Agitation of Viscoplastic Fluid in a Rotating Vessel Using Close Clearance Agitators

Abstract

Technological advancements have continued to progress in all fields, achieving remarkable feats. Additionally, productivity is increasing across the board as a result of strong economic expansion, which has encouraged changes in people’s way of life, such as the increasing use of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, detergents, and food products. A hydrothermal study is required in these areas to optimize the design of the stirring system. The aim of the current work is to investigate the hydrodynamics and thermodynamics of a mechanical agitation system with a non-Newtonian fluid of the Bingham–Bercovier type in a cylindrical vessel with three blade configurations. Our research is specifically directed towards mechanically agitated systems utilizing close clearance stirrers, particularly focusing on the anchor, gate and two-bladed impellers, within cylindrical tanks that possess flat bottoms without baffles. The results show that the anchor impeller, with its broad blades and low-shear characteristics, is more suited for breaking down yield stress and inducing flow in these fluids, which creates a wide flow pattern that effectively overcomes yield stress. However, the addition of vertical arms to transform it into a gate impeller promotes mixing, heat transfer and thermal efficiency with a small energy cost compared to an anchor impeller against the two-bladed impeller.