Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.28, No.10, 1134-1143, 2005
CFD prediction of flow and homogenization in a stirred vessel: Part II vessel with three and four impellers
This article deals with CFD simulations of flow inside stirred vessels equipped with three and four radial or axial impellers mounted on the same shaft. A comparison was made between simulated data and experiments for one- and two-impeller systems and was presented in Part I [1]. The effect of the lowest impeller off-bottom clearance, number of impellers used, and impeller type on the tracer distribution was studied. The simulations were mainly focused on the grid size and type and the analysis of the concentration curves in each impeller section. The predicted velocity fields, power and pumping numbers, concentration curves, and mixing times were validated with experimental data. The simulation results show the significant influence of the grid density on the velocity profiles and power and pumping numbers in contrast to the low impact on the concentration curves. A better prediction of the concentration curves was reached when radial impellers were used; the mixing times were generally over-predicted.