Gas recirculation rate and its influences on mass transfer in multiple impeller systems with various impeller combinations

Both the numerical and experimental approaches were used to study the effects of the gas recirculation and non‐uniform gas loading on the mass transfer rate for each impeller in a multiple impeller system. By combining the calculated gas velocity and local gas holdup, the gas recirculation rate around each impeller was estimated. The local mass transfer coefficients for systems equipped with various combinations of the Rushton turbine impeller (R) and pitched blade impeller (P) were determined by using the dynamic gassing out method. It is found that the Rushton turbine impeller has to be served as the lowest impeller in order to have a better gas dispersion and to give a higher overall K_La for a multiple impeller gas‐liquid contactor. The upper pitched blade impeller always enforces the circulating flow around the Rushton turbine impeller just beneath it and gives a higher overall average mass transfer rate. However, the system equipped with only the pitched blade impellers results in a much lower mass transfer rate than the other systems owing to the poor gas dispersion performance of the pitched blade impeller.     

搅拌生物反应器的循环时间分布和混合结构模型

利用磁粒子流动跟踪法对搅拌生物反应器的循环时间分布进行测定,并将Rushton径向流桨和两种新型轴向流桨在不同介质粘度和转速下的循环时间分布进行比较和性能评价。建立了单桨搅拌生物反应器的混合结构模型,对循环时间分布数据进行拟合,求得模型参数,进而讨论了不同实验条件下模型参数的变化。结果表明,对于非牛顿、高粘度发酵过程,轴向流桨比Rushton桨具有更好的混合特性。     

Gas-liquid hydrodynamics in a vessel stirred by dual dislocated-blade Rushton impellers☆

Towards the objective of improving the gas dispersion performance, the dislocated-blade Rushton impeller was applied to the gas–liquid mixing in a baffled stirred vessel. The flow field, gas hold-up, dissolved oxygen, power consumption before and after gassing were studied using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. Dispersion of gas in the liquid was modelled using the Eulerian–Eulerian approach along with the dispersed k–εturbulent model. Rotation of the impeller was simulated with the multiple reference frame method. A modified drag coefficient which includes the effect of turbulence was used to account for the momentum exchange. The predictions were compared with their counterparts of the standard Rushton impeller and were validated with the experimental results. It is concluded that the dislocated-blade Rushton impeller is superior to the standard Rushton impeller in the gas–liquid mixing operation, and the findings obtained here lay the basis of its application in process industries.     

Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Impeller Design Parameters on the Performance of a Multiphase Baffle‐Stirred Reactor

The turbulent gas‐liquid flow field in an industrial 100‐m³ stirred tank was calculated by using computational fluid dynamics based on the finite‐volume method. Turbulent effects were modeled with the shear stress transport model, and gas‐liquid bubbly flow was modeled with the Eulerian‐Eulerian approach using the Grace correlation for the drag force interphase momentum transfer. The relative motion between the rotating impeller and the stationary baffled tank was considered by using a multiple frames of reference algorithm. The effects of Rushton and pitched‐blade impeller design parameters such as blade geometry, location, and pumping direction on the mixing performance were investigated. It was found that a combination of Rushton turbines with up‐pumping pitched‐blade turbines provides the best mixing performance in terms of gas holdup and interfacial area density. The approach outlined in this work is useful for performance optimization of biotechnology reactors, as typically found in fermentation processes.     

Gas-Liquid Mixing in a Grid-Disc Impeller Stirred Tank

To enhance the gas-liquid mixing performance in stirred tanks, the grid-disc impeller was designed by replacing the solid disc of the standard Rushton impeller with a grid disc. Gas-liquid hydrodynamics of the new impeller was studied by employing the Eulerian-Eulerian two-phase model coupled with the dispersed k-ε turbulence model. Rotation of the impeller was simulated with the multiple reference frame method. Flow field, gas holdup, and power consumption were investigated and compared with the standard Rushton impeller. The numerical method was validated by comparing the gas holdup with literature. The grid-disc impeller performed better than the Rushton impeller in terms of gas dispersion performance, axial pumping capacity, and energy requirement, indicating its potential for gas-liquid mixing applications.     

一种新型搅拌桨多相混合性能研究

提出了一种新构型的搅拌桨一错位桨,并以空气-水-石英砂三相体系为研究对象,与传统的径流桨(Rushton桨)和轴流桨(斜叶桨)在功率消耗、混合时间、气体循环方面进行了比较.结果表明,错位桨相对于传统Rushton桨,功率消耗降低.适应气速范围广,轴向混合能力明显提升;在同等条件下与斜叶浆相比,气体分散能力强,混合时间少.这种新型桨能克服径向流叶轮在轴向混合方面能力的缺陷,有较好的潜在工业应用价值.     

刚柔组合搅拌桨与刚性桨调控流场结构的对比

高黏度流体处于层流状态时,普遍存在的混合隔离区,降低了流体的混合效率。减小或消除隔离区,是实现流体高效混合的基本途径。采用实验研究与数值模拟相结合的方法,对刚性六直叶涡轮桨（刚性桨）和刚柔组合六直叶涡轮桨（组合桨）的流场结构进行研究,对比分析了两种桨叶在相同功耗（3 kW·m^-3）时的轴向、径向和切向的速度矢量图、速度云图以及速度分布散点图。结果表明,刚性桨的能量集中在桨叶尖端部分,远离桨叶区域的流体速度很小甚至为0 m·s^-1;而组合桨可将能量从桨叶尖端扩散至全槽,使槽内流体均具有一定的流速,提高了混合效率,且显色实验与数值模拟结果一致,组合桨体系的混合隔离区在短时间内就可消除,混合良好,而刚性桨体系的混合隔离区始终存在,混合效果不佳。     

双层桨表面曝气反应器构型优化

针对单层桨表面曝气反应器吸入气体主要集中在反应器上部的缺陷,构建了5种双层桨表面曝气反应器构型. 研究了各种构型的传质系数、搅拌功率和混合时间等流体力学特性,表明双层桨构型能改善单层桨构型的缺陷,表面曝气桨与上推式轴流桨组成的双层桨构型的径流桨综合性能最优,符合流场耦合与叠加的原理.     

搅拌槽内粘稠物系的混合过程

以发酵罐中通气搅拌下的混合为背景，考察了搅拌形式，物系流变性质及通气速率等因素，对搅拌槽内粘稠物质系中混合过程的影响，轴向流翼型混合效率高于涡轮桨，通气有助于改善粘稠物系中的混合粘度变化主要改变槽内流动状态和桨叶泵送能力，从而改变混合效率，当物系为中等粘度假塑性流体时，混合速率由桨叶泵送流动的流量和形态所决定，多层搅拌下分区现象限制了混合速率。     

Characterisation of three different impellers using the LDV-technique

A characterisation of three commonly used impellers was made in this study by measuring local mean velocities and the fluctuations of these velocities with the LDV technique. The data was used to estimate volumetric flow, velocity fluctuations and turbulent intensity in the impeller region of the tank. The impellers investigated were a high flow impeller, a pitched blade turbine and a Rushton turbine. The cylindrical vessel used was made of Perspex, had a dished bottom (DIN 28013), was equipped with four baffles and had an inner diameter of 0.45 m. It was found that the bulk velocities could be scaled with the tip-speed of the impeller (ND). The flow rate at constant impeller speed increased in the order high flow impeller — Rushton turbine — pitched blade turbine. The corresponding order for the turbulence fluctuation is: high flow impeller — pitched blade turbine — Rushton turbine. The velocity profile of the flow out from the high flow impeller was furthermore, not as smooth as could be expected.     

一种高效的双流道自吸气叶轮搅拌器(下)

对高效自吸气叶轮在长搅拌罐高位处向下喷射气液流的现象进行了实验研究。实验发现，搅拌器混合时间大大缩短，罐内传质均匀，叶轮兼具径流式和轴流式叶轮的优点。和十二叶Ｒｕｓｈ－ｔｏｎ透平及它在低位时的情况相比，比传质系数在１１７０～１７５０ｒ／ｍｉｎ范围内是十二叶Ｒｕｓｈｔｏｎ透平的１．９７～２．７４倍，是它在低位时的１．３３～２．０８倍。利用三维气泡运动方程分析了气泡的运动轨迹及下沉深度，计算结果和实验观测值基本相符。     

Torque and bending moment acting on a flexible shaft agitated by disk turbines in a gas–liquid stirred vessel

The torque and bending moment acting on a flexible overhung shaft in a gas–liquid stirred vessel agitated by a Rushton turbine and three different curved-blade disk turbines(half circular blades disk turbine, half elliptical blades disk turbine, and parabolic blades disk turbine) were experimentally measured by a customized moment sensor. The results show that the amplitude distribution of torque can be fitted by a symmetric bimodal distribution for disk turbines, and generally the distribution is more dispersive as the blade curvature or the gas flow rate increases. The amplitude distribution of shaft bending moment can be fitted by an asymmetric Weibull distribution for disk turbines. The relative shaft bending moment manifests a "rising-falling-rising" trend over the gas flow number, which is a corporate contribution of the unstable gas–liquid flow around the impeller, the gas cavities behind the blades, and the direct impact of gas on the impeller. And the "falling" stage is greater and lasts wider over the gas flow number for Rushton turbine than for the curved-blade disk turbines.     

柔性Rushton搅拌桨混合性能的实验研究

提高混合效率是流体搅拌混合领域的重点研究内容之一。几十年来，人们在开发新型搅拌桨及研发流体混合新技术方面做了大量工作。基于刚性Rushton桨，开发了一种柔性叶片Rushton搅拌桨，并以罗丹明6G为荧光剂，采用平面激光诱导荧光法对介质为水时该桨在湍流状态下的混合性能进行了实验测试研究。结果发现，标定实验结果表明，荧光剂强度与浓度呈线性关系，可以此为基准衡量同等实验条件下的宏观混合时间。荧光剂的扩散情况表明，与刚性桨相比，柔性桨具有更好的混合性能，尤其在混合的初始阶段，混合均匀程度及混合速度均有一定的优势。与刚性桨混合时间的对比表明，柔性桨的宏观混合时间较短，有助于提高流体混合效率。研究结果为该桨的工业应用奠定了基础。     

Characterization on the hydrodynamics of a covering-plate Rushton impeller

A modified Rushton impeller with two circular covering-plates mounted on the upper and lower sides of the blades was designed. There are gaps between the plates and the blades. The turbulent hydrodynamics was analyzed by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Firstly, the reliability of the numerical model and simulation method was verified by comparing with the experimental results from literature. Subsequently, the power consumption, flow pattern, mean velocity and mixing time of the covering-plate Rushton impeller (RT-C) were studied and compared with the standard Rushton impeller (RT) operated under the same conditions. Results show that the power consumption can be decreased about 18%. Compared with the almost unchanged flow field in the lower stirred tank, the mean velocity was increased at the upper half of the stirred tank. And in the impeller region, the mean axial and radial velocities were increased, the mean tangential velocity was decreased. In addition, the average mixing time of RT-C was shortened about 4.14% than the counterpart of RT. The conclusions obtained here indicated that RT-C has a more effective mixing performance and it can be used as an alternative of RT in the process industries.     

γ-CT measurement and CFD simulation of cross section gas holdup distribution in a gas–liquid stirred standard Rushton tank

Cross section gas holdup distributions at 3/4 dimensionless static liquid height in a gas–liquid stirred standard Rushton tank were measured using ¹³⁷Cs γ-CT scan measuring technology at larger gas flow rates and higher impeller rotating speeds. The obtained CT scan images and digital distribution curves of gas holdup with dimensionless radius based on the CT images could explain the fluctuation changes of gas holdup distribution. The dense area of gas holdup distribution appeared in the upper space of impeller blades. Gas holdup increased both with gas flow rate and impeller rotating speed, but gas flow rate had more influence on gas holdup than impeller rotating speed. The Eulerian–Eulerian two-fluid model coupling with the bubbles' coalescence and break-up models, and the drag coefficient model were established to make CFD simulation of gas holdup distributions for the gas–liquid stirred Rushton tank under different gas flow rates and impeller rotating speeds.     

疏水Rushton搅拌桨的减阻性能

为了减小搅拌阻力与功耗,本研究提出了疏水叶片搅拌桨的设想。首先采用数值模拟的方法,对非疏水Rushton桨搅拌容器内的流场进行了模拟,通过与文献中实验结果的对比,验证了数值模型和模拟方法的可靠性。随后研究了湍流状态下疏水Rushton搅拌桨的流体动力学性能,分析了不同疏水状态下的流场结构、剪应力和压力分布以及减阻效果和搅拌功耗,并与非疏水桨进行了对比。结果表明,疏水处理后Rushton桨搅拌容器内的流场没有明显变化,但流体的轴向泵送能力有所增强,高速度区域略有扩大,超疏水时效果更明显。疏水处理可降低Rushton桨的剪应力和桨叶前后表面间的压差,具有减阻效果,超疏水时减阻幅度高达39.56%。另外,疏水Rushton桨的搅拌功耗有所降低,与非疏水桨相比,超疏水桨的功率准数降低了8.53%,具有显著的节能效应。     

Application of Central Composite Rotatable Design for Mixing Time Analysis in Mechanically Agitated Vessels

Central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was applied for analyzing and optimizing the effects of impeller rotational speed, gas flow rate, probe location, and tracer injection point on the gas‐liquid two‐phase mixing time in an agitated vessel with a dual six‐blade Rushton turbine. Knowledge of the effects of independent factors on the mixing time is necessary in order to optimize the mixing process. The mathematical relationship between mixing time and four significant independent variables can be approximated by a nonlinear polynomial model. The obtained results demonstrate that CCRD could efficiently be applied for modeling mixing time. It requires fewer experimental runs and provides sufficient information as compared to a factorial design.     

搅拌槽内粘稠物系中气液相间氧传递

以发酵罐中气液相间氧传递为背景，考察了搅拌槽内搅拌器形式、物系流变性质、通气搅拌操作条件等对假塑性粘稠物系中氧传递过程的影响。结果表明，这些因素主要通过改变气体分散状态和相间传质面积来影响氧传递速率。根据气泡在搅拌槽内不均匀分布现象，多层搅拌下气液相间传质过程可以用气泡运动分区分布模型来描述。它说明了采用轴向流桨和涡轮桨组合的搅拌形式在氧传递方面的优越性，为强化发酵罐中供氧指明一条有效途径     

An experimental study of double-to-single-loop transition in stirred vessels

The velocity characteristics of the flows in a fully baffled vessel of diameter T = 290 mm stirred by a Rushton impeller of diameter D = T/3 were investigated by means of laser-Doppler anemometry measurements. The effects of clearance and rotational speed on the flow patterns in the vessel were studied. It was found that at impeller clearances from the bottom of the vessel (C) around 0.2 T the characteristic double-loop flow pattern undergoes a transition to a single-loop one with the impeller stream direction becoming partly axial and being inclined at around 25 to 30° to the horizontal. The impeller stream inclination varied with radial distance from the impeller, as well as with angular position between blades (blade angle). Impeller speed was found to have no effect on the flow pattern or the mean velocities and turbulence levels normalized by V_tip for C/T > 0.20 or C/T ≤ 0.15. The flow structure measured with C = 0.15T is described in detail and the implications of the data for fluid mixing in stirred vessels are discussed.     

Measuring gas hold-up in gas–liquid/gas–solid–liquid stirred tanks with an electrical resistance tomography linear probe

An electrical resistance tomography (ERT) linear probe was used to measure gas hold-up in a two-phase (gas–liquid) and three phase (gas–solid–liquid) stirred-tank system equipped with a Rushton turbine. The ERT linear probe was chosen rather than the more commonly used ring cage geometry to achieve higher resolution in the axial direction as well as its potential for use on manufacturing plant. Gas-phase distribution was measured as a function of flow regime by varying both impeller speed and gas flow rate. Global and local gas hold-up values were calculated using ERT data by applying Maxwell's equation for conduction through heterogeneous media. The results were compared with correlations, hard-field tomography data, and computational fluid dynamic simulations available in the literature, showing good agreement. This study thus demonstrates the capability of ERT using a linear probe to offer, besides qualitative tomographic images, reliable quantitative data regarding phase distribution in gas–liquid systems.