Experimental and computational study of agitated vessels

Abstract

The fluid flow in an agitated tank has been studied in a laboratory vessel and using computational fluid dynamics (commonly known as CFD). The investigation has been focused on power draw measurements at different rotational speeds for various agitators determining the power number curve. The experiments have been carried out in a laboratory tank while CFD simulations by means of a commercial software (ANSYS program). Data measured in the laboratory and plotted show the expected curves (Power number versus Reynolds number) and they have been compared with data obtained from CFD simulations. Despite the fact that the majority of CFD simulations have not converged, it exists reasonable agreement between the experimental and computational results. This indicates the validity of CFD model formed by geometry, mesh building and fluent setting but it needs improvements and modifications to obtain more accuracy. A valid CFD allows industry to work scaling up due to changes of geometry, input fluxes, production etc. CFD offers a fast and economic way of working in agitations, which are chemical operations used in industries.