4426 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

2010, 49, 4426–4435

Study of Solid-Liquid Mixing in Agitated Tanks through Computational Fluid

Dynamics Modeling
Seyed Hosseini, Dineshkumar Patel, Farhad Ein-Mozaffari,* and Mehrab Mehrvar
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson UniVersity 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada

Solid-liquid mixing is one of the most important mixing operations due to its vast applications in many unit
operations such as crystallization, adsorption, solid-catalyzed reaction, suspension polymerization, and activated
sludge processes. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed for solid-liquid
mixing in a cylindrical tank equipped with a top-entering impeller to investigate the effect of impeller type
(Lightnin A100, A200, and A310), impeller off-bottom clearance (T/6-T/2, where T is tank diameter), impeller
speed (150-800 rpm), particle size (100-900 µm), and particle specific gravity (1.4-6) on the mixing quality.
An Eulerian-Eulerian (EE) approach, standard k-ε model, and multiple reference frames (MRF) techniques
were employed to simulate the two-phase flow, turbulent flow, and impeller rotation, respectively. The impeller
torque, cloud height, and just suspended impeller speed (Njs) computed by the CFD model agreed well with
the experimental data. The validated CFD model was then employed to calculate the solid concentration
profiles by which the degree of homogeneity was quantified as a function of operating conditions and design
parameters.

Introduction program.13 CFD is emerging as a design tool for the develop-

ment of new processes at a fraction of the cost and time of the
Mixing is one of the most widely used unit operations in
traditional experimental and pilot-plant approaches. CFD has
polymer processing, fine chemicals, petrochemicals, biotech-
opened the gate to visualize the two-phase flow in solid-liquid
nology, agrichemicals, pharmaceuticals, paints and automotive
mixing without conducting real-time experiments and provides
finishes, cosmetics and consumer products, food, drinking water
in-depth details about the fluid flow which may not be available
and wastewater treatment, pulp and paper, and mineral process-
from practical approaches. CFD has enabled us to investigate
ing. It is carried out in mechanically agitated vessels for a variety
of objectives, including for homogenizing multiple phases in the phase distribution in multiphase flow processes. Two main
terms of concentration gradient.1 Among various mixing approaches are used in CFD modeling to solve the multiphase
processes (e.g., viscous liquid, liquid-liquid, gas-liquid, flow, namely, Eulerian-Lagrangian (EL) and Eulerian-Eulerian
solid-liquid), solid-liquid mixing is one of the most important (EE) approaches.14 The EL approach resolves the continuous
mixing operations because it plays a crucial role in many unit fluid phase in the Eulerian reference frame (i.e., fixed control
operations such as suspension polymerization, solid-catalyzed volume for fluid) and the dispersed phase as individual particles,
reaction, dispersion of solids, dissolution and leaching, crystal- which move with the fluid. This approach requires a significant
lization and precipitation, adsorption, desorption, and ion amount of computational time and huge memory space. This
exchange.2,3 The primary objectives of solid-liquid mixing are approach can provide good prediction only for low solid volume
to avoid solid accumulation in the agitated vessel, to maximize fraction (e5%).15 Some researchers have adopted the EL
the contacting area between the solids and liquid, and to ensure approach to study the solid-liquid mixing.16-20 While the EE
the system is homogeneous or solids particles are uniformly approach considers the dispersed (particle) phase as a continuous
distributed throughout the vessel.4 (fluid) phase, interpenetrating and interacting with the fluid
In most of the solid-liquid processes, the solid particles are phase.21 This approach is less costly in terms of CPU time and
completely suspended. However, solid particles might not be also applicable to higher concentrations compared to the EL
distributed uniformly throughout the vessel. The performances approach.
of some processes such as crystallizers and heterogeneous Several models have been used to include the turbulence
photocatalytic reactors are affected by lack of the uniform effect into Navier-Stokes equations such as the standard k-ε,
distribution of solid particles. Therefore, a good understanding renormalization group model (RNG k-ε), realizable k-ε, Rey-
of the distribution of solid particles throughout the vessel is nolds stress model (RSM), and large eddy simulation (LES).2
essential for design, process development, and scale up of the Such models are generally validated by generating the velocity
solid-liquid mixing systems. Some researchers have adopted or concentration profile and comparing them with the experi-
a general practice for evaluation of solid-liquid mixing in mental data.22-29 Among these, the standard k-ε model30 is
agitated vessels through experimental investigation;5-12 how- most widely used model because it is robust, economical, and
ever, it is difficult to obtain solid distribution in the whole tank rapid. Besides, it gives stable calculations and reasonable results
through experimental measurements. Such an approach is for many flow domains.23,25-27,31-38
usually time-consuming, costly, and sometimes it is impractical. Since mixing consumes a tremendous amount of processing
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a useful tool to time and energy,1 it is necessary to know about the various
analyze a system involving fluid flow through mathematical factors (e.g., impeller type, solid concentration, particle size,
modeling and simulation by means of a computer based impeller speed, specific gravity of liquid and solid phases, and
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fmozaffa@ system geometry) affecting the suspension of solid particles in
ryerson.ca. Tel.: (416) 979-5000 ext 4251. Fax: (416) 979-5083. solid-liquid mixing processes. Some researchers have employed
10.1021/ie901130z  2010 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 03/30/2010
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010 4427
25,28,37
CFD to explore the effect of impeller type, particle
size,27,31,32 and solid concentration25-27,31 on cloud height and
just suspended impeller speed. Tamburini et al.39 employed CFD
modeling to investigate the dynamic behavior of the mixing of
the silica suspension from its initial stationary condition to the
steady state condition for the fixed values of the impeller
clearance, particle size, and solid specific gravity in a fully
baffled mixing tank equipped with a radial flow impeller
(Rushton turbine). However, a thorough literature review
suggests that little attention has been devoted to computing the
degree of homogeneity for the solid-liquid mixing processes
through CFD. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to use CFD
technique to explore the effect of impeller type, particle size,
impeller speed, specific gravity of solid particles, impeller off-
bottom clearance, and power on the degree of homogeneity for
the solid-liquid mixing, and to compare the CFD results with
the experimental data.

Experimental Setup
The schematic diagram of the experimental setup used in this
study is shown in Figure 1a. The mixing vessel was a transparent
flat-bottomed cylindrical tank of 40 cm inner diameter (T) and
60 cm height and was filled with solid particles and water to a
height (H) equivalent of the tank diameter (40 cm) occupying
a total volume of about 0.050 m3. To avert vortex formation
around the agitator, the tank was fitted with four equally spaced
baffles having width of 3.4 cm (T/12). To prevent the accumula-
tion of the solid particles behind the baffles, a 0.8 cm (T/50)
gap between each baffle and the tank wall was considered. The
tank was equipped with a top-entering impeller assembly and
impeller speed was set to the desired revolutions per minute
using a variable frequency drive (VFD). Three axial flow
impellers, each with a 17.8 cm diameter (D), were used: Lightnin
A100, A200, and A310 impellers (see Figure 1b). The pumping
direction was downward for all impellers tested in this study.
These axial-flow impellers produce high flow and are more cost-
effective in flow controlled operation like solid suspension.40
Cooke and Heggs41 reported that the hollow blade turbine is
an efficient impeller for the solid-liquid mixing operations
under gassed conditions. The impeller off-bottom clearance (C)
was selected upon the test conditions between T/6 and T/2. A
rotary-torque transducer (Staiger Mohilo, Germany) was em-
ployed to measure impeller torque and speed. In this study, glass
beads and water were used as the solid phase and liquid phase,
respectively. Electrical resistance tomography (Industrial To-
mography Systems, Manchester, UK) was used to measure the
concentration profiles within the mixing vessel as described by
Hosseini et al.42 Eight tomographic sensor planes were posi-
tioned around the circumference of the mixing tank with the
lowest one, numbered plane one, at a height of 4.25 cm from
Figure 1. Experimental setup: (a) mixing tank and (b) impellers used in
base, and the same interval was maintained vertically for this study.
subsequent planes, numbered accordingly in the upward direc-
tion. Each plane had 16 stainless steel sensors which were
situated at equal intervals on the tank periphery. The height, conservation laws of mass and momentum for two-phase flow,
width, and the thickness of the electrodes were 20, 30, and 1 the resulting conservation equations for phase k can be written
mm, respectively. The reference for study was taken based on as follows:
the single ground electrode located between plane four and five.
More details regarding the experimental setup and procedure Continuity equation43
have been reported by Hosseini et al.42 ∂(akFk)
+ ∇ · (akFkuk) ) 0
f
(1)
∂t
Mathematical Model
In the present study, the mathematical model is formulated where F is fluid density, b
u is the velocity vector, R is the volume
based on the Eulerian-Eulerian multifluid model. Applying the fraction, and subscript k symbolizes phase k.
4428 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010

Momentum equation43 |ω|dp2

∂ ReSR ) (12)
(a F u ) + ∇ · (akFkuk uk) ) -ak∇p + ∇ · (τck) + akFkb
g +
f f f
υ
∂t k k k
f+F
(F f+F f+F f) (2) where υ is the kinematic viscosity of the medium. It must be
mentioned that b FBk, bFLk, and b
D Bk Lk νmk
Fvmk are considerably small
where bg, p, b
FD, b
FBk, b
FLk, and bFvmk are gravitational acceleration, compared to the dominant drag force and interaction forces
pressure, drag force, Buoyancy force, lift force, and virtual mass between two phases, if the particles density ratio to liquid is
force, respectively. cτk is the kth phase stress-strain tensor: more than 2.1
Using the k-ε model,46 two additional transport equations
fT 2 for the turbulence kinetic energy (k) and the turbulent dissipation
cτk ) Rk(µk + µkt)(∇µk + ∇µk ) - RkFkkkcI
f
(3)
3 rate (ε) are solved to compute the turbulent viscosity (µt):

Where µk, µkt, and kk are the shear viscosity, turbulent viscosity,
and turbulent kinetic energy, respectively. Drag force is
∂
∂t
(Fk) +
∂
∂xi
bi) )
(Fku
∂
∂xj ((
µ+
µt ∂k
σk ∂xj
+) )
expressed by Gk + Gb - Fε - YM(13)

∑ K (u
(( ) )
b
FD ) lk
f
l - uk)
f
(4) ∂ ∂ ∂ µt ∂ε
(Fε) + bi) )
(Fεu µ+ +
∂t ∂xi ∂xj σε ∂xj
where Klk is the exchange coefficient between liquid and the
ε ε2
kth phase. The solid-liquid exchange coefficient (Kpl) is C1ε (Gk + C3εGb) - C2εFε - YM (14)
calculated using the following equation: k k

( )
3RpRlFl Rer f f where Gk, Gb, and YM are the generation of turbulence kinetic
Kpl ) CD |u - ul | (5) energy due to the mean velocity gradients, buoyancy, and the
4utp2dp utp p contribution of the fluctuating dilatation in compressible tur-
bulence to the overall dissipation rate. C1ε, C2ε, and C3ε are
where utp, Rer, CD, and dp are terminal velocity of solid particle, constants (see Table 1).13 In this table, V is the component of
relative Reynolds number (Rer ) Fldp|u bp - bul|/µ), drag coef- the flow velocity parallel to the gravitational vector and u is
ficient, and particle diameter, respectively. The subscripts l and the component of the flow velocity perpendicular to the
p stand for the liquid and solid particles. The following empirical gravitational vector. The terms σk and σε indicate the k and ε
equations were used to calculate CD:44 turbulent Prandtl numbers. The turbulent (or eddy) viscosity
(µt) is defined as43
24
CD ) [1 + 0.15(RlRer)0.687] if Rer e 1000 (6)
RlRer k2
µt ) FCµ (15)
ε
CD ) 0.44 if Rer > 1000 (7)
where Cµ is constant. Gk is defined as
The combination of gravity force and buoyancy force is given
by ∂uj
Gk ) -Fui′uj′ (16)
∂xi
f+Ff ) π d 3(F - F )g
F l b (8)
g B
6 p p where ui′ and uj′ are the fluctuating velocity component due to
turbulence in the directions i and j, respectively, and ui′uj′ are
where dp, Fp, and Fl are particle diameter, particle density, and the Reynolds stresses.
liquid density, respectively. Virtual mass force can be derived CFD Simulation. In this study, a commercial CFD software
from the following:19 package (Fluent V6.3) was used to simulate the mixing of solid
suspension in an agitated vessel by solving the conservation of
f ) - 1 πd 3F d (uf - uf ) mass and momentum equations. The first step is grid generation,
Fvm (9)
12 p l dt p l
which divides the calculation domain into the discrete control
where b up and bul are the particle and liquid velocities, respec- volumes. Gambit 2.4 (Fluent Inc.) was used to discretize the
tively. The lift force or Saffman force, or lift due to shear and flow domain with tetrahedral cells (unstructured grid). The
rotation of the fluid, is given by18,45 advantage of using an unstructured grid is that a complex
geometry (e.g., impeller) can be meshed easily. Mesh refinement
f ) π d 3 Fl C ((uf - uf ) × ω) near the impeller was accomplished using the mesh growth
Fl (10) factor function. This factor controls mesh density by allowing
4 p 2 s l p
the mesh elements to grow slowly as a function of the distance
where ω is the angular velocity and Cs ) 0.1524 for Rep g 40, from the impeller blade to the vessel walls. The grid generated
Cs can be found as follows if Rep < 40:18,45 had skewness smaller than 0.6, indicating a very good mesh
formation. The finer the mesh, the better the result will be

[( ReSR
( )) ( )]
ReSR
0.5 0.5
4.1126 achieved to capture the flow detail, but it should not be so fine,
Cs ) 1.0 - 0.234 e-0.1Rep + 0.234
ReSR0.5 Rep Rep because the computational time increases with reductions in the
(11) mesh size.13 The optimum grid size was obtained by decreasing
the size to a final value below which the changes in the velocity
where Rep is the particle Reynolds number (Rep ) (Flutpdp)/µ) and kinetic energy profiles were less than 3%. The number of
and ReSR is the rotational Reynolds number which can be cells used for A100, A200, and A310 impellers were 311 876,
calculated as follows: 286 870, and 345 046, respectively. The standard wall functions
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010 4429
13
Table 1. Standard k-ε Constants
C1ε C2ε C3ε Cµ σk σε
1.44 1.92 tanh|V/u| 0.09 1.0 1.3

Table 2. Operating Conditions

descriptions range
impeller type A100, A200, and A310
impeller speed (N) 150-800 rpm
impeller clearance (C) T/6-T/2
particle size (dp) 100-900 µm
specific gravity (SG) 1.4-6.0

in Fluent were used for the modeling of the near wall regions.
In this technique, the logarithmic law for mean velocity is known
to be valid for 30 < y* < 300. The y* values calculated in this
study were within these limits. The multiple reference frame
(MRF) technique was employed to model the rotation of the
Figure 2. Impeller torque as a function of impeller speed (A310 impeller,
impeller in the mixing vessel.47 A rotating frame was used for C ) T/3, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5).
the region containing the impeller while a stationary frame was
used for regions that are stationary containing the tank walls
and baffles. The moving reference frame was a cylinder of 24
cm diameter and 9 cm height, and it was centered on the
impeller. This frame did not include the shaft. The governing
equations of the flow domain inside the rotating frame were
solved in the frame of the enclosed impeller while those outside
the rotating frame were solved in the stationary frame. A steady
transfer of information was made at the MRF interface as the
solution progressed. This method facilitates incorporation of the
impeller motion even with a complex geometry. No-slip and
no-penetration conditions were imposed on the transport equa-
tions on the tank walls. Symmetric boundary conditions, hence
zero normal velocity and zero normal gradients for all variables,
were assumed on the liquid surface. Since the shear stress is
zero at a symmetry boundary, it is also called the slip wall
boundary condition. A no-slip boundary condition was applied
to the shaft. The local solid concentrations were monitored
during the simulations. The steady state was achieved when the
fluctuations of the solid concentrations in monitoring points were
not noticeable. The simulation was considered converged when
the scaled residuals for all transport equations were below 10-3.
A single simulation run required 6000-8000 iterations to
converge. The simulations were performed on a 3.0 GHz, 2
GB RAM, Pentium IV which took about 4-5 days for Figure 3. Cloud height (A310 impeller, C ) T/3, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210
convergence. The simulations were carried out at the operating µm, and SG ) 2.5): (a) experimental result at N ) 320 rpm, (b) CFD result
at N ) 320 rpm, (c) experimental result at N ) 600 rpm, and (d) CFD
conditions summarized in Table 2. result at N ) 600 rpm.
the fluid at a given impeller speed. The height of this interface
Results and Discussion
from the bottom of the vessel is called cloud height and above
The effects of different parameters (Table 2) on the quality this interface there is only an occasional visit by a few solid
of the solid-liquid mixing were investigated in this work. To particles.48 The CFD model developed in this study was used
validate the model, CFD results for impeller torque, cloud to estimate the cloud height. Solid concentration contours
height, and just suspended impeller speed (Njs) were compared computed on a vertical plane was employed to estimate the cloud
to experimental data. Figure 2 illustrates the impeller torque as height. Figure 3 depicts the cloud height visualized using the
a function of the impeller speed for the A310 impeller. These CFD model and the digital photography at N ) 320 and 600
results show very good agreement between the impeller torque rpm. Both CFD and digital photography techniques were used
calculated by the CFD model and the experimentally determined to obtain the normalized cloud height as a function of the
value. The torque did not change significantly as the solids were impeller speed for A310 impeller (Figure 4). It can be seen that
suspended within the mixing tank for the solid concentration the cloud height was reasonably predicted by the CFD simula-
employed in this study. The power numbers computed using tion. The fluctuation of the cloud height was not significant at
the CFD model for A100, A200, and A310 impellers were 0.39, the steady-state. Figure 4 shows that the deviation of the CFD
1.48, and 0.29, respectively. These results are in good agreement result from the experimental value is more pronounced at 200
with those reported in the literature. rpm. The turbulent and fluid kinetic energy at the lower impeller
Some researchers have derived models to predict the homo- speed lifted a small percentage of the solid particles from the
geneity as a solid cloud height. There is a distinct level (clear bottom of the tank. However, the amount of energy imposed
interface) to which most of the solid particles are lifted within by the impeller was not sufficient to maintain the suspension.
4430 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010

The validated CFD model can be used to monitor the

distribution of solid phase inside the mixing vessel. For instance,
Figure 6a illustrates the contours of the solid concentrations
computed using the CFD model. This figure shows the formation
of a pile of solid particles just below the impeller at N ) 250
rpm which is less than the just suspended impeller speed (Njs).
These results are in good agreement with the experimental data
depicted in Figure 6b.42 This figure shows the 3D image of solid
concentration generated from the 2D tomography images using
Slicer-Dicer (PIXOTEC, USA). Fradette et al.50 also reported
the same phenomenon when they studied the suspension of glass
beads in a mixing vessel equipped with a marine propeller.
Kresta and Wood51 investigated the effect of the impeller
clearance on the flow pattern generated by an axial-flow impeller
in a mixing tank and concluded that there was a change in angle
of flow discharge from the axial direction toward the radial
Figure 4. Normalized cloud height versus impeller speed (A310 impeller, direction as the impeller clearance increased. Once this clearance
C ) T/3, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5).
reached to C ) T/2, the counter-rotating secondary circulation
loop occurred near the bottom of the tank. This secondary
circulation loop (see Figure 6c) pushed the solid particles toward
the center of the tank resulting in the pile-up of solid particles
in the middle of the tank. However, this secondary loop did
not exist for the lower impeller clearance (e.g., C ) T/6). Figure
6c also shows that the momentum directly under the impeller
was not sufficient to penetrate to the bottom of the tank. Thus,
a pile of solid particles was formed just below the impeller.
In order to measure the degree of homogeneity, the distribu-
tions of solid concentrations for eight horizontal planes (with
the lowest one numbered P1) were calculated through the
validated CFD model (Figure 7). To generate the axial
concentration profile, the averaged solid concentration was
computed for each plane and the results were then normalized
to the overall average concentration of solid particles within
the tank. Figure 8 illustrates the axial solid concentration profiles
Figure 5. Using normalized solid concentration versus impeller speed to as a function of impeller speed for A310 impeller. The data
calculate the just suspended impeller speed for A310 impeller at C ) T/3, shown in this figure was used to calculate the degree of
X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5. homogeneity within the mixing vessel:42
It must be mentioned that a ramped sequence of the impeller

n
speed was not used for the experimental measurements of the
cloud heights. In fact, we stop agitating the tank after each test ∑ (X V
j V)2
-X
1
and the impeller speed was increased with the same rate for all homogeneity ) 1 - (18)
n
experiments.
A suspension is considered as complete (off-bottom) if no where n, XV and X j V are the number of planes, solid volume
solid particle remains stationary on the bottom of the tank for concentration, and the average solid volume concentration within
more than 1 or 2 s and the impeller speed at this condition is the vessel, respectively. Figure 9 shows the degree of homo-
known as the just suspended impeller speed:49 geneity as a function of impeller power for A310 impeller. The

( )
CFD results are in good agreement with those obtained from

( )
g∆F 0.45 X0.13dp0.2υ0.1 the tomography measurements. As expected, the homogeneity
Njs ) S (17)
FL D0.85 of the system increased with an increase in impeller power/
speed. Once the homogeneity reached the maximum, any further
where S is constant for a given system geometry, ∆F ) Fs - Fl increase in impeller power/speed was not beneficial but detri-
and g, Fs, Fl, υ, dp, X, and D are gravity, particle density, liquid mental. Other researchers also reported the similar phenomenon
density, kinematic viscosity, particle diameter, solid weight in solid-liquid mixing.4,6,52 In order to elucidate the relationship
fraction, and impeller diameter, respectively. In order to calculate between the homogeneity and the impeller speed, the CFD
Njs using the CFD model developed in this study, the average model was used to generate the solid concentration contours as
solid concentration for a horizontal plane located 1 mm above a function of impeller speed (Figure 10). It can be seen that the
the bottom of the tank was measured as a function of the homogeneity within the tank improved with an increase in
impeller speed (Figure 5). The tangents to the curve were drawn impeller speed and the maximum homogeneity was achieved
at the points having maximum and minimum slopes. Njs was at N ) 500 rpm. However, due to the centrifugal force inside
the impeller speed corresponding to the point at which the two the circulation loops at higher impeller speed, the formation of
tangents crossed each other. The similar method was employed the regions with low solid concentrations was observed which
by Mak4 to predict Njs through experimental data. Njs estimated eventually decreased the homogeneity of the system.52 There-
by this technique was 342 rpm which is in good agreement with fore, the optimal impeller speed has a significant effect on the
that calculated using eq 17 (333 rpm). degree of homogeneity and should always be between two
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010 4431

Figure 7. Solid concentration contours calculated using CFD for eight

horizontal planes (A310 impeller, N ) 300 rpm, C ) T/3, X ) 10 wt %,
dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5).

Figure 8. Axial solid concentration profiles computed using CFD for the
A310 impeller (C ) T/3, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5).

Figure 9. Degree of homogeneity as a function of impeller power for the

A310 impeller at X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5).

crucial impeller speeds, Njs and the impeller speed for the
maximum homogeneity, preferably closer to the latter.
The type of impeller has a significant effect on the extent of
Figure 6. (a) Solid concentration contours computed using CFD. (b) 3D homogeneity. Axial impellers are preferred for solid-liquid
image of solid concentration generated from the 2D tomography images. mixing because they produce high flow and are more cost-
(c) Velocity vectors (A200 impeller, N ) 250 rpm, C ) T/2, X ) 10 wt %, effective in flow controlled operations like solid suspension.40
dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5).
In this study, the performances of three axial-flow impellers
4432 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010

Figure 12. Effect of the impeller clearance on the degree of homogeneity

for the A310 impeller at N ) 400 rpm, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and
SG ) 2.5.

Impeller off-bottom clearance also influences the degree of

homogeneity achieved in solid-liquid mixing processes. The
CFD model was employed to compute the extent of homogene-
ity at N ) 400 rpm for A310 impeller mounted at different
positions (C ) T/6-T/2) from the bottom of the tank. Figure
12 illustrate the degree of homogeneity as a function of the
impeller clearance. It can be seen that the highest extent of
homogeneity was achieved at C ) T/3 and the CFD results are
in good agreement with those measured using electrical
resistance tomography.42 Hicks et al.8 studied the solid suspen-
sion at different off-bottom clearances (C ) T/2.5, T/4, and
T/10), and they reported that the optimum impeller clearance
was C ) T/2.5 for solid-liquid mixing operations.
The particle size is one of the important physical properties
Figure 10. Solid concentration contours generated using CFD at different of solid particles, which affects the solid suspension in mixing
impeller speeds for A310 impeller (C ) T/3, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm,
and SG ) 2.5): N ) (a) 150, (b) 200, (c) 250, (d) 280, (e) 300, (f) 320, (g) operations. In this study, the particle size was varied from 100
350, (h) 400, (i) 500, (j) 600, (k) 700, and (l) 800 rpm. to 900 µm. The degree of homogeneity was calculated at N )
400 rpm for A310 impeller versus the particle size (Figure 13a).
As expected, the extent of homogeneity decreased with an
increase in the particle size. This could be explained as per the
following equation which estimates the free settling velocity
(Vt) for spherical particle:53

( 4gcdp(Fs - Fl)
)
1/2
Vt ) (19)
3CDFl

dp is the particle diameter, Fs is the particle density, Fl is the

liquid density, and CD is the drag coefficient. The free settling
velocity in solid suspension increases with an increase in the
particle size.54 Thus, the larger particles settle faster than the
Figure 11. Effect of impeller type on the distribution of solid phase at P ) smaller ones.2 Thus, the suspension of the large particles would
15.5 W, X ) 10 wt %, dp ) 210 µm, and SG ) 2.5: (a) A100, (b) A310,
be more difficult. Peker and Helvaci14 also reported that the
and (c) A200 impellers.
degree of homogeneity decreases when the terminal velocity
(Lightnin A100, A200, and A310) on the mixing quality were of the solid particles increases. The similar trend was also
explored. Figure 11 shows the contours of solid concentration observed by Godfrey and Zhu55 using particle size ranges
computed using the CFD model for these three impellers at constant 212-250, 355-425, and 600-710 µm with the terminal
impeller power P ) 15.5 W. It can be seen that the A100 impeller velocities of 1.07, 2.3, and 4.35 mm/s, respectively.
was more efficient while the A200 was the least effective at Similar to the particle size, the specific gravity (SG) of the
obtaining a higher degree of homogeneity. The same results solid particles plays a crucial role in the solid-liquid mixing
reported by Hosseini et al.42 who employed the electrical resistance processes. On the basis of Zwietering’s correlation (eq 17), the
tomography to investigate the performance of the different types specific gravity of the particles affects the just suspended
of axial flow impellers in solid-liquid mixing systems. impeller speed (Njs). Particles with higher density display more
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010 4433
extent of homogeneity achieved in solid-liquid mixing opera-
tions. Solids suspension systems with SG values of 1.4 and 2.5
are more homogeneous compared to those with higher SG values
of 4.0 and 6.0 at a fixed impeller speed.
The particle response time (tp) is the time that a particle takes
to respond to a change in carrier flow velocity. The parameters
affecting the particle response time are the particle diameter,
particle density, and fluid viscosity:14

Fpdp2
tp ) (20)
18µ

Figure 14 illustrates the particle response time as a function of

the particle size and solid specific gravity for the solid-liquid
mixing system investigated in this study.

Conclusions
The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was
successfully employed to explore the effect of operating
conditions and design parameters on the mixing quality for the
solid-liquid mixing operations. This technique provided in-
depth details about the distribution of the solid phase within
the mixing vessel. The impeller torque and cloud height
calculated by the CFD model were in good agreement with the
experimentally determined values. The average solid concentra-
tion at the bottom of the tank as a function of the impeller speed
was determined through CFD to estimate the just suspended
impeller speed (Njs), which was close to that predicted by the
Zwietering’s correlation. The validated CFD model was then
utilized to obtain the axial solid concentration profiles by which
the degree of homogeneity was quantified as a function of the
impeller power/speed, impeller type, impeller off-bottom clear-
ance, particle size, and specific gravity of solid particles. As
expected, the homogeneity of the system increased with an
increase in impeller power/speed. Once the homogeneity reached
Figure 13. (a) Effect of particle size on the degree of homogeneity for the maximum, any further increase in impeller power/speed was
A310 impeller at N ) 400 rpm, X ) 10 wt %, C ) T/3, and SG ) 2.5. (b)
Effect of the solid specific gravity on the degree of homogeneity for A310 not beneficial but detrimental due to the formation of the regions
impeller at N ) 400 rpm, X ) 10 wt %, C ) T/3, and dp ) 210 µm. with low solid concentrations inside the circulation loops at
higher impeller speed. The CFD results for the degree of
homogeneity were in good agreement with those measured by
the electrical resistance tomography. It was found that the A100
impeller was more efficient in terms of homogeneity than the
A310 and A200 impellers and that the optimum impeller
clearance was T/3 for the solid suspension systems. The CFD
results also showed that the physical properties of the solid
particles such as the particle size and the specific gravity
significantly affect the degree of homogeneity in solid-liquid
mixing operations.

Acknowledgment
The financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Ryerson University
is gratefully acknowledged.

Nomenclature
Figure 14. Particle response time as a function of the particle size (at SG
C ) impeller off-bottom clearance (m)
) 2.5) and the solid specific gravity (at dp ) 210 µm).
CD ) drag coefficient
resistance to flow resulting in lower degree of homogeneity. C1ε, C2ε, C3ε ) constants
The validated CFD model was used to compute the degree of Cs ) Saffman force constant
homogeneity for four different specific gravity values (SG ) Cµ ) turbulent (or eddy) viscosity constant
1.4, 2.5, 4.0, and 6.0) at a fixed impeller speed (N ) 400 rpm) D ) impeller diameter (m)
for the A310 impeller (Figure 13b). These results show that dp ) particle diameter (m)
the specific gravity of the solid phase considerably affects the b
FB ) buoyancy force (N)
4434 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 49, No. 9, 2010

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