Investigation on Solid Particles and Pseudoplastic Fluid Mixing Characteristics in a Dislocated Self-Similarity Impeller Stirred Reactor
Deyin Gu, Jie Wang, Hao Yang, Yaoyao Deng
Abstract
A dislocated self-similarity impeller (DS impeller) was introduced in the solid particles and pseudoplastic fluid mixing process. The investigation on the mixing performance of a dislocated pitched-blade impeller (DPB impeller) and a DS impeller was conducted by applying experimental and computational fluid dynamics simulation. Results showed that the DS impeller could enlarge cavern zones and improve the uniformity of solid particle distribution compared with the DPB impeller at an equivalent power consumption ( P ), and these effects could be further enhanced by increasing the self-similar iteration number of the DS impeller. Meanwhile, the DS impeller could decompose trailing vortices into smaller ones, destroy the recirculation zone, consume less power consumption ( P ), and decrease the power number ( N p ) through the self-similar structure design of impeller blades, and the impeller energy utilization rate of the DS impeller could be improved by increasing the self-similar iteration number. The DS-2 impeller reduced about 40.56 and 13.50% of power consumption compared with those of the DPB impeller and DS-1 impeller at Re y = 236, respectively. This indicated that the implementation of a self-similar structure design for impeller blades could effectually enlarge the well-mixed regions and improve the mixing effectiveness in the solid particles and pseudoplastic fluid mixing process, and with a greater effect obtained as the number of self-similar iterations increased.