Example 9-1: Designing a New Agitator.

A new process is to
be carried out in a baffled vessel that is 6 ft (1.83 m) in
diameter. The liquid depth will be 6 ft (1.83 m). At the end of the
process an inhibitor is added to stop the reaction and it must be
blended to 99.5% homogeneity within 0.5 min to prevent
“overreaction” and production of a product with too high a
molecular weight. At this point in the process the fluid has a
specific gravity of 1.02 and a viscosity of 18 cP.

Answer: The design is complete. The agitator will require a 1.5

hp motor with an output speed of 56 rpm. The impeller will be a
pitched blade turbine 36 in .in diameter.

Page no 514 BLENDING OF MISCIBLE LIQUIDS

Example 9-2: Rating an Existing Agitator.

An existing vessel and agitator are being considered for a new

process. The vessel is 3 m in diameter and the liquid depth will
be 2.5 m. The fluid will have a viscosity of 500 mPa · s and a
density of 980 kg/m3. The impeller is a hydrofoil, with a power
number of 0.33, 1.0 m in diameter and operating at 125 rpm.
What will the blend time be?
 Considering mixing process where the fluid involved has the
following properties Kinematic viscosity () = 10-3 m/s, Density
() =1000 kg/m3 , Suppose a 20 Watt electric mixture is used to
mix a 1 L of Mixture
Calculate: - Size of the smallest turbulent eddies, lifespan, and
Speed of the flow within these smallest eddies.
Solution:-
Assumptions:-
1) Flow is high Reynolds number
2) At the smallest scales, the turbulence loses all directional
preference.
3) Equilibrium of the Energy Cascade
At equilibrium condition
Dissipation power (ε ) = Power input (Pin)
20 [ W ]
ε= =20 Watt /kg
1000 [ kg /m3 ] ×0.001 [ m ]
3

Results:-
1 ¿ Length scale ( η )=2.66 mm
2) Time scale ( τ η )=7.07 ms
3) Velocity Scale ( μη ¿=¿0.376 m/s.
Example Calculation of Solid–Liquid Mass Transfer
Coefficient.
It is desired to prepare a 25◦C aqueous solution of potassium
sulfate containing 0.09 g K2SO4/g solution in an agitated 48 in.
diameter stainless steel reactor.
Calculate:
(a) The solid–liquid mass transfer coefficient at Njs, the
minimum impeller speed required to suspend the potassium
particles completely.
(b) The rate of dissolution of the solids at Njs.
The required data for solving this problem include:
Solid loading - 0.05 g/cm 3 of solid free liquid
Solution viscosity - 1.01 cP or 0.00101 kg/m.s
Solution density 1.08 g/cm 3 or 1080 kg/m3
K2SO4 density 2.66 g/cm3 or 2660 kg/m3
K2SO4 particles size 324 μm or 0.000324 m
Solubility of K2SO4 0.12 g/g of solution
Bulk concentration 0.09 g K2SO4/g solution
Diffusivity of K2SO4 in water 9.9 × 10−6 cm2/s

SOLUTION:-
(a) For this simple dissolution a high efficiency impeller will be
used (see below for the rationale). From Table 10-3 select an A-
310 impeller with diameter, D, equal to the half the vessel
diameter, T (i.e., D = T/2, 24 in. or 0.61 m and located at T/4
from the vessel bottom). First, calculate Njs using the Zwietering
correlation,

0.1 0.2
N js =S ν d p ¿ ¿
The value of S from Table 10-3 for a T/2 A-310 located at a
clearance of T/4 from the vessel bottom is 7.1.

Parameters for Solids Suspension in Dished Vessels Handbook of industrial mixing_ science and practice Page No
560

[ ] [ ]
0.45 0.13

( )
0.1
0.00101 9.81(2.66−1.08) 0.09 ×100
N js =7.1 0.000324 0.2
0.61−0.85
1080 1.08 1−0.09

N js =2.4 rps∨144 RPM

Second, calculate the Sherwood number, Sh, using the
correlation developed by Nienow and Miles (1978):

( ) ( )
1/ 2 0.38
K SL d p ρ v d μL
=2+0.44 × L t p ×
DA μL D A ρL

The Schmidt and Reynolds number for this system are

μL 1.01 ×10
−2
SC= =
D A ρ L 1.08 ×9.9 × 10−6

SC = 945
Calculate Vt, as pointed out earlier, the calculation is an
iterative one since the equation to use depends on the value of
ReP, which in turn depends on Vt , An Equation solver such as TK
Solver can be used to quickly perform the required iterative
solution. For this system, it turns out that the intermediate law is
what applies, as shown below. So we use eq. and the
appropriate expression for CD from Table 1:

( )
1/ 2
4 gC d p ( ρs−ρ l )
V t=
3 C D ρl

V t=
√( 4 g C d p ( ρ s−ρl )
3C D ρl )
Where CD is given by C D =18.5/ ℜp
3 /5
and ReP by

ρl V t d p
ℜ P=
μ

V t=
√( 4 ×9.81 ×0.000324 ( 2.66−1.08 )
3 ×C D ×1.08 )
 ℜ P=
1.08 ×10−3 ( m3kg ) ×V ( ms )× 0.000324 (m)
t

kg
0.00101( )
ms
Solving these iteratively with an equation solve, we obtain
Vt =0.04 m/s or 0.13 ft/sec and ReP = 14

The value of ReP is within the intermediate law regime: therefore, we

accept the settling velocity calculated
Substituting the values for ReP, and SC into the following given

K SL d p 1 /2 0.38
=2+0.44 × ( 14 ) × ( 945 ) = 24
DA

K SL d p
=24
DA

DA 9.9 ×10
6
K SL =Sh =24 ×
dp 0.0324
K SL =7.4 × 10−3 cm/ s

b) The initial dissolution rate corresponds to the case where [A]

=0 and can now be calculated with equation as follows,
∅
a P=6
ρ s dp
−2
5× 10
a P=6 −2
2.66 × 3.24 ×10

2 3
a P=3.5 cm /cm

The initial rate of dissolution using eq is

Na = KSL aP (C*-C0) …………… (1)

Na = (7.4×10-3×10-3×3.5) (0.12×1.08- 0.0)

= 3.36 ×10-3 g/cm3.s
 Note that as the particles dissolve (1) The particle size dp
decreases (2) the bulk concentration increases, thus decreases
driving force, and 3) KsL increases. This time depended changes
have to be accounted for to obtain the final dissolution rate and
how long it takes to dissolved all the particles completely.