TECHNOLOGICAL INSTIUTE OF THE PHILIPPINES

363 P. CASAL ST., QUIAPO, MANILA

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

FINAL LAB REPORT

AGITATION

SUBMITTED BY:
GELLENE O. GARCIA

SUBMITTED TO:
ENGR. MICHAEL ALLAN RAMOS

OCTOBER 12, 2016

Abstract
This experiment only utilizes the agitator equipment. Before the start of the experiment a couple of measurement is
made the diameter of the vessel and impeller, which are vital in the computations later on. Due to its similarities
with the properties of water, assumptions are made for fluids densities and viscosities. The fluid is liquid water. The
data are obtained with and without the baffled vessel. The paddle and the impeller are fixed on the shaft at near the
bottom of the tank. The faster the rate of revolution of the shaft, the more the vortex becomes distinctive. With an
increase of the rotating velocity, much more air is sucked into water. Doubling the impeller diameter will quadruple
Reynolds Number. This follows, as the impeller will sweep an area four times larger when the diameter is doubled.
Temperatures and pressures are accounted for in Reynolds Number as they affect both density and viscosity. These
factors are useful for sizing and selections of tanks, impellers, and the associated driving equipment. It is clear that
major variables in the problem will be the size of the impeller and its speed. The presence of the baffles will affect the
energy consumption materially.

Introduction
Agitation is very important in many chemical and processing industries today. Many operations are dependent to a
great extent on effective agitation and mixing of fluids, and thus, we future chemical engineers, must familiarize
ourselves with the basic principles of motion with regards to the action of different kinds of impellers to liquid
systems. This leads us to the objective of the experiment. The experiment is conducted to simply observe the flow
patterns produced by each type of agitator under certain controlled conditions. The conditions are the presence of a
baffle and no baffle. The four types of agitators used were: a.) marine type impeller, b.) impeller with four blades, c.)
disk flat-blade turbine and d.) high shear rate impeller.

Fig 1, The four types of agitators. From left to right: marine type impeller, impeller with four blades, disk flat-blade
turbine and high shear rate impeller.
A marine type impeller classified as a three-blade propeller agitator, is used for liquids of low viscosity. The type of
flow pattern produced by this impeller is axial flow since the fluid flows axially down the center axis or propeller shaft
and up on the sides of the tank. An impeller with four blades is a paddle agitator. This type of agitator is used often at
low speeds. At low speeds, mild agitation is obtained in a no baffled vessel. At higher speeds baffles are used, since,
without baffles, the liquid is simply swirled around with little actual mixing. The paddle agitator is ineffective for
suspending solids since good radial flow is present but little vertical or axial flow. Disk flat-blade turbine and High
shear rate impellers are considered as turbine agitators. These impellers resemble multibladed paddle agitators with
shorter blades used at high speeds for liquids with a very wide range of viscosities. The turbines with flat blades, high
shear rate impellers, give radial flow. They are also useful for good gas dispersion where the gas is introduced just
below the impeller at its axis and is drawn up to the blades and chopped into fine bubbles. The disk flat blade, with
blades at 45 degrees, some axial flow is imparted so that a combination of axial and radial flow is present. This type
is useful in suspending solids since the currents flow downward and then sweep up the solids.
There are a number of purposes for agitating fluids and some of these are briefly summarized:
1. Blending of two miscible liquids, such as ethyl alcohol and water.
2. Dissolving solids in liquids, such as salt in water.
3. Dispersing a gas in a liquid as fine bubbles, such as oxygen from air in a suspension of microorganisms for
fermentation or for activated sludge process in wastewater treatment.
4. Suspending of fine solid particles in a liquid, such as in the catalytic hydrogenation of a liquid where solid catalyst
particles and hydrogen bubbles are dispersed in the liquid.
5. Agitation of the fluid to increase heat transfer between the fluid and a coil or jacket in the vessel wall.
Generally, liquids are agitated in a cylindrical vessel which can be closed or open to the air. The height of the liquid is
approximately equal to the tank diameter. An impeller mounted on a shaft is driven by an electric motor. A typical
agitator assembly is shown in Fig 2.

Fig 2 Experimental Set-up

Fig 3. Stirred tank

Fig 4. Power No. Vs Reynolds No.

Flow patterns in agitated vessel depends on the type of the impeller, the characteristics of the fluid and the size and
proportion of the tank, baffles and agitator. Action of agitation sometimes leads to formation of vortex, which is
undesirable because in vortex there is no real mixing. The solid particles in the liquid settle in the bottom therefore,
no dissolution. And lastly, air may be entrapped in solution causing degradation of ox disable materials. Generally,
formation of vortex is undesirable but it can be prevented. In small tanks, the impeller can be mounted off center. The
shaft is moved away from the centerline of the tank, then tilted in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the move.
In larger tanks, the agitator maybe mounted in the side of the tank, with the shaft in a horizontal plane but at an angle
with a radius. And lastly, baffles may be installed in larger tanks. Fig. 3 shows typical stirred tank configurations and
time averaged flow patterns for axial flow and radial flow impellers. In order to prevent formation of a vortex, four
vertical baffles are normally installed.
For a given impeller and tank geometry, the impeller Reynolds number determines the flow pattern in the tank:
2

D N

where D = impeller diameter, N = rotational speed, and and are the liquid density and viscosity. Rotational speed
N is typically reported in revolutions per minute, or revolutions per second in SI units. Radians per second are almost
never used. Typically, Re > 104 is required for fully turbulent conditions throughout the tank. A wide transition region
between laminar and turbulent flow occurs over the range 10 <Re <104.
While the flow pattern is observed, another important consideration in design of an agitated vessel is the power
required to drive the impeller. The power P drawn by the impeller is made dimensionless in a group called the power
number:

N P=

P gc
N 3 D5

The form of such correlation can be found by dimensional analysis, given the important measurements of the tank
and the impeller, the distance of the impeller from the tank floor, the liquid depth, and the dimensions of the baffles if
they are used. The number and arrangement of the baffles and the number of blades in the impeller must also be
fixed. The variables that enter the analysis are the important measurements of tank and impeller, the viscosity and
the density of the liquid, the speed, and because Newtons law applies, the dimensional constant gc. The Reynolds
number can be correlated to the power number to get the power requirement using a graph of Reynolds number,
power number and the type of impeller used, as shown in Fig 4

Equipment and Apparatus

Apparatus:

Materials:

Impeller

Water

Tachometer
Meter stick
18 inches Tank

Methodology
The materials used in the experiment are agitator equipment and the impellers, specifically, marine-type, disk flatblade turbine, high-shear rate, and impeller with four blades. The experiment went through by filling the container
with water approximately equal to its diameter. The container is placed on the agitator apparatus equipped with an
impeller mounted on a shaft. The agitator is turned on and the flow pattern produced of each of the impellers is
observed and recorded in different conditions, with baffle and no baffle.

Result and Discussion

Properties of water
Temperature-

30C

Absolute viscosity-

0.798x10-3 Pa s

Density-

995.67 kg/m3

Table 1. Data using Pitched blade without baffle.

Type of impeller
Diameter of tank, Dt
Diameter of impeller, Da
Height of liquid, H
Dt/Da
H/Da

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Pitched blade
0.414 m
0.152 m
0.414 m
2.7237 m
2.7237

Pitched blade
0.414 m
0.152 m
0.414 m
2.7237 m
2.7237

Pitched blade
0.414 m
0.152 m
0.414 m
2.7237 m
2.7237

C/Da
Speed, N
Reynolds number
Power number
Power requirement

0.8553
563.219
16235923.77
1.8
120 W

0.8553
398.025
1462276.966
1.8
11.6779 W

0.8553
358.39
1419872.423
1.9
11.48 W

Trail 2
Four Blade Paddle
0.414 m
0.12192 m
0.414 m
3.3957
3.3975
1.3958
258.864
80017.1070
2
4.3681 W

Trail 3
Four Blade Paddle
0.414 m
0.12192 m
0.414 m
3.3957
3.3975
1.3958
257.393
79562.4082
2
4.3350 W

Trail 2
Pitched blade
0.414 m
0.1397 m
0.414 m
2.9635
2.9635
1.0523
426.421
173058.397
1.8
34.2320 W

Trail 3
Pitched blade
0.414 m
0.1397 m
0.414 m
2.9635
2.9635
1.0523
409.467
166177.7976
1.8
30.3091 W

Trail 2
Four Blade Paddle
0.414 m
0.1575 m
0.414 m
2.6286
2.6286
0.9841
195.136
100660.6649

Trail 3
Four Blade Paddle
0.414 m
0.1575 m
0.414 m
2.6286
2.6286
0.9841
220.752
1138874.6469

Table 2. Data using Four Blade Paddle without baffle.

Type of impeller
Diameter of tank, Dt
Diameter of impeller, Da
Height of liquid, H
Dt/Da
H/Da
C/Da
Speed, N
Reynolds number
Power number
Power requirement

Trial 1
Four Blade Paddle
0.414 m
0.12192 m
0.414 m
3.3957
3.3975
1.3958
264.183
81661.2561
2
4.5781 W

Table 3. Data using Pitched Blade with baffle.

Type of impeller
Diameter of tank, Dt
Diameter of impeller, Da
Height of liquid, H
Dt/Da
H/Da
C/Da
Speed, N
Reynolds number
Power number
Power requirement

Trial 1
Pitched blade
0.414 m
0.1397 m
0.414 m
2.9635
2.9635
1.0523
350.506
142249.1071
1.8
28.2894 W

Table 4. Data using Four Blade Paddle with baffle.

Type of impeller
Diameter of tank, Dt
Diameter of impeller, Da
Height of liquid, H
Dt/Da
H/Da
C/Da
Speed, N
Reynolds number

Trial 1
Four Blade Paddle
0.414 m
0.1575 m
0.414 m
2.6286
2.6286
0.9841
428.801
221195.4669

Power number
Power requirement

2
63.4027 W

2
5.9752 W

2
8.6507 W

Conclusion and Recommendation

In the experiment, agitation process with baffles requires greater power because with more power vortex does not
occur hence proper mixing is attainable. Baffles are often included to reduce tangential motion. Without baffles, the
liquid is simply swirled around with little actual mixing since the flow is uniform in the same direction. Changing the
impeller would affect the power requirement of the agitation process because with different types of impellers, mixing
effectiveness varies. By increasing its power, the impellers efficiency increases. From the following data, it is now
possible to compute for the Reynolds number to be used from the constant value of power number. Using the power
number formula, power was computed.
We compared the mixing of the solution with and without the use of baffles and observed that baffles prevented the
formation of the vortex in the system. Vortex formation decreases the efficiency of the mixer thus we can conclude
that baffles can provide a good and thorough mixing of the solution and decreases the power required for the
mixing/agitation.
When using the tachometer to determine the speed in rev/min, it is not as accurate as it is. Once its already placed
on the spindle, timings are necessary before triggering it by the experimenter such that there should be a stable
place of such not just by holding it. The shaft must be placed in the middle of the tank to lessen the error occurred.
There should be another fluid instead of just water alone for comparison purposes in order to observe the effects of
the agitated fluids.

Questions and Answers

1. Enumerate the different equipment for agitation and discuss its uses.
For agitation, the equipment to be used may base on the agitation problem. Different types of impellers
may be used. A propeller is an axial-flow, high-speed impeller for liquids of low viscosity. A paddle is for
simpler agitation problems. Paddles turn at slow to moderate speeds in the center of a vessel; they
push the liquid radially and tangentially with almost no vertical motion at the impeller unless the blades
are pitched. While turbines are effective over a very wide range of viscosities.
2. A double-flight helix impeller 3-ft diameter and 3-ft high is operating at 30 rpm in a 3.2 ft diameter tank. The tank
is filled 85% full with a 1000 poise fluid having a density of 65 lb/ft3. Estimate hp requirement.
3. A flat blade turbine agitator with disk having six blades is installed in a tank. The tank diameter is 1.83 m, the
turbine diameter is 0.61 m. Dt = H and the width is 0.122 m. The tank contains four baffles, each having a width
of 0.15 m. The turbine is operated at 90 rpm and the liquid in the tank has a viscosity of 10 cP and a density of
929 kg/m3.
a, Calculate the power required kW of the mixer.
Given:

Find:

Da = 0.61m

Dt 1.83 m

W 0.122 m
J 0.15 m

90
1.50 rev/s
60
929 kg/m 3
N

(10 cp)(1 x 10 -3 ) 0.01 Pa.s

Solution:

N Re

Da2 N (0.61) 2 (1.50)(929)

51852.135

0.01

For

Da / W 5 and Dt / J 12
N p 5 for N Re 51852.135

Np

Pg c
N 3 Da5

P (1)
(929)(1.50) 3 (0.61) 5
P 1324 J/s 1.324 kW (1.77 hp)

b. For the same conditions, except for the solution having a viscosity of 10000 cP, calculate the required kW.

N Re

Da2 N (0.61) 2 (1.50)(929)

51.85

10

Np = 4

Np

Pg c

N 3 Da5
P(1)
4
(929)(1.50) 3 (0.61) 5
P 1059 J / s 1.059kW 1.42hP