POWER-CONSUMPTION AND SOLID SUSPENSION IN COMPLETELY FILLED VESSELS

Mixing in a completely filled vessel, designed as a pressure vessel, has been investigated. The power demand of two pitched blade turbines of different sizes, and one high flow impeller was studied. The influence of side-mounted and bottom-mounted baffles, as well as the clearance between the bottom and the impeller was investigated. The experiments were carried out in a plexiglass vessel with a diameter of 288 mm. The Power number was calculated from measured data on the power demand and the impeller speed. Furthermore, preliminary studies on the critical impeller speed and power demand at the off-bottom suspension point for one set of glass particles were carried out. The Power number was mainly influenced by the impeller type, while the power demand at the off-bottom suspension point was more dependent of the impeller size and clearance. For bottom-mounted baffles a minimum in the Power number was noticed with increased clearance. It was found the minimum was located at the transition point between two different flow patterns. This sudy shows that the configuration with the lowest Power number is not necessary the most efficient for suspending solid particles.