SCI和EI收录∣中国化工学会会刊

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2022, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (7): 218-230.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2021.08.012

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A numerical study of mixing intensification for highly viscous fluids in multistage rotor–stator mixers

Liying Chen1, Junheng Guo1, Wenpeng Li2, Shuchun Zhao1, Wei Li1, Jinli Zhang1,3   

  1. 1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China;
    2. School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China;
    3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
  • Received:2021-03-29 Revised:2021-08-17 Online:2022-08-19 Published:2022-07-28
  • Contact: Jinli Zhang,E-mail:zhangjinli@tju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22090034, 21776179), the Major Science and Technology Project of Xinjiang Bingtuan (2020AA004) and the Major Project of Shihezi City(2020ZD002).

A numerical study of mixing intensification for highly viscous fluids in multistage rotor–stator mixers

Liying Chen1, Junheng Guo1, Wenpeng Li2, Shuchun Zhao1, Wei Li1, Jinli Zhang1,3   

  1. 1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China;
    2. School of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China;
    3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
  • 通讯作者: Jinli Zhang,E-mail:zhangjinli@tju.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22090034, 21776179), the Major Science and Technology Project of Xinjiang Bingtuan (2020AA004) and the Major Project of Shihezi City(2020ZD002).

Abstract: How to achieve uniform mixing of highly viscous fluids with low energy consumption is a major industry demand and one of the hot spots of mixing research. A typical multistage rotor-stator mixer (MRSM) equipped with a distributor was investigated to disclose the effects on the mixing performance and power consumption for highly viscous fluids via numerical simulation, considering the influence factors associated with different geometric parameters of both MRSM and the distributor. The mixing index and power consumption are used to evaluate the performance of the mixers. The dimensionless correlations for the mixing index and the power consumption are established considering the factors including the flow rate, rotor speed, the number of mixing units. Adopting the optimized mixer with the distributor (X1-T1), the mixing index increases to 0.85 (obviously higher than 0.46 for the mixer T1 without a distributor), meanwhile the corresponding power consumption is about 1/5 of that of T1 achieving the same mixing effect. It illustrates that the distributor can significantly improve the mixing of highly viscous fluids in the MRSM without the cost of large power consumption. These results would provide a guidance on the design and optimization of multistage rotor-stator mixers in industrial applications.

Key words: Multistage rotor-stator mixer, Computational fluid dynamics, Mixing index, Power consumption, Distributor

摘要: How to achieve uniform mixing of highly viscous fluids with low energy consumption is a major industry demand and one of the hot spots of mixing research. A typical multistage rotor-stator mixer (MRSM) equipped with a distributor was investigated to disclose the effects on the mixing performance and power consumption for highly viscous fluids via numerical simulation, considering the influence factors associated with different geometric parameters of both MRSM and the distributor. The mixing index and power consumption are used to evaluate the performance of the mixers. The dimensionless correlations for the mixing index and the power consumption are established considering the factors including the flow rate, rotor speed, the number of mixing units. Adopting the optimized mixer with the distributor (X1-T1), the mixing index increases to 0.85 (obviously higher than 0.46 for the mixer T1 without a distributor), meanwhile the corresponding power consumption is about 1/5 of that of T1 achieving the same mixing effect. It illustrates that the distributor can significantly improve the mixing of highly viscous fluids in the MRSM without the cost of large power consumption. These results would provide a guidance on the design and optimization of multistage rotor-stator mixers in industrial applications.

关键词: Multistage rotor-stator mixer, Computational fluid dynamics, Mixing index, Power consumption, Distributor