Mixing Dynamics in Stirred Tanks
Abstract
The parameters which affect the mixing of fluids are of great industrial importance. In the area of laminar mixing, segregated regions inhibit the homogeneous distribution of components within an industrial unit. In a typical stirred tank, the segregated regions are sets of nested 2-tori. Experimentally, the focus has been on the elimination of these nested tori via spatial and temporal perturbation. One such perturbation that improves mixing is moving the impeller from a concentric position to an eccentric one. Using dyes, the mixings patterns of stirred tanks have been studied; however, the topologies caused by the eccentric systems have not been explained in terms of their dynamics. A simple, generic mathematical model has been created to display the dynamics on a set of nested 2-tori; an external perturbation is added to the system to mimic eccentric placement of a disk. A comparison is drawn between the phenomena seen in the experiment and the model to determine the general characteristics of dynamics of the chaotic and non-chaotic regions on a set of eccentrically perturbed nested 2-tori.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- November 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002APS..DFD.EC006L