Revisiting the Performance of a Coaxial Mixer

Abstract

The performance of a coaxial mixer combining an anchor and a Rushton turbine was investigated for different diameter ratios and rotating modes in the laminar and transition flow regimes. Based on mixing efficiency criteria, this study confirmed that the co-rotating mode is consistently yielding the best results in the laminar and early transition regimes. The best performance was obtained for a turbine to tank diameter ratio of 1/3. In the upper transition and turbulent regimes, the best performance was obtained with the anchor at rest acting like two opposed baffles. With such a configuration, the optimum diameter ratio was found to be 1/2. New definitions of Reynolds number and power number were also introduced based on new characteristic diameter and speed. These correlations shown to be applicable for radial and axial impellers and are significantly better than the ones proposed in the literature.