AGITATION

THEORETICAL QUESTIONS

1. The following are the purposes of agitation except:

a. Suspending solid particles
b. Blending miscible liquids
c. Dispersing a gas, immiscible with the first, to form an emulsion
d. Promoting heat transfer between the liquid and a coil
2. It is the measure of the ratio of the inertial stress to the gravitational force per unit area
acting on the liquid.
a. Reynolds number
b. Froude number
c. Weber number
d. Power number
3. This dimensionless number for a stirred tank is the ratio of the fluid kinetic energy at the
impeller tip speed to a surface tension stress based on agitator diameter.
a. Reynolds number
b. Froude number
c. Weber number
d. Power number
4. The optimum ratio of impeller diameter to vessel diameter for liquid-liquid extraction
vessels is:
a. 0.40
b. 0.25
c. 0.60
d. 0.5
5. Cavern is used to describe the well-mixed, turbulent region around the impeller.
a. True
b. False

PROBLEM SOLVING
1. A tank having a flat blade turbine agitator with disk having six blades has the following
dimensions. Tank diameter is 1.5 m, turbine diameter is 0.5 m. Tank diameter is equal to
its height and the width of each blade is 0.1 m. The tank contains 4 baffles, each having
a width of 0.14 m. The turbine is operated at 90 rpm. Calculate the power requirement to
operate the mixer. The following are the properties of the liquid.

Viscosity= 10 cp
kg
Density= 900
m3

SOLUTION:

90 2
ρND a2 900( 60 )0.5
N ℜ= =
=33750
μ
10(0.001)

P
N p= ; N p=5
ρ N D a5
3

90 3 ( 5 )
P= (5 )( 900 ) 0.5 =0.47 kW
60

2. An existing agitation system for a flat-turbine with a disk and six blades is given with the
following conditions
kg
D T 1 =1.5 m, D a 1=0.5 m ,W 1=0.10 m, N 1=1.5 rps , ρ=900 , μ=0.01 Pa. s .it is desired
m3
to scale up these results for a vessel whose volume is 2.0 times as large where equal
rate of mass transfer is desired.

π D2 π 1.52 ( )
V 1= H= 1.5 =2.651m
3
V 2=2 ×2.651=5.302m 3
4 4

5.302 13
R= ( 2.651 )=1.260

Thus, the dimensions of the larger agitation system are as follows:

DT 2 =1.89 m, Da 2=0.63 m ,W 2=0.126 m

1 23
N 2=1.50 ( 1.260) =1.286 rps
 0.632 (1.286) 900
N ℜ= =45937.206
0.01

Using Np=5,

P2=( 5 )( 900 ) ( 1.2863 ) ( 0.635 ) =0.950 kW

P1 0.47 kW
= =0.18 3
V 1 2.651 m

P2 0.950 kW
= =0.18 3
V 2 2.651 ×2 m

3. Using the following conditions for a turbine with a disk. Calculate the mixing time.
kg
D T =1.5 m, D a=0.5 m, W 1=0.10 m , N 1=1.5 rps , ρ=900 , μ=0.01 Pa . s
m3

90 2
ρND a2 900( 60 )0.5
N ℜ= =
=33750
μ
10(0.001)

Using f T =4.0

2 1

f T=
( )
t T ( N Da ) g 6 Da 0.5
2 3

3
0.5 2
H Dt
2 1

4=
( 2 3
)
t T ( 1.5( 0.5) ) g 0.50.5 6

3
0.5 2
1.5 1.5
t T =16.73 seconds

4. For a turbine with a disk, the calculated mixing time is 18 seconds. Determine the
density of the liquid in the vessel. The following are the properties of the tank and the
liquid.

D T =H=2.5 m , D a=0.75 m ,W 1=0 .15 m, N 1=3.5 rps , μ=0.01 Pa . s

2 1
18 ( ( 3.5 × 0.75 ) ) g 0.75
2 3 6 0.5

f =
T 3
=5.5
0.5 2
2.5 2.5
 ρ(3.5)0. 7 52
N ℜ= =10000
(0. 01)

kg
ρ=50.8
m3

5. Determine the power consumption of a high efficiency impeller with the following data
given.

kg
D T =H=3.0 m , D a=0.70 m ,W 1=0 .15 m, N 1=2.0 rps , μ=0.01 Pa . s , ρ=928
m3

928(3.0)0.7 0 2
N ℜ= =136416
( 0.01)

Np= 0.3

P= ( 0.3 )( 928 ) ( 2.0 3 )( 0.705 )=0.374 kW