Improved suspension quality and liquid level stability in stirred tanks with Rotor-Stator agitator based on CFD simulation--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Yin, C., He, J., Xiong, Y., Zhang, Z., Luo, X., Shu, Y., . . . Zheng, K. (2023). Improved suspension quality and liquid level stability in stirred tanks with Rotor-Stator agitator based on CFD simulation. Particuology, 82, 64-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2023.01.010

Improved suspension quality and liquid level stability in stirred tanks with Rotor-Stator agitator based on CFD simulation

Cuicui Yin ^a, Jiazhen He ^a, Yongnan Xiong ^a *, Zhibo Zhang ^a, Xing Luo ^a, Yao Shu^a, Danfeng Long ^b, Kaihong Zheng ^a *

a Institute of New Materials, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, National Engineering Research Center of Powder Metallurgy of Titanium & Rare Metals, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Metal Toughening Technology and Application, Guangzhou, 510651, China
b Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510651, China

10.1016/j.partic.2023.01.010

Volume 82, November 2023, Pages 64-75

Received 5 September 2022, Revised 4 November 2022, Accepted 17 January 2023, Available online 3 February 2023, Version of Record 9 February 2023.

E-mail: xiongyongnan@gdinm.com, zhengkaihong@gdinm.com

Highlights

• Stator structure improves flow pattern, homogeneity and liquid level stability.

• The Rotor-Stator agitator was more effective than Rushton and A200 agitators.

• There exists an optimal stirring speed in solid-liquid mixing process.

• Decreasing particle size can improve the homogeneity.

• Increasing solid loading can improve the homogeneity at high stirring speeds.

Abstract

The solid-liquid mixing is an important operation unit in the preparation of composites by stirring casting. High quality composite materials need good homogeneity and stable liquid level. In this work, the performances of the Rotor-Stator agitator for solid suspension in stirred tank were investigated through CFD modeling, including the homogeneity, power consumption and liquid level stability. The Eulerian-Eulerian (E-E) multiphase model and the RNG k-ε turbulence model were adopted for modeling the multiphase flow and the turbulence effects, respectively. The effect of various important parameters such as stirring speed, particle size, solid loading and the use of baffles were examined. Adding a stator structure with array holes outside the rotor can optimize the flow pattern, thereby improving the mixing uniformity and liquid level stability. The homogeneity and liquid level stability attained by the Rotor-Stator agitator were better than those for the A200 (an axial-flow agitator) and the Rushton (a radial-flow agitator).

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Solid-liquid mixing; Rotor-Stator agitator; Suspension quality; Liquid level stability; Power consumption; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

文章导读