Theoretical simulations of vertical Bridgman growth of cadmium zinc telluride are performed to study the effects of the accelerated crucible rotation technique (ACRT). The results indicate that thermal buoyancy has a dramatic effect on the flow, even in a relatively small system at high rotation rate, contrary to assertions made in recent papers by Liu et al. (J. Crystal Growth 219 (2000) 22). We demonstrate their prior results greatly overstate the effectiveness of ACRT at promoting mixing. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the ACRT rotation cycle considered here for a small-scale growth system actually suppresses mixing in the melt near the ampoule wall, resulting in diffusion-limited mass transport there.