of two initially separate phases
 A single homogeneous material such as water in a tank can be
agitated but not mixed until another material is added to tank
Agitation and mixing
 agitation is a means whereby mixing of phases can be accomplished
and by which mass and heat transfer can be enhanced between
phases or with external surfaces
 Mixing is concerned with all combinations of phases of which the
most frequently occurring ones are
1. GASES WITH GASES

2. GASES INTO LIQUIDS: DISPERSION.
3. GASES WITH GRANULAR SOLIDS: FLUIDIZATION, PNEUMATIC
CONVEYING; DRYING
4. LIQUIDS INTO GASES: SPRAYING.
5. LIQUIDS WITH LIQUIDS: DISSOLUTION, EMULSIFICATION, DISPERSION
6. LIQUIDS WITH GRANULAR SOLIDS: SUSPENSION.
7. PASTES WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH SOLIDS.
8. SOLIDS WITH SOLIDS: MIXING OF POWDERS.
Purpose of Agitation
 Suspending solid particles in a liquid
 Blending miscible liquids e.g. methanol-water
 Dispersing a gas through a liquid in the form of small bubbles
 Dispersing a second liquid, immiscible with first to form an emulsion or

suspension of fine drops
 Promoting heat transfer between liquid and a coil or jacket.

Agitated Vessels
Round bottom to eliminate corners

where fluid cannot penetrate
Impeller is mounted on a shaft
Shaft driven by a motor
Baffles to reduce tangential motion of

fluid
Design of an Agitated Vessel
Flow patterns in Agitated Vessels
Depends upon
 Type of impeller
 Characteristics of the liquid (esp viscosity)
 Size and proportions of the tank, baffles and the impeller
3 velocity components
 Liquid velocity at any point has 3 components

1. Radial – perpendicular to the shaft of impeller
2. Longitudinal – parallel with shaft
3. Tangential or rotational – tangent to a circular path around the
shaft.
 Radial and longitudinal comp are useful in mixing
 When the shaft is vertical and centrally located; tangential
component is disadvantageous – creates a vortex
Impellers
 2 types
1. Generate currents parallel with the axis
of impeller shaft  Axial-flow impeller
2. Generate currents in a radial or
tangential direction Radial flow
impellers
 Axial flow impellers impose basically
bulk motion, and are used in
homogenization processes
 Radial flow impellers impose shear
stress to the fluid, and are used to mix
immiscible liquids
 Axial is in left and Radial is in right side.
High Efficiency Impellers
 High efficiency impellers are designed to

produce more uniform axial flow and better
mixing
 It Reduces power requirements
 In high efficiency impellers, blades are sometimes
folded to decrease the blade angle near tip
 It is used to mix low to moderate viscosity liquids
but not for very viscous liquids or dispersing gases.
Impellers for highly viscous liquids
 Helical ribbon impeller

 Having diameter almost equal to inside dia
of tank
 Promotes liquid motion all the way to the
tank wall with very viscous liquids
 Anchor Impeller
 Creates no vertical motion
 Less effective than helical
 Promotes better heat transfer
Anchor  May have scrapers to remove liquid from

tank wall
Helical Ribbon
Propeller
 Axial flow, high speed impeller is used for liquids of low viscosity
 Its rotation forces liquid downward until deflected by the floor vessel
 Propeller blades cut or shear the liquid
 Produces a helix in the fluid
Turbines
 Disk Turbine like straight blade turbine

creates zones of high shear rate
 Dispersing a gas in a liquid
 Pitched blade turbine is used when

good overall circulation is important
Straight blade turbine impeller
 Straight blade force liquid radially and

tangentially with no vertical movement.
 Current moves outward to vessel wall and
then either upward or downward
 Also called paddles
Vortex formation and its disadvantages
 If solid particles are present, they will

be thrown at the outside by
centrifugal force; and move
downward and to the centre of the
tank at bottom
 Instead of mixing; (reverse)
concentration occurs
 Relative velocity b/w blades and
liquid is reduced
 Hence power that can be absorbed
by the liquid is limited
Prevention of Swirling (Vortex)
 In small tanks, impeller can be mounted off

centre
 In large tanks, agitator may be mounted in the
side of the tank with an angle with the radius
 Installing baffles in large tanks (2,3 or 4)

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Agitation and Mixing

 Many operations depend upon effective agitation and mixing of

1. GASES WITH GASES

 Suspending solid particles in a liquid

 Blending miscible liquids e.g. methanol-water

 Dispersing a gas through a liquid in the form of small bubbles

 Dispersing a second liquid, immiscible with first to form an emulsion or

 Promoting heat transfer between liquid and a coil or jacket.

Round bottom to eliminate corners

Impeller is mounted on a shaft

Shaft driven by a motor

Baffles to reduce tangential motion of

 Liquid velocity at any point has 3 components

 High efficiency impellers are designed to

 Helical ribbon impeller

Anchor  May have scrapers to remove liquid from

 Disk Turbine like straight blade turbine

 Pitched blade turbine is used when

 Straight blade force liquid radially and

 If solid particles are present, they will

 In small tanks, impeller can be mounted off

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