NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF FLOW BEHAVIOUR OF

HIGHLY VISCOUS FLUID IN AGITATED VESSEL

Setsuro HIRAOKA, Ikuho YAMADAand
Katsumi MIZOGUCHI
Department of Industrial Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of
Technology, Nagoya 466

A numerical algorithm of two-dimensional laminar flow in an agitated vessel is established and

the numerical results of the power input, the stream line and the velocity profiles for paddle and
anchor impellers of various sizes are comparedwith the experimental ones. Both results are
in good agreement with each other and it is concluded that the flow pattern in an agitated vessel
with large-width impeller is almost two-dimensional. It is also shown that the characteristic
velocity and length defined for the analogy expression of the transport phenomenaat the agitated
vessel wall by the authors are very useful for the local similarity of momentumtransfer at and
near the vessel wall for small-size impeller of cf/D^O.6 in high ReGrange.

This paper deals with establishment of a numerical

Introducti on algorithm for two-dimensional flow pattern in an
In chemical and related industries, mixing of highly agitated vessel, where the flow in the agitated vessel is
viscous fluid takes place very frequently, and the assumed to be identical with the two-dimensional flow
performance of power input, heat transfer and mixing in a sector, and with comparison between calculated
time have been studied by many investigators. A and experimental power input data in paddle- and
few reports on the relationship between these per- anchor-agitated vessels. The relationship between
formances and flow patterns in agitated vessels have local similarity of velocity profiles and characteristic
been presented. Peter and Smith9} measured the quantities, vd and L, is also discussed.
stream line by using a cine-record of the movementof
small suspended beads, and discussed the relationship 1. Governing Equations
between mixing time and geometrical parameter ob- The differential equation for the stream function
tained from vortex measurementbehind the impeller using the R, 0 cylindrical coordinates, which is
blade. Murakami et al.5) also measured three-di- equivalent to the Navier-Stokes equation, is expressed
mensional flow patterns in typical agitated vessels by as
using streak-line photographs of polystyrene bead d(W, P2W) =vVW
tracers, and presented the distributions of energy dt +r'
d(R, 6)
dissipation rate and shear characteristics of high- (1)
F2=
4_±.J_4 _L
viscosity fluid mixing devices. However, it is obvious dR2TR dR^R2
that accurate stress distribution in the vessel can
hardly be obtained from the stream line measurement. where d(W,P2W)/d(R,&) means the Jacobians, and the
Recently Riha et al.10), Murakami et al.6), Lhota stream function satisfies the following relations :
and Mitschka4) and Birardi et al.1] studied the nu- Ue=d¥/dR, UR= ~dW/Rd0 (2)
merical analysis of the flow patterns in high-viscosity Let Eq. (1) be applied to the flow domain in an
fluid mixing devices. These numerical algorithms are agitated vessel with paddle impeller, where the R, &
very complicated, and the assumption about pressure coordinates system is fixed on the vessel and the im-
distribution is too simple from a physical point of view. peller is rotating with constant angular velocity,
Sweeney and Patrick11] have also investigated the flow 27rN, as shown in Fig. l(a). In this case, the boundary
of Newtonian and Non-Newtonian power law fluids conditions are expressed by the following three terms :
past plates perpendicular to the flow direction by (i) U&=2tcNR, Ur=0 at impeller and shaft
using the numerical method, in order to examine the (ii) U@=UR=-
-0 atvesselwall
flow pattern in mixing devices. (3)
Received January 30, 1978. Correspondence concerning this article should (iii) R2zmd0=O at d/2<R^D/2
be addressed to S. Hiraoka. dR)t

VOL. ll NO. 6 1978 487

 formed into
(i) U^=U^=0 atimpeller and shaft
(i ) U£=itND, U^=0 atvesselwall , ,r.
\ \y)

(iii) -^[^R'VjwdO^O
aKj0
at d/2<R'^D/2

Comparison of Eqs. (1) and (3) with Eqs. (4) and

(6) shows that the stream line in the impeller-rotating
system is identical to that in the vessel-rotating one
at the steady-state condition. In this paper the flow
pattern is analyzed, based on Eqs. (4) and (6).
2. Calculation Procedures
In the numerical analysis, Eq. (4) is divided into
simultaneous elliptic partial differential equations by
using the vorticity function, and these are reduced to
nondimensional equations by considering the rota-
Fig. 1 Coordinates system tional velocity of the vessel wall, V, and the vessel
radius, D/2, as the characteristic quantities.

r d(r96)

* 3«2~ Cs»~M2
(7)
dr2 rdr' r2 dd2
where r=2Rf/D, 0=6', <p=2W'/VD, Re=DV/2v
and the first equation implies the definition of the
vorticity in this coordinates system. The boundary
conditions, Eq. (6), are transformed into the follow-
ing expressions.
(i) -w-=-^r=0
or do at impeller and shaft

(ii) fl =l, Mf=® atvesselwall

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of division for dif- C
ference approximation (8)
where the third term means the conservation of Finite-difference approximation The flow domain in
angular momentumat the steady-state condition. Fig. l(b) is divided into MxNsub-domains as shown
To simplify the numerical calculation, the ^©-co- in Fig. 2, and Eq. (7) is transformed into finite-dif-
ference equations at the nodal point (i,j) by using
ordinates system fixed on the vessel is transformed
into R\0'-rotating coordinates system fixed on the fivepoint-difference form.
impeller, which has an angular velocity of 2tcN, as
shown in Fig. l(b). Then, Eq. (1) is transformed into
the following equation at steady state3\ +2^(^+i,i-^-i,i)+^,i} (9a)

R' d(R',6')
n> i a i a. 1" (4)

dR'2^R' dR'^R'2 d&'2

+^r((oi+1,3-oji_1j)-Fij \ (9b)
where Wis related to the new velocity components 2h
U£=dWf/dRf, U^=-dW'IR'd6f (5) /r<,i=(^/4r?Afc){(^i+lfy-^i_liy)(a>i>y+1-a><>y_1)

-(<Pi,3+l-<Pi,3-l)(<l>i+l,3- O>i-lj)} (9C)

Further the boundary conditions in Eq. (3) are trans-
* refer to Appendix. where a=(2/h2+2/r2k2) and /à",=/*(/- 1)+0.1, as shaft
488 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING OF JAPAN
radius is set to be one-tenth of the vessel radius. For
high Reynolds number range, the finite-difference
form of Fi>3- takes 'upwind' difference based on the
method of Gosmanet al.2).
The boundary conditions of Eq. (8) takes the follow-
ing difference forms, where the stream function is taken
to be zero at the impeller and shaft, and the vorticity
at the solid boundary is derived from the substitution
of the conditions of stream function at its boundary
into Eq. (9a).
(i) At impeller (0.1<rt<d/D)
Fig. 3 Flow chart for computation
«**.i=0, co^^licp,,^-^)/^ (10a)
where7=1,N+l and z=l,...,IP-I. directly be obtained with S.O.R. method. If the
At shaft (r!=0.1) vorticity satisfies the condition of Eq. (lOe), these be-
^M=0, a>ifi=2(02,y-^1|i)//ra (10b) comes real solutions. If not, a new value of (pw is
wherej=2,...,N. reassumed until the vorticity satisfies Eq. (lOe). Regula-
At edge of impeller (rIP=d/D) Falsi method is used to search the real value of <pw.
In the numerical calculation, the number of divi-
sions MxNis taken in the range 20x20 to 38x38,
Q)IPij=2(0IP+l!J-<pIPj)lh2
maintaining accuracy in the finite-difference equations
+(<piP,2+<piP, N -2<pIP,j)/rfPk* (10c) for each different size of impeller. The iteration in
where j=l,N+l9 and the vorticity takes the S.O.R. method is repeated until the following con-
average value of 270° corners11}, since the blade vergence criteria are satisfied simultaneously.
is assumed to be very thin. ^zicr-^rii/iiiCiK10"4 )
(ii) At vessel wall (rM+1=1.0) (ii)
i,3 i,3 J
0jr+i,i=0«,==const.,

o)M+u=2{((pMj~ <fiM+1,j)+h VW (10d) where (p{n) and co{n) mean the n-th iterative values of
where7=1,...,N+l. <p and a), respectively, whereas the convergence cri-
terion in Regula-Falsi method is
(iii) the conservation of angular momentum
J Reh\ l w, / v n e= |^-^i+(^-){(^+i-^-i)^}i|/l^l< 10-8
wi+1-^t-i+yjrj^j "jf+i S (4>i,3+i-<Pi,*-i)a>ij=o
(12)
(10e)
2 N+1 Somesolutions in this study are obtained from other
finite-difference equations based on ln(r), 6 Cartesian
coordinates system, reducing the calculation time.
where k=IP+l9...,M+l and this summation
The numerical value of the power input for the
equation can be derived from both Simpson and impeller-rotating system is obtained as the product of
trapezoidal integral rules.
For the other nodal points at the boundary, where friction factor and modified Reynolds number,
i=IP+l,..., Mandj=l9N+l9 Eqs. (9a) to (9c) can f.ReG=-2V{(~y-iya)w+2) (13)
be<pi>2modified by introducing because
and a)i,N+2:=:o)i)2,
the conditions of ^^,^+2=is
the flow domain
where wwis the average vorticity at the vessel wall for
mathematically continuous at #=0 and 2%\np. the vessel-rotating system; for the definition of/, ReQ
Method of solution In this study, the successive- and r] refer to Nomenclature.
overrelaxation (S.O.R.) method is applied to solve a 3. Results and Discussion
set of finite-difference equations, Eqs. (9a) to (9c),
and the associated boundary conditions, Eqs. (10a) The numerical calculations are made mainly for the
to (lOe). The numerical algorithm is expressed as paddle impeller in the range of 0.3^^/2)^0.9 and
the flow chart in Fig. 3. First the numerical value 2<,np<L% at small Reynolds number. For the im-
of the stream function at the vessel wall has to be peller of d/D=0.3, 0.5, 0.8 and np=2 the effect of
assumed, because the constant value in Eq. (lOd) is Reynolds number is also examined.
unknownat the beginning of the numerical calculation. (A) Power input The calculation results of the
If a numerical value of (pw is once assumed, numerical power input for np=2 is expressed in Fig. 4 as the
solutions of the stream function and the vorticity can product of friction factor and modified Reynolds
VOL ll NO. 6 1978 489
 ^ å R^=^0Bfyif-ReG) (14)
The calculation results are easily compared with the
experimental ones for the large-width paddle im-
peller by Nagata et aV\ where Nagata's result is
corrected by the factor (1/1.2) to eliminate the effect
of the bottom plate. Both results are in good agree-
ment with each other, and this meansthat the flow in
an agitated vessel is almost identical with that in a
sector.
The effect of impeller blade numbernp on the power
Fig. 4 Relationship between power input and input at small Reynolds number is shown in Fig. 5.
impeller size for ReG->0
In the range ofnp usually used, the power input seems
to be proportional to one-third power of np.
The effect of Reynolds number onf-ReG is shown in
Fig. 6. The product,/à" ReGi seems to be independent
of Reynolds number and impeller diameter in the
range of ReG<l.O, but it is noted that the constant
value off-Re0 does not satisfies the similarity of the
flow pattern in an agitated vessel, being different
from that in duct flow. This problem will be discussed
later.
(B) Stream line and dissipation function Figure 7
Fig. 5 Relationship between power input and shows an example of the stream line and the dissipa-
impeller blade number for ReG-+0 tion function distribution in a vessel of d/D=0.5 and
np=2, where the stream line near the vessel wall is al-
most parallel to the vessel wall, and the energy dis-
sipation near the impeller tip is very large. These
schemata are almost similar to those for the different
size impellers, and agree qualitatively with the ex-
perimental results of many investigators.
(C) Shear stress and pressure gradient at vessel wall
The distributions of shear stress and pressure gradient
in 0 direction at the vessel wall are shownin Fig. 8
Fig. 6 Relationship between power input and for the impeller of d/D=0.3, 0.5, 0.8 and np=2 and
modified Reynolds number in laminar flow region for Re0-*0, where the angle 0 of the abscissa is
measured from the position being impeller blade to
inverse direction of impeller rotation. For the
ordinates, local shear stress is transformed into
(f'Rea)loc&1 by using the relation of Eq. (13), and
the pressure gradient is reduced from the vorticity
gradient in r direction at the vessel wall.
ReQ

dd
^m-A-3" d) dlnr
(15)

In the small Reynolds number range, a very interest-

ing result is seen in that the shear stress has negative
value around the angle being impeller blade, and
Fig. 7 Profiles of stream function and dissipa- that for a small impeller the maximumshear stress
tion function in ReG->0 for paddle impeller of appears at the mid-angle of the open angle made by
d/D=0.5 two impeller blades. For the pressure gradient in
6 direction, it is seen that the profile around the mid-
number vs. the diameter ratio of impeller to vessel, angle becomes flatter, whereas that around the angle
where this product is related to that of power number being impeller blade becomes steeper, as impeller size
and impeller Reynolds number, NP -Red, as becomes larger. And the pressure gradient profile
490 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING OF JAPAN
 Fig. 8 Profiles of shear stress and pressure Fig. 9 Velocity profiles near vessel wall for
gradient at vessel wall for ReG-+0 high ReG range

for a large-size impeller agrees qualitatively with the

pressure balance model proposed by Niida et al.8).
(D) Local similarity of velocity profiles Although
prediction of power input and flow pattern is the
major goal for design, the relationship between the
local similarity of velocity profiles and the character-
istic quantities, vd and L, is of phenomenological in-
terest.
The nondimensional velocity profiles by these
characteristic quantities are shown in Fig. 9. The
velocity near the vessel wall varies almost linearly
with the logarithmic distance from the vessel wall, and
the velocity profiles for small impellers, d/D=0.3
and 0.5, are almost in agreement with each other at
the same ReGover the half-region between vessel wall
and impeller tip. But the velocity profile for a large
impeller, d/D=0.8, seems not to agree with that for
small impellers even if ReGis the same.
The shear stress distribution and the pressure
gradient profiles in 6 direction at the vessel wall are Fig. 10 Profiles of shear stress and pressure
shown in Fig. 10, where these are also nondimen- gradient at vessel wall for high ReG range
sional with the characteristic velocity and length.
The same tendency is seen as that for the velocity the characteristic velocity and length are very useful
profiles, i.e., the shear stress distributions and the for the local similarity of the transport phenomena at
pressure gradient profiles for small impellers are in and near the vessel wall for small impellers of djD^
good agreement with each other at the same ReG, 0.6* in the high ReG range.
whereas those for a large impeller does not agree The dimensionless velocity profiles, which are
with that for a small size impeller even at nearly equal reduced by the impeller tip velocity, nNd, and the
ReG value. It is concluded from Figs. 9 and 10 that impeller radius, d/2, are shown in Fig. ll. The veloc-
* Though the profiles for d/D=0.6 are not shown in Figs. 9
ity profiles at 1 8° for different size impellers are identi-
cal in the impeller sweeping region, but those at 81°
and 10, the velocity, vorticity and pressure gradient profiles
are in good agreement with that for d/D=03 and 0.5 at and 144° seem not to agree with each other even at
same ReG. the same impeller Reynolds number, Red. This
VOL. ll NO. 6 1978 491

Fig. ll Velocity profiles in impeller
region for high ReG range
The stream function in the anchor-agitated vessel
can be easily obtained from the same numerical al-
gorithm as shown in Fig. 3, modifying the boundary
condition at impeller. The calculated result of the
stream function for the anchor agitator of C/D=0A
is shown in Fig. 12, where it is seen that the stream
line profile is very similar to the photographs taken
by Peter and Smith9), Murakami et al.5) and Lhota
and Mitschka4). The numerical results of power
input are shown in Figs. 4 and 6 simultaneously. It
is clear that the power input depends strongly on the
diameter ratio of impeller to vessel and slightly on the
impeller type, as is already evident from the experi-
mental results by manyinvestigators.
Concluding Remarks
A numerical algorithm of two-dimensional laminar
flow in an agitated vessel is established and the nu-
merical results of power input, stream line and
sweeping velocity profiles for various sizes of paddle and anchor
impellers are compared with experimental results.
Both results are in good agreement with each other
and it is concluded that the flow pattern in an agitated
vessel with large-width impeller is almost two-di-
mensional. It is also shown that the characteristic
velocity and length defined for the analogy expression
of the transport phenomena at the agitated vessel
wall by the authors are very useful for the local
similarity of the momentumtransfer at and near the
vessel wall for a small impeller of d/D<^0.6 in high
ReG range.
This numerical algorithm is useful and easy to apply
to the analysis of non-Newtonian fluid flow in an
agitated vessel.
Appendix
Integrating the equation of motion in 6 direction with 0 in
0 to 2x, the following result is obtained.

Introducing the definition of vorticity and the continuity equa-

Fig. 12 Stream line in vessel with anchor agi- tion into Eq. (A-l), we obtain
tator for ReG->Q

perhaps is due to different wake flow behind the Considering the functions to be continuous at 0=0 and 2?r,
impeller blade and to different diameter ratio of shaft and exchanging integration for differentiation, Eq. (A-2) is
to impeller. reduced to
d f2jr f2?r
-r-X G)dd-Re\ ur(od0=0 (A-3)
4. Comparison with Experimental Data drJo Jo
The numerical results of stream line and velocity expressing ur with stream function, ur=-d<fi/rd0, Eq. (A-3)
becomes
profile for a large paddle impeller are compared with
the experimental results of Murakami et al.4). The ~-\ a>dd+^-\ (^r)codO=0 (A-4)
drJo rJo\dO) v J
numerical results agree well with the photograph and
figure in the paper of Murakami et aL, and this Acknowl edg ements
means that the flow pattern for a large impeller is The authors wish to express their thanks to the Ministry of
almost two-dimensional. Education of Japan for financial support.
492
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING OF JAPAN
 (0 = dimensionless vorticity [-]
Nomenclatur e
<Subscripts>
= impeller width [m]
local = local value
= blade width [m]
= vessel diameter [m] w = value at vessel wall
= impeller diameter [m]
= friction factor (=Twl(pv2d/2))
[å < Superscripts>
= coordinates system fixed on impeller
= grid space [-: - = average value over 6 direction
= characteristic length (= (Z>/2)? -ln(Z>A/)) [m] (n) = 72-th iterative value
= numberof division [-:
=rotational speed [s-1: Literature Cited
= power number 1) Biardi, G., M. Dente, F. Losco, S. Gordini and G.
[-: Antolini: Quad. dell'Ing. Chim. Ital, 12, 125 (1976).
np = number of impeller blade
P J/m: 2) Gosman, A. D., W. M. Pun, A. K. Punchal, D. B.
= pressure [m'
R = radius coordinate Spalding and M. Wolfshtein: "Heat and Mass Transfer in
Re t
Reynolds number (=D V/2v) Recirculating
3) Greenspan,
Flows", Academic Press (1969).
H. P.: "The Theory of Rotating Fluids",
Red impeller Reynolds number ( = Nd2/v) [-]
ReG modified Reynolds number (=Lvol'v) [-] Cambridge University Press (1969).
r dimensionless radius coordinate (=2R'ID) [-] 4) Lhota, E. and P. Mitschka: 5th CHISA Congress B-4.3
[-] (1975).
rip dimensionless impeller radius (=d/D) 5) Murakami, Y., K. Fujimoto, T. Shimada, A. Yamada
U radial velocity [m/s]
uR tangential velocity [m/s] and K. Asano: /. Chem. Eng. Japan, 5, 297 (1972).
ur [-] 6) Murakami, Y., K. Fujimoto, T. Shimada, M. Sekino, A.
dimensionless radial velocity
ue dimensionless tangential velocity [-] Yamada and S. Nakashima: 5th CHISA Congress B-4.1
V [m/s] (1975).
rotational velocity of vessel wall 7) Nagata, S., K. Yamamoto and T. Yokoyama: Memo.
characteristic velocity ( = (7r/2)iVd/3) [m/s]
Fac. Eng, Kyoto Univ., 19, 247 (1957).
= correction factor (=2 In (D\d)\(D/d-djD)) 8) Niida, T., T. Yoshida and R. Hirata: Kagaku Kogaku
e = convergence criterion Ronbunshu, 3, 109 (1977).
= correction factor (= 1 +exp[-10{(D/d)-1}]) 9) Peters, D. C. and J. M. Smith: Trans. Inst. Chem. Engr.,
V
45, T360 (1967).
6,0 tangential coordinate 10) Riha, P., K. Wichtere and J. Sestak: 4th CHISA Con-
v kinematic viscosity gress A-2.4 (1972).
P fluid density ll) Sweeney, E. T. and M. A. Patrick: 2nd European Con-
Tne stress component ference on Mixing, A4 (1977).
average shear stress at vessel wall
dimensionless dissipation function (A part of this paper was presented at the 42th Annual
stream function Meeting of The Soc. of Chem. Engrs., Japan, at Hiroshima,
= dimensionless stream function {^IW'IVD) [-] April, 1977).

VOL. ll NO. 6 1978 493