Mixing time of a non-Newtonian liquid in an unbaffled agitated vessel with an eccentric propeller

Experimental study of mixing time of non-Newtonian shear-thinning fluids within the transitional regime (3 × 10² < Re < 3 × 10³) of liquid flow is presented. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of eccentricity and pumping mode of the impeller as well as of position of the tracer dosage point into the agitated liquid on mixing time. The measurements were conducted in an unbaffled agitated vessel with inner diameter D = 0.7 m equipped with an up-or down-pumping propeller located centrically (e/R = 0) or eccentrically (e/R ≠ 0) in the vessel. Experiments were carried out by means of computer-aided unsteady-state thermal method for three positions of the tracer dosage point. The experimental data show that eccentric position of the propeller in an unbaffled vessel causes a decrease of the mixing time compared to that obtained in a vessel with a centrically located propeller. Mixing time depends also on the pumping mode of the propeller as well as on the position of the tracer dosage point. Presented at the 34th International Conference of the Slovak Society of Chemical Engineering, Tatranské Matliare, 21–25 May 2007.