Agitation and Mixing

AGITATION AND MIXING PROCESS
 Agitation and mixing are not synonymous:
 Agitation – refers to the induced motion of a

material in a specified way, usually in a
circulatory patterns
 Mixing – is the random distribution into and

trough one another, of two or more initially
separate phase.
PURPOSE OF AGITATION
1. Suspending solid particles

2. Blending miscible liquid
3. Dispersing a gas through the liquid in
the form of small bubble
4. Promoting heat transfer between the
liquid and coil jacket.
AGITATION AND MIXING
EQUIPMENT
A. Mixing vessel
 variety of styles and sizes. The top of the vessel may

be open to the air, or it may be closed.
 The tank bottom is rounded, not flat.
 to eliminate sharp corners or regions into
which the fluid current would not penetrate.
 The liquid depth is approximately equal to diameter of

the tank.
 A surrounding jacketed chamber holds steam or
process water that might heat or cool depending on
needs.
 Tanks could also be covered to prevent material
losses.
B. Impeller/Agitator
 creates a flow pattern in

the system
 There are three types of

impeller.
Propeller - For an axial flow
-High speed impeller
- for liquid of low - viscosity
Paddles - For slow to moderate speed motion
- Push the liquid in radial flow
- Suitable for high viscosity liquid
Turbine - For high speed

- Suitable for wide range of liquid
viscosity
- The liquid will be in radial flow
 Three velocity components that correspond to the flow patterns
in agitated vessel.
Radial acts in a direction perpendicular to the
shaft of the impeller
Longitudinal acts in a direction parallel with the shaft of
the impeller.
Tangential/Rotational acts in a direction tangent to a circular path
around the shaft.
 In the usual case of a vertical shaft, the radial and tangential

components are in a horizontal plane and the longitudinal
component is vertical.
 Both radial and longitudinal flows are useful and provide the
flow necessary for the mixing action.
 The tangential component creates a circulatory current by
centrifugal force in which concentration occurs.
C. Baffles
 Normally radial flow will give swirling
 reduces agitation effectiveness.
 It can be prevented by:
1. Install baffles
 Baffles are obstacles or barrier that are positioned
parallel to the agitator arm.
 To inhibit tangential flow without affecting the
radial component.
 Typically four baffles are adequate.
2. Changing the position of agitator
SIZE REDUCTION
The value of size reduction comes from:
 aiding the extraction of a constituent from a composite

structure -- for example in making sugar from sugar cane
 satisfying consumer or functional requirements -- for example
in manufacturing of icing sugar, pineapple rings or pieces
 increasing the ratio of surface area to volume so as to
 reduce drying time
 increase extraction rate
 decrease heating, cooking time etc
 improving mixing/blending -- for example in packaged soups,
cake mixes etc
Size reduction equipment is divided into:
1. Crushers
 do the heavy work of breaking large pieces of
solid material into small lumps
2. Grinders-
 reduce crushed feed to powder
3. Ultrafine grinders
 accepts feed particles no larger than 6mm and
the product size is typically 1 to 5mm
4. Cutting machines
 give particles of definite size and shape, 2 to
10mm in length.Size
A. Crushers (coarse and fine)
Jaw crushers , Gyratory crushers and roll
Crusher
B. Grinders (intermediate and fine)

Hammer mills; impactors
Rolling-compression mills
Attrition mills ,Tumbling mills
C. Ultrafine grinders
Hammer mills with internal classification
Fluid-energy mills , Agitated mills
D. Cutting machines
Knife cutters; dicers; slitters
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF SIZE
REDUCTION EQUIPMENT
1. Feed and Product Size
Feed Size Product Size
Coarse Crushers 1500 - 40mm 50 - 5mm
Intermediate Crushers 50 - 5mm 5 - 0.1mm
Fine Crushers.grinders 5 - 2mm <0.1mm
Fine Milling <0.2mm down to 0.01m

2. Nature of Material
 Hardness - very hard materials are better in low speed or low

contact machines
 Structure - fibrous materials need tearing or cutting action
 Moisture content - materials with 5 - 50% moisture do not
flow easily and can be difficult to process
 Friability
 Stickiness - sticky materials need easily cleaned machines
 Soapiness - if coefficient of friction is low crushing may be
difficult
 Explosives - need inert atmosphere
 Hazardous to health - need good confinement
 Closeness of distribution
MODES OF OPERATION OF GRINDING
EQUIPMENT
1) Open circuit grinding

 simplest method of operating a mill. Product passes
straight through, no classifying screens, no recycling of
oversize
 wide size distribution results as some particles pass
through quickly, others stay for some time (also resulting
in higher energy consumption)
2) Free crushing
 as with open circuit, but residence time kept to a
minimum, often by material falling through action zone
under influence of gravity
 production of undersize reduced, and lower energy
consumption, but large size range
3)Choke feeding
 discharge is restricted by inserting a screen in the outlet,
so material stays choked in the action zone until reduced
to a small enough size
 long residence time results in undersize particles and
additional energy consumption
 useful to prevent oversize, and a large reduction ratio can
be achieved
4) Closed circuit grading

 residence time kept short, but classifier system at the
outlet separates oversize material and recycles it
 more energy efficient, with narrower range of final
particle size
 additional cost of classifier system
Wet grinding/ milling
 if material can be wet without harm, it may be advantageous

to mill it as a slurry with a carrier liquid, often water
 eliminates dust problems and allows use of hydraulic
separating techniques eg. centrifugation
 often used where extraction of a soluble component is also
required eg. maize milling
 energy consumption high but tends to produce finer particles
TECHNIQUES OF MEASURING PARTICLE
SIZE
Sieving
 for particle size > 50 um
 A particle passes through an aperture depend on its size and the probability that it will be
presented at the required orientation on the screen surface.
Microscopic analysis
 for particle size 1 ~ 50 um
 Permit measurement on the projected area of particle
Sedimentation and eluitration method

 Depend on the terminal falling velocity of particle in a fluid increase with size.
Coultier Counter
 for particle size 1 ~ 100 um
 The particles are suspended in an electrolyte and are forced through a small orifice
Permeability method
 Depend on fact that at low flow rates the flow through packed bed is directly proportionally
to pressure difference.
POWER REQUIRED FOR CRUSHING AND
GRINDING
 Work required to form particles of size Dp from very large feed is

proportional to the square root of the surface –to-volume ratio of the
product.
 If 80% of the feed passes a mesh size of Dpa milimeters and 80% of
the product a mesh of Dpb milimeters, it follows from eqs:
1 - 1
P = 0.3162 W √Dpb √Dpa
i
˙m
P = power (kW)
m = mass (ton/hr)
Dpb = mesh size(mm)
Dpa = product mesh (mm)
Wi = Work Index
EXAMPLE
 What is the power required to crush 100 ton/h of clay if 80 % of the feed
passes a 2.0 in. screen and 80 % of the product a 1/8 in. screen. The work
index for clay is 12.74.
Solution:
m = 100 ton/h
Dpa = 2.0 x 25.4 = 50.8
Dpb = 0.125 x 25.4 = 3.175
The power required
1 - 1
P = 0.3162 Wi √Dpb √Dpa
˙m
P = 150 x 0.3162 x 6.30(1/√4.445 – 1/√63.5)

=104.23kPa

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AGITATION AND MIXING PROCESS

 Agitation and mixing are not synonymous:

 Agitation – refers to the induced motion of a

 Mixing – is the random distribution into and

1. Suspending solid particles

 variety of styles and sizes. The top of the vessel may

 The liquid depth is approximately equal to diameter of

 creates a flow pattern in

 There are three types of

Turbine - For high speed

 In the usual case of a vertical shaft, the radial and tangential

 aiding the extraction of a constituent from a composite

B. Grinders (intermediate and fine)

1. Feed and Product Size

Feed Size Product Size

Coarse Crushers 1500 - 40mm 50 - 5mm

Intermediate Crushers 50 - 5mm 5 - 0.1mm

Fine Crushers.grinders 5 - 2mm <0.1mm

Fine Milling <0.2mm down to 0.01m

 Hardness - very hard materials are better in low speed or low

1) Open circuit grinding

4) Closed circuit grading

 if material can be wet without harm, it may be advantageous

Sedimentation and eluitration method

 Work required to form particles of size Dp from very large feed is

P = 150 x 0.3162 x 6.30(1/√4.445 – 1/√63.5)

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