STIRRING OR AGITATION AND MIXING

Stirring or agitation is one oldest and commons unit operations of the

Chemical Engineering and it means to force the movement (generally circular) of
a fluid in the interior of a vessel by a mechanical or non-mechanical
mechanism.

There are a number of purposes for agitating of fluids and some of these are
briefly summarized the following:

1) Blending of two or more miscible or inmiscible liquids.

2) Dissolving of solids in liquids.
3) Dispersing of gases in a liquid as fine bubbles.
4) Suspending of fine solids in a liquid.
5) Promoting heat transfer between the liquid in a coil or jacket.

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 MIXING

The term mixing is applied to operations which tend to

reduce non-uniformities or gradients in compositions,
properties, temperature of matter in bulk or fluids.

The kind of problems that arise in the design and use of

mixing equipment are selecting the type, size and
operating conditions.

Agitation equipment: liquids are most often agitated in

cylindrical tank with an agitator. The top of the vessel
may be open or closed and bottom is rounded.

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STIRRED TANK

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 FLOW PATTERNS IN STIRRED TANKS
The liquid flow pattern established in stirred tanks
depends on the impeller design, the size and geometry of
the vessel, and the properties of the fluids.

● Rotational flow: all impellers

● Radial or horizontal flow: impellers with blades parallel

to the shaft.
● Axial flow: it is generated by impellers with inclined or

pitched blades that make an angle of less than 90 with

the plane of rotation.

● There are three main types of impeller: propellers,

paddles and turbines.
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FLOW PATTERNS IN STIRRED TANKS

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IMPELLER SELECTION

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 Types of impellers

For more details about design and selection of the impellers you should visit the next
web page: https://pharmacalc.blogspot.com.co/2016/05/types-of-agitators.html
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STIRRER POWER REQUIREMENT

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STIRRER POWER REQUIREMENT

Ungassed Newtonian Fluids

Rei: impeller Reynolds number

Ni: stirrer speed
Di: impeller diameter
ρ: fluid density
μ: fluid viscosity
NP: power number
P: power

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FLOW REGIMES

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TYPE OF IMPELLER

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12
Laminar regime Turbulent regime

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Values of NP for turbulent flow

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Values of NP for turbulent flow

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 Example of power requirement

A fermentation broth with viscosity 0.01 Pa*s -1 and

density 1000 Kg/m3 is agitated in a 50 m3 baffled
tank using marine propeller 1.3 m in diameter.
Calculate the power requirement for a stirrer
speed of 4 s-1
Np=0.35 and P=83 KW

Repeat the calculations for Rushton turbine and

pinched blade turbine.

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 McCabe, Smith and Harriot. Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering. fifth
ed.

Problems
9.1. A tank 1.2 m in diameter and 2m high is filled to a depth of 1.2 m with a latex
having a viscosity of 10 P and a density of 800 kg/m 3. The tank is not baffled. A
three-blade 360 mm diameter propeller is installed in the tank 360 mm from the
bottom. The pitch is 1:1 (pitch equals diameter). The motor available develops 8
KW. Is the motor adequate to drive this agitator at a speed of 800 rpmin?

9.2. What is the maximum speed at which agitator of the tank described in Prob. 9.1
may be driven if the liquid is replaced by one having a viscosity of 1 P and the same
density?

9.3. What power is required for the mixing operation of Prob. 9.1 if a propeller 360
mm in diameter turning at 15 r/s is used and if four baffles, each 120 mm wide, are
installed?

9.4. The propeller in Prob. 9.1 is replaced with a six-blade turbine 400 mm in
diameter, and the fluid to be agitated is a pseudoplastic power-law liquid having an
apparent viscosity of 15 P when the velocity gradient is 10 s- 1. At what speed
should the turbine rotate to deliver 1 kW/m3 of liquid? For this fluid n' ~ 0.75 and p ~
950 kgfm 3 . 17