Resource detail
Title: Low energy consuming novel impeller for stirred tank reactors
Organization:National Chemical Laboratory
Source:NCL Innovations Resource Center, National Chemical Laboratory
Year:2012
Stirred Tank Reactors use mechanical stirrers with impellers to mix and distribute heat/materials – and are used in the chemical, pharmaceutical and fermentation industries. The efficiency of these reactors entirely depends on the design and location of the impellers in the tank. It is difficult to achieve uniform spatial distribution of energy in the STRs due to inability of the conventional impellers to reach the bottom of the tank and not achieve uniform temperature while operating at a low speed to avoid high shear zones in the fluid.
Outcome/Benefits: Stirred Tank Reactors aids in reducing non-uniformities/ develop a uniform randomness throughout the tank. The power number of the impeller is relatively low (more efficient) as compared to other standard impellers due to the uniform structure that helps maintain similarity in the flow, making energy distribution uniform. Wake formation is almost zero behind the blades, reducing the drag and hence the power consumption. The application results in low shear rate, necessary for the shear sensitive media.
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