Liquid-phase mixing in stirred vessels: turbulent flow regime

Abstract

The published literature on the liquid-phase mixing in a turbulent flow regime has been critically reviewed and analyzed. Experimental techniques for mixing time have been described together with their relative merits. The effects of the impeller design (blade number, blade angle, blade and disk dimensions, and blade shape), the location of the impeller (off-bottom clearance, distance from the vessel center, i.e., eccentricity), and the vessel size on the liquid-phase mixing have been critically analyzed. The mixing performance dependency on the internals such as baffles (number, dimension, and position) and the draft tube has been presented in detail. Further, an extensive review on the mathematical models proposed for the liquid-phase mixing has been presented, and the utility of the computational fluid dynamics modeling for the mixing optimization has been illustrated. Finally, suggestions have been made for the selection of an energy-efficient impeller-vessel configuration, and directions have been given for future studies.