Unsteady motion of the impeller is one of the several methods to improve mixing in unbaffled vessel. It is very important in pharmaceutical industry, crystallization processes or some chemical reaction with catalyst where baffles are not recommended. The literature data shows that unsteady mixing cause generation of axial flow for radial impellers (Rushton turbine). The purpose of this study was to investigate axial force for axial impellers like A315, HE-3 and SC-3. Moreover, the momentum number, flow number and pumping efficiency were analysed. Results shows that axial force for unsteady mixing is higher in comparison to steady-state mixing. Also, the comparison of axial force between impellers shows that blades influence momentum number and flow number. Impellers with larger blade surface generate stronger axial force. The obtained results reveal that unsteady mixing with axial impellers could be apply for solid-liquid mixing as suitable alternative to steady-state mixing.
This paper deals with the effect of impeller shape on off-bottom particle suspension. On the basis of numerous suspension measurements, correlations are proposed for calculating the just-suspended impeller speed for a standard pitched four-blade turbine and three types of hydrofoil impellers produced by TECHMIX for several particle sizes and for a wide range of particle concentrations. The suspension efficiency of the tested impellers is compared with the efficiency of a standard pitched blade turbine on the basis of the power consumption required for off-bottom suspension of solid particles. It is shown that the standard pitched blade turbine needs highest power consumption, i.e. it exhibits less efficiency for particle suspension than hydrofoil impellers produced by TECHMIX.
The comments made by Professor Joshi are a most welcome addition to the findings presented by us (Fort et al., 2010). We agree that many valuable studies in the past dealt with experimental investigation of turbulent velocity field in stirred systems with axial high-speed impellers. Therefore it would be highly desirable to present a comprehensive comparison of the efficiency of various types of impellers, especially for their optimum design for processes in chemical and biochemical industries. Nevertheless in such a comparison it should be taken to consideration the quality and reliability of experimental data, because both chosen experimental techniques and selected independent variables (position of impeller, viscosity and density of agitated liquid, etc.) have to be well defined and comparable in all investigated stirred systems.
Fort et al. (2010) have written another useful article on flow characteristics generated by axial high speed impellers. I agree with the authors that the knowledge of flow patterns is crucial for developing reliable design procedures for instance, for mixing and blending (Baldyga and Bourne, 1997; Nienow, 1997; Ranade et al., 1991), for solid suspension (Raghva Rao et al., 1988; Zwietering, 1958), for gas induction (Joshi and Sharma, 1977) and bioreactions where controlled shear is important (Joshi et al., 1996). With this context, the work of Fort et al. (2010) needs some clarification and further extension.
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