EFFECT OF IMPELLER CLEARANCE ON LIQUID FLOW WITHIN AN UNBAFFLED VESSEL AGITATED WITH A FORWARD-REVERSE ROTATING IMPELLER

For an unbaffled agitated vessel with an unsteadily forward-reverse rotating impeller whose rotation proceeds with repeated acceleration, deceleration, and stop-reverse processes, liquid flow was studied through visualisation and measurement using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). A disk turbine impeller with six flat blades was used with varied height settings. The impeller clearance and its forward-reverse rotation cycle characterised the impeller region flow: the radially outward flow in the deceleration process for the larger clearance relative to the vessel diameter of 1/3, and the axially downward flow in the acceleration process for the smaller clearance relative to the vessel diameter of 1/8. The flow patterns within the vessel resulting from the impeller's larger and smaller clearances were outlined, respectively, by double loops and a single loop of circulation, resembling the pattern produced by unidirectionally rotating turbine-type impellers. The discharge flow was revealed to contain a comparable level of periodic circumferential velocity component, irrespective of the impeller clearance.