Introduction to

Mixing

Daniel Ribeiro
 Outline

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Broad presence of mixing processes
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Classification of mixing processes
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Summary
 Mixing Processes

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Central process in many industries
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Fine chemicals
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Food
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Pharmaceutical
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Home and personal care products
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Plastics
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Ceramics
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Rubber
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Paper
 Mixing Processes

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Inadequate understanding of mixing
leads to an estimated cost of $1 to 10
billion per annum to the process
industries.
– Industrial Mixing Research Needs, AIChE(1989),
Tatterson & Calabrese (eds.)
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There are no widely accepted design codes
associated with mixing, as the case of shell
and tube heat exchangers for example.
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Generally there is very little instrumentation
to analyse a mixing process.
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Scale-up and scale-down rules must be used
with great caution.
 Challenges in mixture systems
•
Agitators system projects are generally based in empirical and
experimental models
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Simplifications in predictions to determinate time and level of the
mixture
•
Correlations has a lot of limitations, leading to necessity of
realization of experiments in small scales, and after that, the
project scale up
–
Scale up correlations has also a lot of limitations
“The problem of two or more substances mixtures has been one of more complicated unit
operations in hole Chemical Engineer. There isn’t, at present time, any standard theory where is
possible to qualify the impeller performance”.
Coulson & Richardson Vol 2, Ch 18.

CFD  appears  as  powerfull  toll,  able  to  fill  the  blank  between 
experimentals models and industrial applications !
 Single-phase Miscible Liquid Mixing

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Example: blending of petroleum products
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Objective: Reduce the non-uniformities.
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Usually, involves neither chemical reaction nor
interface mass transfer
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May be difficult to achieve when density or
viscosity ratio is high
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May be difficult to achieve if one liquid has a
small volume fraction
 Liquid-liquid Immiscible Mixing

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Example: solvent extraction, emulsification,
etc
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Objectives:
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Disperse liquid droplets in a continuous liquid phase.
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Increase interfacial area.
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Usually, involves interface mass transfer.
 Solid-liquid Mixing

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Example: crystallization, solid catalyzed liquid
reaction, etc.
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Objectives:
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Suspend solid particles in a liquid.
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Achieve uniformity.
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Usually, involves chemical reaction and
interface mass transfer
 Gas-liquid Mixing

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Example: oxidation, hydrogeneration,
biological fermentations, etc.
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Objective: disperse gas bubbles in a
continuous liquid phase.
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Usually, involves interface mass transfer and
chemical reaction.
 Other Types of Mixing

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Three phase mixing
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Example: hydrogeneration, froth floation,
evaporative crystallization,etc.

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Solids mixing
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Example: powder mixing
 Laminar Mixing

• At typical rates of energy input, viscosity must

be greater than 1 kg/ms to achieve truly
laminar mixing.

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Viscous forces usually dominate.
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Inertial forces quickly die out due to high
viscosity.
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Mixing is achieved by advection and
molecular diffusion.
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Rate of mixing is often low.
 Laminar Mixing

• Rotating impellers must occupy a significant

portion of the vessel if adequate bulk motion
expected.
•
• Close to impellers, large velocity gradients,
thus, high shear rates exist.
•
• All impellers exhibit a mix of radial and
tangential flow patterns.
 Turbulent Mixing

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Fluid viscosity is less than 0.001 kg/ms.
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Rate of turbulent mixing is much more rapid
than that of laminar mixing.
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The rate of mixing is greatest close to the
impeller.
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High shear, large Reynolds stress, high energy dissipation
 Turbulent Mixing

most energetic eddies λ T : scale of a turbulent eddy

isotropic
independent of impeller type

Kolmogoroff length scale

anisotropic
ygr e n E

function of impeller type

Largest eddies 1/λT Smallest eddies

 Summary

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Essential feature of many industrial
applications

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Different types of mixing processes

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Laminar mixing and turbulent mixing