Role of sparger design in mechanically agitated gas-liquid reactors. Part I: Power consumption

Abstract

Power consumption (Part I) and liquid phase mixing time (Part II) were measured in 0.57, 1.0 and 1.5 m i.d. vessels. A pitched blade downflow impeller (PTD) was used. Design details of the PTD impeller such as diameter (0.22T to 0.5T), blade width (0.25D to 0.4D) and blade thickness (2.8, 4.3 and 6.4 mm) were studied. The effect of sparger type and geometry on power consumption has been investigated. For this purpose, pipe, ring, conical and concentric ring sparger were employed. Design details of the ring sparger such as ring diameter, number of holes and hole size were also studied in depth. Sparger location with respect to the impeller was found to be the most important parameter and was therefore varied for nearly all the spargers studied. A correlation for the power consumption has been developed.