Agitation performance

Select standard speed and motor horsepower. Although design calculations have determined that an agitator speed of 65 r/min is required, only certain standard output speeds are available with typical industrial gear reducers. The closest standard speed is 68 r/min. If 68 r/min is used instead of the calculated 65 r/min, the bulk velocity will increase to about 0.42 ft/s, a change imperceptible with respect to agitator performance. 

The number of baffles is usually 4 the number of impeller blades ranges from 4 to 16 but is generally 6 or 8. Special situations may, of course, dictate different proportions from those listed above it may be advantageous, for example, to place the agitator higher or lower in the tank, or a much deeper tank may be needed to achieve the desired process result, The listed standard proportions, nonetheless, are widely accepted and are the basis of many published correlations of agitator performance. 

Mack DJ, Marriner RAA. (1949) Method of correlating agitator performance. Chem. Eng. Prog., 45(9) 545-552. 

Myers, K. M., A. Bakker and J. Fasano, Simulation and Experimental Verification of Liquid-Solid Agitation Performance, paper 188a, A.l.Ch.E. Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 13-18, 1994. 

Until recently most industrial scale, and even bench scale, bioreactors of this type were agitated by a set of Rushton turbines having about one-thind the diameter of the bioreactor (43) (Fig. 3). In this system, the air enters into the lower agitator and is dispersed from the back of the impeller blades by gas-fiUed or ventilated cavities (44). The presence of these cavities causes the power drawn by the agitator, ie, the power requited to drive it through the broth, to fall and this has important consequences for the performance of the bioreactor with respect to aeration (35). k a has been related to the power per unit volume, P/ U, in W/m and to the superficial air velocity, in m/s (20), where is the air flow rate per cross-sectional area of bioreactor. This relationship in water is... 

Most ionic nitrations are performed at 0—120°C. For nitrations of most aromatics, there are two Hquid phases an organic and an acid phase. Sufficient pressure, usually slightly above atmospheric, is provided to maintain the Hquid phases. A large interfacial area between the two phases is needed to expedite transfer of the reactants to the interface and of the products from the interface. The site of the main reactions is often at or close to the interface (2). To provide large interfacial areas, a mechanical agitator is frequently used. 

Other types of mechanical agitation consist of vibrating screens or expanded metal panels. However, if the device fails to perform for any reason, discharging material from the bin will be much more difficult than if the device were not present. 

Quahty control testing of siUcones utilizes a combination of physical and chemical measurements to ensure satisfactory product performance and processibihty. Eor example, in addition to the usual physical properties of cured elastomers, the plasticity of heat-cured mbber and the extmsion rate of TVR elastomers under standard conditions are important to the customer. Where the siUcone appHcation involves surface activity, a use test is frequently the only rehable indicator of performance. Eor example, the performance of an antifoaming agent can be tested by measuring the foam reduction when the sihcone emulsion is added to an agitated standard detergent solution. The product data sheets and technical bulletins from commercial siUcone producers can be consulted for more information. 

Alkenes. The sulfation of low molecular weight alkenes using concentrated sulfuric acid is amenable to continuous operation. Good agitation is required and the reaction is performed at 70—80°C. Dialkyl sulfates ate also formed. Longer (C 2 i8) carbon chain alkenes yield detergent products. Order... 

Lime-Sulfuric. Recovery of citric acid by calcium salt precipitation is shown in Figure 3. Although the chemistry is straightforward, the engineering principles, separation techniques, and unit operations employed result in a complex commercial process. The fermentation broth, which has been separated from the insoluble biomass, is treated with a calcium hydroxide (lime) slurry to precipitate calcium citrate. After sufficient reaction time, the calcium citrate slurry is filtered and the filter cake washed free of soluble impurities. The clean calcium citrate cake is reslurried and acidified with sulfuric acid, converting the calcium citrate to soluble citric acid and insoluble calcium sulfate. Both the calcium citrate and calcium sulfate reactions are generally performed in agitated reaction vessels made of 316 stainless steel and filtered on commercially available filtration equipment. 

Between 1 s and 1 min specific contact time, conduction heat-transfer performance decreases theoretically as the 0.29 power of contact time. This is consistent with empirical data from several forms of indirect-heat dryers which show performance variation as the 0.4 power of rotational speed (21). In agitator-stirred and rotating indirect-heat dryers, specific contact time can be related to rotational speed provided that speed does not affect the physical properties of the material. To describe the mixing efficiency of various devices, the concept of a mixing parameter is employed. An ideal mixer has a parameter of 1. 

Proper emulsification is essential to the satisfactory performance of a carrier. A weU-formulated carrier readily disperses when poured into water, and forms a milky emulsion upon agitation or steaming. It should not cause oil separation upon heating or crystallization and sedimentation upon cooling. 

Item of Equipment An item of equipment is a hardware item that performs a specific purpose. Examples are pumps, heat exchangers, agitators, and the like. A process unit could consist of a single item of equipment, but most process units consist of several items of equipment that must be operated in harmony in order to achieve the function expec ted of the process unit. 

Convective heat transfer is often nsed as an adjnuct to other modes, particnlarly to the coudnctive mode. It is often more convenient to consider the agitative effecl a performance-improvement iuflneuce on the thermal diffnsivity factor Ot, modifying it to Ot, the effective valne. 

Radiative Heat Transfer Heat-transfer equipment using the radiative mechanism for divided solids is constructed as a table which is stationary, as with trays, or moving, as with a belt, and/or agitated, as with a vibrated pan, to distribute and expose the burden in a plane parallel to (but not in contacl with) the plane of the radiant-heat sources. Presence of air is not necessary (see Sec. 12 for vacuum-shelf dryers and Sec. 22 for resubhmation). In fact, if air in the intervening space has a high humidity or CO9 content, it acts as an energy absorber, thereby depressing the performance. 

Some of the devices covered here handle the solids burden in a static or laminar-flowing bed. Other devices can be considered as continuously agitated kettles in their heat-transfer aspect. For the latter, unit-area performance rates are higher. 

Kneading Devices These are closely related to the agitated pan but differ as being primarily mixing devices with heat transfer a secondary consideration. Heat transfer is provided by jacketed construction of the main body and is effected by a coolant, hot water, or steam. These devices are applicable for the compounding of divided solids by mechanical rather than chemical action. Apphcation is largely in the pharmaceutical and food-processing industries. For a more complete description, illustrations, performance, and power requirements, refer to Sec. 19. 

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