Effect of novel mixed impeller on local bubble size and flow regime transition in pilot scale gas-liquid stirred tank reactor

Abstract The flow generated in a gas-liquid stirred tank reactor highly depends on the design of the impeller and sparger. To better understand the contact between the phases and the mass and heat transfer rates, especially when the mass transfer is the limiting step, it is crucial to investigate the hydrodynamics generated by the impellers and its impact on the bubble size and their distribution, and gas volume fraction. In this work, experimental and numerical studies are performed with a novel mixed impeller in a pilot scale (T = 0.486 m) gas-liquid stirred tank reactor. The Sauter mean diameter, mean bubble diameter and bubble size distribution is determined at the different radial and axial regions by using high-speed imaging technique. Further, Euler-Euler simulations are performed to find the detailed flow field of novel mixed impeller used in the current study. Finally, the gassed power to impeller swept volume ratio is determined from the CFD and correlated with the Sauter mean diameter measured in the experiment in the impeller discharge region. It is found that the novel mixed impeller used in current work shows the similar behavior as the Rushton impeller in the impeller discharge region and it also provide good axial mixing.