A study on blending characteristics of axial flow impellers

Abstract

Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Process Engineering, Technicka 4, 166 07 Prague 6, Czech Republic This paper presents an analysis of the blending characteristics of axial flow high-speed impellers under a turbulent regime of flow of an agitated low viscosity liquid. The conductivity method is used to determine the time course of blending (homogenisation) of miscible liquids in a pilot plant fully baffled mixing vessel, and a torquemeter is used for measuring the impeller power input in the same system. Four-blade and six-blade pitched blade impellers and three high efficiency axial flow impellers are tested for the given degree of homogeneity (98%). The experimental results and also the results of the authors´ previous study, in accordance with the theoretical approach described in the literature, show that there is a universal relationship between the impeller power number and the dimensionless blending time, taking into consideration the impeller-to-vessel diameter ratio, independent of the geometry of the axial flow impeller but dependent on the degree of homogeneity. This relationship is found to be valid on a pilot plant scale under a turbulent flow regime of an agitated liquid. Keywords: axial flow impeller, pitched-blade impeller, turbulent flow, impeller power input, blending time