ISSN 0040-5795, Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering, 2018, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 473–487. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.

, 2018.
Original Russian Text © V.M. Barabash, R.Sh. Abiev, N.N. Kulov, 2018, published in Teoreticheskie Osnovy Khimicheskoi Tekhnologii, 2018, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 367–383.

Theory and Practice of Mixing: A Review

V. M. Barabasha, *, R. Sh. Abievb, **, and N. N. Kulovc, ***
a
MIXING, St. Petersburg, 191167 Russia
b
St. Petersburg State Institute of Technology, St. Petersburg, 190013 Russia
c
Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia
*e-mail: barabash@mixing.ru
**e-mail: abiev.rufat@gmail.com
***e-mail: kulovnn@mail.ru
Received March 14, 2018

Abstract⎯An analytical review of achievements in the field of the design of industrial equipment for mixing
liquids, suspensions, and gas–liquid dispersions is presented. Various methods of mixing are discussed:
mechanical, pneumatic, jet, vibrational, and magnetic. Nonconventional mixing devices with reversible
movement of mixer parts, as well as static, rotary, rotor-stator, vortex, and ultrasonic devices, are considered.
Miniaturization of equipment and micromixers were also reviewed.

Keywords: mixing, stirrer, stirring device, reactor, mixer, hydrodynamics, heat exchange, mass exchange, tur-
bulence, process enhancement, micromixers, jet apparatuses
DOI: 10.1134/S004057951804036X

INTRODUCTION ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD

OF INDUSTRIAL APPARATUS DESIGN
Mixing in liquid media is one of the most effective Many publications considered various methods of
methods for process enhancement in various indus- mixing (mechanical, pneumatic, jet, vibrational, mag-
tries. e.g., in food, pharmaceutical, chemical, and netic, etc.) [1–7]. In practice, however, mechanical
microbiological industries; it is also required for water stirring is used in more than 95% of cases, which sug-
purification, production of modern nonmetal materi- gests the presence of a rotating stirrer in the working
als to replace steels and alloys, rock processing for volume of the apparatus. This is largely explained by
recovery of precious materials, and manufacturing the relative simplicity of design of the mixing device
various products in defense industry. (motorgear/electric motor, rack, seal, shaft, and
mixer), its energy and economic efficiency, as well as
The 15th European Conference “Mixing-15” held reliability and ease of operation and maintenance.
in St. Petersburg in 2015 clearly demonstrated the The wide application of mechanical mixing has
drastic changes in the experimental and calculation stimulated studies of various processes performed in
methods over the past 20 years. The quantitative agitators. In view of the complexity of mixing due to
methods for visualizing the flow structure in agitators the difficulties in the physical analysis of the mecha-
and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have nisms of processes and phenomena occurring in the
become important tools of modern research. A clearer working volume of the apparatus and the lack of reli-
understanding of the complex mechanisms of convec- able measuring equipment, the calculation methods
tive (including turbulent) transfer of momentum, for industrial agitators have long been very approxi-
heat, and mass in agitators aroused interest in new mate. This led to significant errors in the design and
types of mixing devices, new forms of mixing, includ- manufacture of industrial equipment, which led to
ing pulsating and vortex mixing, etc. Among the new failure in achieving the required technological param-
trends is miniaturization of devices for mixing and eters.
related processes. Since the mid-20th century, however, a tendency
has started toward comprehensive study of the basic
The present review is an attempt to summarize the physical laws underlying the mixing of both homoge-
achievements in the field of the design of industrial neous and heterogeneous systems based on the use of
equipment and consider some fundamentally new advances in continuum mechanics, physicochemical
types of mixing equipment. hydrodynamics, and theoretical foundations of chem-

473
474 BARABASH et al.

ical technology [8–11]. This made it possible not only joint on the cantilever shaft have appeared on the mix-
to significantly increase the reliability of engineering ing equipment market [15].
calculations and expand their applications, but also to Modified screw agitators [16] and mixing devices
offer new ways to constructively design agitators that with frame and modified spiral stirrers all located on
enhance their efficiency and reliability. the shaft (the latter considerably increases meridional
A conventional layout of an agitator suggests the circulation in the apparatus and improves the effi-
use of a stirring device, whose shaft coincides with the ciency of the frame mixer) were proposed bearing in
axis of the apparatus. As shown by the long-term prac- mind not only the efficiency of a mixing device, but
tice of design, manufacture, and operation of agita- also its manufacturability.
tors, this layout seems most appropriate from the Considerable attention has been paid to modern
viewpoint of technology and economics. The variants motorgears and electronic drive control systems for
in which the mixing devices are introduced in the the mixing device. Due to the use of the strengthened
working volume through the side surface of the appa- versions of reducer [17], the reliability of mixing
ratus are less frequent. This variant is most often found devices can be significantly improved, especially of
in food and pulp and paper industries, as well as in those with high radial and axial loads, often arising
large storage facilities, where the main function of a during mixing.
mixer is to prevent stratification of the working Hydrodynamic aspects of mixing. Mixing with the
medium in the apparatus. use of rotating stirrers is a hydromechanical process in
The requirements of modern mixing technologies which hydrodynamics is critical to the quality of the
and the constantly increasing cost of electricity often end product and its production rate. The design of a
require a revision of the classic layout of the device. mixing device, primarily, of a stirrer is directly
For example, work is constantly underway to select involved in the formation of a velocity field and the
less energy-intensive stirrers and use mixing devices characteristics of the turbulent and convective trans-
displaced relative to the axis of the apparatus [12, 13]. fer, which directly affect the mixing efficiency. When
This makes it possible to perform processes while vig- mixing mutually soluble liquids, these characteristics
orously stirring without a central funnel, which, under completely determine the dissolution (homogeniza-
certain conditions, can adversely affect the efficiency tion) time. For heterogeneous systems (liquid–gas,
of the agitator shaft. Regretfully, the mounting of mix- liquid–solid, liquid–liquid, liquid–gas–solid) used as
ing devices with eccentricity can occasionally give rise working media, they completely determine not only the
to so-called wandering funnels, which are even more formation of heterogeneous systems (emulsions, suspen-
detrimental to the shaft performance. sions, dispersions, etc.), but also the rates of heat and
mass transfer, if any, in processes with mixing.
One of the popular layouts is the mounting of mix-
ing devices of various technological purposes in the Along with the design of the mixer, the characteris-
working space. In this case, a slow-speed frame mixer tics of the case also have a significant effect on the
is generally located at the center (on the axis of the hydrodynamic characteristics [1, 3]. The mounting of
apparatus), and the high-speed stirrers are eccentric. baffles, calm down pipes, coils, gas distributors (bub-
One of these stirrers serves as an active mixer or dis- blers), and other internal design elements of different
persant and the other (if necessary) acts as a stirrer that assignments in the working volume greatly affects the
greatly enhances the circulation of the working flow structure and velocity field in the apparatus,
medium, which seems very useful when mixing media which affects not only the process mechanism, but
with increased viscosity. also the transfer characteristics and hence the effi-
ciency of mixing in general.
Mixing devices with a Hooke’s joint mounted after The mounting of any internal device affects the
the reducer on the shaft line and a support restraint in power consumed during the mixing because it creates
the lower part of the shaft have become widespread additional (relative to the case walls and apparatus
over the last 15 years, especially in apparatuses with a bottom) resistance to the tangential flow created by
volume exceeding 300 m3. The presence of a Hooke’s the stirrer in an apparatus without internal devices.
joint in this case significantly relieves the bearings of This effect can be very significant (depending on the
the motorgear shaft, thus increasing its reliability and design of internal devices) due to the transformation of
durability. In addition, the use of this layout makes it the flow structure in the apparatus (the tangential
possible to significantly reduce the shaft diameter, motion of the working medium becomes meridional).
which positively affects the materials consumption This largely affects both the mechanism of processes
and hence the cost of equipment. during mixing and their rate because the resulting
The development of stirrers of new types such as increase in the power consumed during the mixing
MIG and INTERMIG [14], A 310, and A 315 [2] is a inevitably leads to an increase in the intensity of the
challenge in the practice of mixing of various working turbulent and convective transport [3].
media. Mixing devices with cone-shaped elements The experience in operating industrial agitators in
(VISCO JET) and precession stirrers with a Hooke’s various industries shows that in the overwhelming

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 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MIXING: A REVIEW 475

majority of cases, apparatuses with deflecting baffles perature range for a certain time. In some cases, heat
are used that are characterized by high energy con- transfer is necessary to compensate for heat losses. In
sumption compared with apparatuses without internal the most difficult cases, heating (cooling) in the appa-
devices. For example, the mounting of deflecting baf- ratus results from the exothermic (endothermic) reac-
fles can lead to a fivefold increase in energy consump- tion, and heat exchange is necessary to maintain the
tion for three-blade type impellers and to a 10-fold desired process temperature.
increase for open turbine type (Rushton) stirrers. An
analysis of the literature data on mixing in liquid For these processes, smooth welded jackets are
media [2, 18] also indicates that the basic version is mostly used, whose heat-exchange surface can some-
generally an apparatus with deflecting baffles despite times be increased by using indentations of various
its low energy efficiency. This choice of design for the configurations, as well as jackets of half-pipes or boxes
apparatus is dictated by the assumption that an appa- welded to the outer surface of the shell and coils of var-
ratus with deflecting baffles is an ideal mixer, while an ious designs (central coil and several asymmetric and
apparatus without baffles is far from being an ideal peripheral ones arranged along the inner surface of the
mixer. Because of the presence of a central funnel, apparatus shell). Also known are heating systems with
separation effects with disperse phase elements during hot steam fed directly into the working volume of the
the mixing of heterogeneous systems, and some other apparatus, with steam being compatible with the
factors that hinder the strength and technological cal- working medium. It is worthwhile to mention electric
culations, this version of apparatus is rarely used in heating systems with flexible tape or cable heaters
theory and practice. (ENGLs) installed on the outer side of the shell and
supplied in both general industrial and explosion-
Nevertheless, devices without deflecting baffles proof designs.
can be effectively used with a sufficiently reliable cal-
culation base in a large number of important applica- The calculation of heat transfer for all these types of
tions, giving the required technological result at much heat exchangers requires the determination of the heat
lower energy costs [3]. In addition, even if the working transfer coefficient from the heat carrier to the wall of
volume contains deflecting baffles, the apparatus the heat exchanger, the conductivity of the wall itself,
remains far from the ideal mixer because of possible and the heat transfer coefficients from the internal
nonuniformity of distribution of both energy and surface of the apparatus to the working medium.
disperse phase elements during the mixing of hetero- These characteristics allow us to determine the heat
geneous systems [3, 19, 20]. transfer coefficient, which, in turn, characterizes the
An analysis of numerous publications, including rate of heating (cooling) of the working medium in the
the proceedings of international conferences on mix- apparatus [1, 3–5].
ing, shows that they are mostly devoted to apparatuses The calculation of the coefficients of heat transfer
with a conventional Rushton open turbine stirrer. At from the heat carrier and determination of wall con-
the same time, according to the materials of the lead- ductivity are the best-studied problems. The coeffi-
ing companies specializing in the design and manu- cients of heat transfer from the working medium to the
facture of agitators, these agitators are rarely met in apparatus wall are less defined. The difficulty in the
practice. This is primarily due to the fact that the latter case is largely due to the influence of the flow
Rushton mixer is one of the most energy intensive, and structure in the apparatus on the intensity of heat
its use is not always justified. This type of agitator can transfer to the heat-exchange surface on the side with
occasionally be used most effectively for emulsifica- the working medium. Over the past 25–30 years, these
tion while mixing gas–liquid systems and for mixing issues were often discussed in the literature. Currently,
with increased requirements to the distribution of the results of these studies allow us to reliably evaluate
disperse phase elements (droplets, bubbles, solid par- the heat transfer coefficients from the working
ticles) in the working volume of the apparatus and to medium [1, 3, 5]. The literature presents both the
the heat and mass transfer rate. It is most reasonable to empirical equations and the semiempirical depen-
use the Rushton turbine in continuous-action appara- dences constructed from the models of transport in
tuses, in which the average residence time of the work- the boundary layer, which include the averaged char-
ing medium is strictly limited and the desired techno- acteristics of turbulence and the local microstructure
logical result should be reached within a five- to ten- characteristics of the flow. The main parameter in the
fold smaller period of time than the average. This is latter case is the local energy dissipation rate, which is
due to the possibility of the so-called slip of medium completely determined by the peculiarities of the flow
through the apparatus and hence its incomplete par- structure in the apparatus due to a definite design of
ticipation in the process. heat exchanger and other internal devices [3]. This
Heat transfer during the mixing. In apparatuses conclusion suggests that experimental studies of the
with mechanical stirrers, thermal processes often local characteristics of turbulence in the working vol-
occur. Some of them are related to the necessity of ume of the apparatus with built-in heat exchangers of
heating (cooling) the working medium in a given tem- various designs are promising.

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476 BARABASH et al.

As the heat transfer coefficient is smaller than the sonable in these cases because of high energy con-
smallest of the three components (heat transfer coeffi- sumption. Moreover, numerous studies and experi-
cient from the working medium, wall conductivity, ence in the operation of these apparatuses both in
and heat transfer coefficient from the heat carrier), Russia and abroad showed that the most rational
first of all it is necessary to estimate the quantitative design in these cases is a three-blade type impeller and
values of these three components. In those cases its modifications [2, 3, 18]. At the same time, the stir-
when the wall conductivity or heat transfer coefficient rer rate can be rather low, while the diameter can be
from the heat carrier is smaller than the heat transfer large, in contrast to that of the typical versions of
coefficient from the working medium, it is useless to apparatus design. These results were obtained not only
take measures to enhance the heat exchange by in experimental studies, but also as a result of the the-
increasing the input power or choosing another type of oretical analysis of the mechanism of the rise of solid
stirrer. An increase in the intensity of mixing can be particles including the real hydrodynamics of the
used only when the heat transfer coefficient from the medium in the apparatus, pulsation rates, and particle
working medium is limiting. This generally applies to distribution [23].
media with increased viscosity. It is interesting that for the rise and acceptable dis-
Hydrodynamics and mass transfer during the mixing tribution of solid particles in the volume of the appa-
of heterogeneous systems. The complexity of mass ratus, it suffices to provide low specific energy con-
exchange during the mixing of heterogeneous systems sumption (10–20 W/m3). In the presence of gas in the
is largely determined by the presence of two indepen- suspension, the specific energy consumption slightly
dent stages: (i) formation of a heterogeneous system increases to 50–100 W/m3 (bioleaching).
(droplets and bubbles), its rise from the bottom of the
apparatus, and distribution of solid particles in the When mounting stirrers in apparatuses with these
working volume of the apparatus and (ii) mass trans- volumes, special attention should be paid to the possi-
fer. Each stage is very complex, with hydrodynamics bility of starting the mixing devices after a sudden sup-
playing the critical role in this problem. ply disconnection. For this purpose, the main stirrer
should be installed at a height exceeding that of the
Liquid–solid (suspensions). When suspensions are completely settled solid precipitate. If the stirrer lies in
mixed, the solid can act either as an inert agent, e.g., the precipitate, the agitator is difficult to start, and this
catalyst, or an active substance, which can itself dis- will lead to a breakdown of the shaft of the stirring
solve in solution or contain a dissolving substance device or a failure of the motor reducer.
(leaching). In all these processes, the purposes of mix-
ing are different. For example, for the catalyst and Liquid–gas. The purpose of mixing in liquid–gas
leaching, mixing should preclude precipitation on the systems is generally intensification of mass transfer.
bottom of the apparatus and ensure acceptable distri- The flow rate in this case is largely determined by the
bution of solid particles in the working volume of the rate of reagent transition in solution from the gas
apparatus. In the latter case, the mixing intensity phase, and the choice of mixing intensity is dictated by
ceases to affect the process after the solid rises from the requirements to the mass transfer rate between gas
the bottom because the leaching rate is limited by the and liquid.
molecular diffusion of the solute in the pores of the The design of devices intended for these processes
inert carrier. The dissolution proceeds from the sur- suggests the following:
face of the solid particles and, along with the rise of the (i) installation of deflecting baffles in the working
solid, mixing should ensure the given rate of transition volume of the apparatus to prevent separation effects,
of the substance from solid to solution. resulting in accumulation of bubbles in the central part
The rise of solid particles from the precipitate was of the apparatus;
considered in detail [1, 3, 9, 21, 22]. Several publica- (ii) the choice of design and placement of a gas dis-
tions presented empirical relationships that allow eval- tributing device (bubbler) in the working volume for
uation of the required rotation frequency [1] at the gas supply to the apparatus;
chosen type and diameter of the stirrer. These depen-
dences, however, generally have narrow applications (iii) the use of an open turbine type stirrer (Rushton
and neglect the presence of embedded devices of vari- turbine) unless the choice of a stirrer of another type is
ous technological purposes in the working space. In dictated by any attendant or more energy intensive
addition, the majority of the recommended relation- processes, e.g., in the case of mixing of three-phase
ships refer to relatively small volumes of apparatus systems (liquid–gas–solid);
(below 50 m3) with open turbine stirrers and suspen- (iv) determination of the stirrer diameter and rate
sions at small concentrations of the solid. Since the to meet the technological requirements to the mass
2000s, however, Russia’s mining and processing plants transfer rates determined by the conditions of forma-
used a technology with 300–1200 m3 apparatuses, in tion of a gas–liquid system (bubbling), create the
which the solid phase concentration reaches 45%. The desired gas phase distribution in the apparatus, and
use of Rushton’s open turbine stirrers proved unrea- provide high mass transfer coefficients.

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 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MIXING: A REVIEW 477

When choosing the type of the gas distribution Thus, in the presence of surfactants or electrolytes in
device, it is necessary to follow the rule that the gas the medium, the bubble size is much smaller than in
flow supplied to the apparatus should pass through the the absence of bubbles, and the mass transfer should
volume of liquid occupied by the stirrer. In this case, be calculated with allowance for these features.
almost all the gas supplied to the apparatus will lie in Liquid–liquid. When calculating and designing
the region most favorable for the formation of gas bub- apparatuses with mechanical agitators designed to
bles. The bubbler is generally a tube in the form of a produce an emulsion and intensify mass transfer in
ring or any other form, which has a definite number of liquid–liquid systems, the main goal is to determine
holes and is located directly under the stirrer [14]. This the droplet size, dispersed-phase holdup, and mass
design suggests that the major part of the gas supplied transfer coefficients.
to the apparatus should pass through the stirrer zone
and undergo intense crushing. Nevertheless, at rela- In practice, for liquid–liquid systems, the calcula-
tively low gas consumption, stirrer choking takes tions are often limited to determination of the mini-
place: in the mixing zone or some part of it, a large mum intensity of mixing, which provides the forma-
number of gas bubbles accumulate, and some part of tion of a two-phase system (emulsion) and the distri-
the stirrer operates in a medium with reduced density; bution of one phase in the other.
this inevitably leads to a drop of power applied to the A number of models were presented in the litera-
apparatus and hence to a decrease in the mass transfer ture that allow one to consider the kinetics of forma-
rate. The decrease may be two- or threefold [3, 24, tion of emulsions taking into account the local energy
25], which is extremely undesirable. The solution of dissipation rates and the probabilistic nature of the
this problem largely depends on the type of the stirrer distribution of fluctuating velocities [26, 27]. This
and location of the gas distribution device. approach ensured the optimum choice of design char-
acteristics and mixing modes taking into account the
For Rushton turbine, this accumulation of the gas physical properties of the working fluids and other
phase is observed exclusively under the stirrer disk process features. Thus, the dependences presented in
[24]. Thus, the upper part of the blade (relative to the the literature allowed calculations of not only conven-
disk) operates in a medium with the density of the tional mixers with stirrers, but also new structural ele-
gas–liquid system, while its lower part lies in the gas ments and schemes (patented dispersing units, instal-
phase, which reduces the power consumed during the lations consisting of agitators and flow mixer dispers-
mixing more than 2.5-fold and inevitably affects the ers), which significantly increase the efficiency of the
mass transfer rate. The best design in this situation is a preparation of emulsions in agitators [28].
ring-shaped bubbler located at the height of the stirrer
[24, 25]. In this case, the choking effect is absent, and As droplets form mainly in the zone of stirrer blades
the power decreases (relative to the mixing of pure liq- and Rushton’s open turbine mixer is most energy-
uid) only by the amount of the density drop during the intensive with high energy dissipation rates, especially
mixing of the gas–liquid system, which does not in the stirrer zone, its use for mixing liquid–liquid sys-
exceed 10–15%. tems is preferable [26]. The use of the Rushton turbine
for mass transfer intensification is also reasonable in
When three-blade impellers are used, the choking this case because the transport of substance into the
also takes place, and the most rational arrangement of external diffusion region, as in the cases of liquid–
the gas distribution device is above the mixer and at a solid and liquid–gas systems, depends significantly on
certain distance from it. the local energy dissipation rate near the interface.
When calculating the mass transfer rate in gas–liq- Even in those cases when the transfer of substance
uid systems, information on the presence (absence) of inside the droplets limits the transfer across the inter-
surfactants or electrolytes in the working medium is face (the rate of medium transfer from the droplet to
needed. If they are absent, the bubbles are divided and its surface is smaller than the rate of its removal from
coalesce in the apparatus. In this case, the bubble size the outer surface of the droplet into the main volume
is determined by the physicochemical properties of the of the apparatus), the preservation of high energy dis-
working medium and hydrodynamics of buoyancy of sipation rates in the apparatus is reasonable, in con-
single elements of the disperse phase (bubbles) and is trast to the liquid–solid systems during leaching.
almost independent of the intensity of mixing [25]. An Indeed, in liquid–liquid systems, the size of liquid
increase in the latter leads only to an increase in the droplets determines the specific contact surface area
gas-phase holdup of the apparatus (gas bearing capac- of phases and hence the mass transfer rate. The higher
ity), and, consequently, to an increase in the specific the energy dissipation rate in the stirrer zone, the
phase contact surface area and mass transfer rate [25]. smaller the droplet size; the droplet retention capacity
In the presence of surfactants or electrolytes in the of the apparatus and the specific contact surface area
medium, which hinder coalescence, the diameter of of the phases are then higher and hence the mass
bubbles in the apparatus corresponds to their size transfer is more intense.
formed directly in the zone of agitator blades charac- Complex fluids. Complex fluids are traditionally
terized by the highest energy dissipation rates [19, 20]. media with increased viscosity and non-Newtonian

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478 BARABASH et al.

properties. The practice of mixing these systems shows entrainment of solid particles and mixing them with
that the required intensity of stirring is achieved by the flow of the liquid phase [31].
using stirrers that create intense axial circulation of
liquid along the height of apparatus. This requirement
is best satisfied by spiral and belt mixers. For work with NONCONVENTIONAL METHODS OF MIXING
media prone to sticking to the inner surface of the This section considers devices with new, noncon-
apparatus or with heat exchange processes (heating or ventional types of agitator. Many of these novelties are
cooling), belt stirrers with scrapers and scraper stirrers now at the stage of laboratory or pilot testing.
are widely used [3, 29]. In some cases, it is reasonable Conventional apparatuses with new types of agitator.
to use frame (anchor) mixers complemented with a A conventional apparatus (widely used in industry) is
screw agitator mounted on the same shaft, which sig- a device with a cylindrical shell equipped with a stir-
nificantly increases the meridional circulation of ring device with a rotary mechanical drive.
medium in the apparatus and hence the intensity of New types of agitator are being actively developed
mixing. in this field. The effect of eccentric arrangement of the
The use of a definite type of stirrer in this case is stirrer shaft on the characteristics of mixing and mix-
dictated by a number of circumstances. For example, ing in large volumes using a precessing stirrer are being
belt mixers have high resistance and low rotation fre- studied.
quency and require the use of heavy and expensive Mixing devices of five shapes (three- and four-
gear motors with large gear ratios. Screw mixers, espe- blade propeller stirrers, with long and short blades,
cially for large-volume apparatuses, cause certain dif- and two propeller stirrers with crescent-shaped blades
ficulties in manufacturing, which can be overcome by XELSC-2200 and ARI-2) were investigated [32]. The
using modified screw mixers, which are manufactured advantages of selective laser sintering for manufactur-
much more easily, while retaining their characteristics ing the agitators of complex shapes were also discussed
that affect the mixing efficiency [16]. [32]. The ARI-2 stirrer showed the lowest power num-
The majority of computational techniques for ber (NP = 0.17) compared to that of its competitor
media with increased viscosity allow for viscous inter- XELSC-2200 (NP = 0.26) developed in 2008; for other
action of the working medium with the structural ele- stirrers, the power number was even higher. The flow
ments of stirrers and momentum equation in the number was NQ = 0.42 for ARI-2 and NQ = 0.49 for
closed volume of the apparatus [3]. This approach XELSC-2200. At the same time, according to the
made it possible to propose physically substantiated hydraulic efficiency determined by the equation [33]
models for calculating the mixing time, concentration
and temperature fields, and heat exchange. H eff = N Q3 N P , (1)
The complex systems also include the working ARI-2 and XELSC-2200 showed almost the same
media used in biotechnology and purification systems. results.
These are generally three-phase systems containing These agitators with crescent-shaped blades have
liquid, solid, and gaseous media. In addition to the an advantage of long-term operation in wastewater
requirements to the mixing intensity necessary to cre- treatment systems and in other technologies dealing
ate conditions for achieving the given mass transfer with long-fiber solid particles. The fibrous particles
rate and formation of a two-phase liquid–gas system, slip off the crescent-shaped blades, which is impossi-
suspension, and distribution of solid particles (micro- ble for blades of conventional shapes, avoiding the
organisms) and bubbles in the volume, additional winding of long threads on the blade.
requirements to shear rates appear to ensure the nor- The effect of the eccentric rotation axis of the stir-
mal life activity of microorganisms and hence high rer relative to the axis of the apparatus on the stirring
productivity of equipment. efficiency was discussed in [34–36]. The studies were
performed numerically and experimentally for the tur-
Today special attention is paid to the development
bulent mixing region of the Newtonian fluid. The
of optimum design for the development of new-gener-
mixing time, power consumption, and local and aver-
ation fermenters [30] and experimental studies of the
age heat transfer coefficients near the walls of the
hydrodynamic and technological characteristics of
apparatus were determined in a wide range of techno-
equipment to preserve sterile conditions in the apparatus.
logical and geometrical parameters for propeller and
The complex liquids are also suspensions with a three-blade stirrers. Four values of the relative
light, finely divided solid phase, which is difficult to eccentricity of the stirrer e/R (0.13, 0.27, 0.4, and 0.53)
feed in the working volume of the apparatus. Its parti- were considered, where R = T/2 is the radius of the
cles form a cap on the surface of the liquid, which is apparatus, and T is its diameter. The D/T ratio, where
not drawn into the bulk of the working medium. A D is the diameter of the stirrer, was 1/3 in all cases. The
solution of this problem is the use of a unit with a flow calculated relationships were obtained in the form of
mixer-disperser of special design along with the con- algebraic equations for calculating the power factor
ventional apparatus with a stirrer to ensure the (Newton number), mixing time, average and local

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 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MIXING: A REVIEW 479

heat transfer coefficients, average and local friction and the angular velocity of the shaft, and the average power
shear rate coefficients, and energy dissipation rate. was determined from 250 values over the period.
It was shown that the eccentric arrangement of At Re < 10, the product of the power factor by the
mixers makes it possible to avoid deflecting baffles. Reynolds number was found to be constant, while at
The power factor increases with the eccentricity coef- Re > 20, the power factor is constant [38]. The authors
ficient, but for the maximum value of e/R = 0.53, it is of [38] introduced the notion of reduced moment:
slightly lower than for the baffled vessel. The average M/μnd3 for the laminar mode and M/ρn2d5 for the tur-
heat transfer coefficients increase with the eccentricity bulent mode, where n is the rotation speed of a stirrer
coefficient and are higher than in a baffled vessel at with a constant direction of rotation, and d is the stir-
e/R = 0.53. The dimensionless mixing time depends rer diameter. The experimental angular momentum
on the eccentricity, agitator type, and direction of cir- has a sinusoidal time dependence, but the phase of
culation: it is smaller for the downward circulation momentum oscillations does not coincide with the
flow (compared with that of the upward direction) and phase of rotation rate. The authors also noted that the
three-blade stirrer (compared with that of the propel- momentum fluctuations are periodic, but not acci-
ler one) at identical modified Reynolds numbers. dental, and their amplitude does not increase with the
The energy characteristics of a modified helical- Reynolds number. An analysis of the velocity fields
screw agitator designed for mixing high-viscosity presented in [38] shows that high level of vorticity
media were studied experimentally (by the motor- exists only near the ends of the mixer and only twice in
scale method) in [37]. The advantages of helical-screw a period. Because of this, the application of these agi-
stirrers over impellers due to the possibility of using tators remains an open question.
high-speed drives were discussed. At the same time, The modeling of a multiphase flow in orbital labo-
the helical-screw mixers of the classical form are diffi- ratory bioreactors (orbital mixing reactors OMRs) was
cult to manufacture on the standard equipment of considered in [40–42]. A microcarrier of the GE
chemical engineering plants. This problem can be Cytodex type was used to immobilize the cell cultures.
solved by replacing the classic screw with pitched Microcarriers can significantly increase the contact
plates made of semicircular flat discs tilted to the sur- area of phases, improving the density of the product
face at an angle of 22.5°. The new agitator has triangu- and reducing the costs. The measurements were per-
lar openings between the adjacent semicircular discs. formed using particle image velocimetry, which made
The dependence of the power factor on the centrifugal it possible to continuously measure the velocity fields
Reynolds number was obtained for a wide range of val- in continuous (water) and dispersed (microcarrier
ues (including laminar and turbulent modes) in the particles) phases. The measurements were performed
presence and absence of a circulation pipe. The energy for suspensions at different concentrations of the solid
characteristics of the standard and modified mixer phase typical for cell cultures. The system was studied
were shown to differ insignificantly, which makes it using various combinations of the Reynolds and
possible to use the standard methods as a first approx- Froude numbers, which allowed the authors to com-
imation for calculating the latter. pare the results with the data for single-phase systems
Nonconventional mixing devices. Among mixing and assess the applicability of the formulas obtained
devices of nonconventional design, reversible agitators earlier for OMRs [44].
are of interest, in which the direction of rotation of the Effective mixing in bioreactors has a significant
working parts of the mixer is altered (Komoda et al.), effect on the completeness of suspension of microcar-
as well as stirrers with orbital movement of apparatus riers, preventing their agglomeration, increasing sur-
(laboratory scale, Pieralisi et al.), Kulkarni fractal face availability for cell immobilization, enhancing
mixer, new types of static mixer (Ojala et al., Mihai- mass exchange with the continuous medium, and
lova et al.), rotary (Özcan-Taşkın et al., Fonte, et al.), reducing the spatial gradients of dissolved gases, nutri-
and rotor-pulse apparatuses (Promtov, etc.). ents, and pH of solution, which directly affect the
The results of an experimental study of a reversible growth of the cell mass.
agitator were described in [38, 39]. The mixer was a Optimization of the process at the laboratory level
plate 0.1 m high and 0.06 m wide placed on the axis of allows further scaling of the process in agitators having
a cylindrical apparatus with a diameter of 0.08 m and other speed characteristics and turbulence levels. Bio-
a flat bottom at a height of 0.01 m from the bottom. reactors with orbital mixing with volumes of up to 1000
The amplitude of angular oscillations of the stirrer was L, which became recently available [45], showed high
π/2, and the period of oscillation varied from 0.5 to efficiency of mixing and oxygen transfer into OMRs.
4 s. The experiments were performed using glycerol A detailed description of single-phase flows in
solutions with a viscosity μ = 0.025–0.5 Pa s and den- OMRs (rotation frequency, mean liquid level, orbital
sity ρ = 1189–1245 kg/m3. The torque M on the agita- mixing diameter, etc.) was given in [41, 45]. Condi-
tor shaft was measured with a static torque meter with tions for transition from toroidal vortex to precessing
a time step of 15 ms. The instant power on the shaft motion were found, and an equation for scaling this
was determined as the product of the momentum by phenomenon was derived [45].

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480 BARABASH et al.

The mixing of two-phase liquid–solid systems in The experiments were performed with a transpar-
OMRs was studied in detail in [40]. Each of the two ent apparatus made of acryl with a height equal to the
chambers under study was equipped with a filter diameter (H = D = 0.3 m) and with four deflecting
(which was green for one chamber with λ = 532 nm baffles. The working fluid was tap water, in which par-
and orange for the other with λ = 570 nm) to increase ticles with zero buoyancy 350 μm in diameter were
the contrast and had a fluorescent Rhodamine dye for added in an amount of 1 vol %. The ultrasonic appa-
the same purpose. The microcarrier particles were ratus was mounted at the median plane level, and
colored with isocyanate. The microcarrier particles studies were performed at three rotation speeds: 60,
with ρ = 1040 kg/m3 and d50 = 175 μm were intro- 90, and 150 rpm, which corresponds to the Reynolds
duced in the solution at a concentration of 0.75 g/L, numbers 36100, 54150, and 90250 calculated from
above which the quality of the image decreased the effective diameter of the stirrer (the distance
because of laser beam scattering. The experiments between the most remote stirrer blades). It was found
were performed in a glass bioreactor with a diameter of that the tangential component of velocity exceeded the
100 mm and an orbital diameter of 50 mm, with a liq- radial and axial components sixfold. In addition, there
uid level of 50 mm at a rotation rate of 80–130 rpm. was no trace of blade flow, which reduces the energy
costs. A turbulent boundary layer forms on the blades;
The rate at the start of suspending was evaluated the continuous deformation of the current lines
from the brightness of the images obtained in the hor- achieved in this apparatus leads to the generation of
izontal plane, which was inversely proportional to the small-scale mixing zones, decreasing the mixing time.
number of particles at the bottom of the reactor. In the Two primary and two secondary circulation zones
concentration range under study, the presence of parti- were detected in the apparatus. It is of interest to study
cles had an insignificant effect on the hydrodynamics of this mixer more thoroughly with real homogeneous
the system. This allowed the use of the relationships and heterogeneous media.
obtained in [45] for the hydrodynamics of a single-phase
system in OMRs for low-concentration suspensions. Static mixers of conventional and new designs are
still of interest. A mixer of the SMX type was studied
An original mixing device—fractal mixer—was pro- in [48] (2 mm thick plates were made on a 3D printer
posed by Kulkarni [46, 47]. The authors reported made of plastic), and a mixer of a new type with flow sep-
highly nonuniform energy distribution during the aration and reunification made of metal by 3D laser sin-
operation of conventional mixers: the energy is mostly tering was presented in [49]. Mixing augmentation in an
released in the volume directly adjacent to the mixer, SMX-plus (Sulzer) mixer was considered in [50].
which occupies no more than 5–10% of the volume of
the apparatus. As a result, a significant amount of The first of these three studies used the tracking of
energy is wasted, especially in the turbulent mode. particles by positron radiation. This technique allows
Due to the fractal agitator, the uniformity of energy studies of geometrically complex objects using labeled
distribution increases due to the fact that: (i) it occu- particles. Two liquids with different rheological prop-
pies less than 0.4% of the volume of the apparatus, erties were used in the experiments: glycerol (Newto-
which is comparable to the volume for commercially nian) and 0.7 vol % guar gum solution (pseudoplas-
available agitators; (ii) the agitator blades do not push tic), which were passed through 10 elements of a com-
the liquid, but cut it in several planes, which reduces mercially available SMX type static mixer with a
the friction costs; (iii) the stirrer supplies energy into diameter of 25 mm. These studies showed that there
95% of the reactor volume, providing high level of uni- were no reverse currents in this device, and the veloc-
formity of its distribution; and (iv) the power factor of ity had only positive values. In this case, in the plane
a fractal stirrer is significantly smaller than that of a perpendicular to the flow along which the mixing is
turbine stirrer with straight or inclined blades. not induced, the distribution of the velocity compo-
nents is normal and unimodal, while in the plane in
The fractal agitator contains a large number of which mixing is induced, the velocity distribution can
blades distributed throughout the apparatus. The flow be either unimodal or bimodal.
in the apparatus was analyzed using an ultrasonic
velocity profile meter [46]. The device made by laser sintering technology was
successfully used as a mixing cell (calorimeter) to
The design of a fractal mixer includes four large determine the mixing enthalpy in [49]. The operation
“branches,” each having three small branches with of a static mixer at high pressures (of up to 150 bar)
four blades on each branch. The blades are flat, with using visualization (shadow, or projection, photogra-
two of them arranged horizontally and two vertically. phy) was studied in [50]. The paper discusses pros-
An additional branch lies at the bottom of the mixer pects for using static mixers for encapsulation to
and is designed to create tangential stresses near the obtain particles from supercritical fluids (SCFs) and
bottom of the apparatus. The orientation of the blades gas-saturated solutions. The use of a static mixer for
was chosen such that they mostly do not push the liq- the PGSS method makes it possible to perform the
uid in front of them, but cut it into fragments like process continuously, combining mixing with fine
knives. grinding of particles. A continuous process can be

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Vol. 52 No. 4 2018

 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MIXING: A REVIEW 481

used to prepare composite materials consisting of a decreased and corresponded to the size of agglomer-
liquid core and a solid shell. In this process, two mutu- ates, which decreased from 80 to 20 μm with time, and
ally insoluble media (liquids or melts) are brought in the second peak gradually increased and roughly cor-
contact with a compressed gas in a static mixer. In the responded to 150–200 nm. A decrease in the Sauter
mixer, the gas dissolves in the liquids, and one of the mean diameter of large particles implies that the dom-
liquids is dispersed in another. Then the pressure in inant mechanism of fragmentation is erosion in all
the gas–liquid mixture is reduced to atmospheric by cases. A decrease in productivity at an equal rotor
releasing it through the nozzle, forming thin droplets, speed leads to an increase in the volume fraction of
which instantly solidify due to the Joule–Thompson fine particles per pass through the apparatus, which is
effect accompanying the gas expansion, and solid par- associated with an increase in the residence time. At
ticles are formed [51, 52]. Although this process is the same time, the processing time also increases, so it
already used in food industry, it is still being actively is more reasonable to perform the process at a slightly
studied because the criteria for design optimization at lower rotation rate and higher productivity. Then, the
large ratios of gas and liquid flow rates and the details volume fraction of fine particles is almost twice as high
of mass exchange are not yet well defined. It was at an equal energy density (J/m3). A comparison of the
shown [50] that the particle size is affected by the ratio devices based on Silverson 150/250MS and Ytron Z-
of phase viscosity to density, the volume fraction of Lab at comparable specific energy dissipation rates
disperse liquid, and the energy introduced in the sys- and residence times in the rotor-stator part shows that
tem. It was also reported that the surface tension Ytron Z-Lab is advantageous. Numerical studies
decreased when using SCFs, which further leads to the showed that this is due to a more uniform distribution
fragmentation of droplets. of the dissipation rate of turbulent energy and higher
The process was studied with a static mixer of the energy dissipation values in Ytron Z-Lab.
SMX-plus type (Sulzer) with a diameter of 4.8, 6, 10, and The intensification of the extraction of humic acid
15.6 mm and with 4, 8, 12, and 18 elements for each in a rotary-pulsating apparatus was studied in [55].
diameter. The piston pumps created a pressure of 270 or The yield of the desired component in this device is
520 bar in the system at a flow rate of 200 or 100 mL/min, 6.5 times higher than in the apparatus with a belt stirrer.
respectively. The disperse phase was deionized water Deagglomeration of nanoscale particles in a bead
(5, 10, 15, and 20 vol %); the continuous phase was mill was studied experimentally and numerically in
squalane (C30H62) with a density of 810 kg/m3 and vis- [56]. The simulation used the population balance
cosity of 29 mPa s (at room temperature); the gas was method and the results of 3D CFD modeling with
carbon dioxide (99.95%). The photographs were taken Fluent v14.0 software. The results of the simulation
at a pulse duration of 4 ns at a wavelength of 532 nm. agreed well with the experiment and revealed three
Various variants of rotary and rotary pulsation stages of deagglomeration: breaking of the weak bonds
apparatuses are being actively studied, in particular, of large agglomerates at the first stage and fragmenta-
for deagglomeration and extraction. A comparative tion at the second and third stages.
study of three devices was performed in [53] to deter- Miniaturization of equipment: microdevices and jet
mine the mechanism and kinetics of partitioning of devices. In recent decades, microreactor devices have
nanosized silica particles (Aerosil 200V, Evonik been actively developed [57, 58]. Microscale heat
Industries) in distilled water and the minimum acces- exchangers, micromixers, microreactors, microex-
sible particle size. As working devices, a general-pur- tractors, microcyclones, and microapparatuses with
pose disintegrating head with an external screen with colliding jets were developed. The technologies for the
square holes or emulsifier screen with round holes was production of microapparatuses were created and
chosen, which was mounted in a rotary pulsation improved along with the development of new designs
apparatus of the Silverson 150/250MS or Ytron Z-Lab of devices.
type [23]. Thus, the following devices were studied: (i) The results of a study of emulsification of high-vis-
Silverson 150/250MS and (ii) Ytron Z-Lab (a device cosity oil in water with an emulsifier and pH regulator
resembling a standard rotary pulsation apparatus with using an original V-shaped micromixer were described
slots in the rotor and stator and with an additional in [59]. It was shown that energy consumption in the
working wheel). The rotation rate varied from 3000 to micromixer was much lower than in conventional agi-
9000 rpm; the specific energy dissipation rate was 0.7 tators. To reduce a pressure loss, however, it was nec-
to 9.6 W/kg. essary to reduce the viscosity, which required addi-
The initial particle size of aerosil was 12 nm accord- tional heating of oil to 120°C and slightly increased the
ing to the data of the manufacturer. The samples were energy costs. Nevertheless, if the heated emulsion is
studied on a laser particle size analyzer (from diffrac- not cooled, then the continuous process generally
tion) of the Beckman Coulter LS 230 type with a mea- requires ~25% less energy than the periodic process.
surement range from 40 to 2 nm. The measurements The simulation of mixing in drops formed in micro-
showed that the particle distribution had two peaks for fluid chips of various types using the COMSOL Mul-
all versions of the device: the height of one peak tiphysics package was considered in [60].

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Vol. 52 No. 4 2018

482 BARABASH et al.

Combination of the capabilities of microappara- when modulating the jets at a frequency close to the
tuses with those of SCFs was tested using supercritical normal modes of the flow of large-scale vortices.
extraction with carbon dioxide as an example (separa- A reactor design with frontal collision of jets and
tion of ethanol from a water–alcohol mixture) in [61, with displacement of axes that form a vortex was stud-
62]. Two types of mixer were investigated: T-mixer and ied numerically (in Ansys FLUENT 14) in [74]. The
a micromixer of the multilamella type. A micromixer jet diameter was 4.6 or 7 mm, and the chamber diam-
with dimensions 25 × 21 × 37 mm forms thin liquid eter was 11 mm at a length of 300 mm. Simulation with
films alternating in space (according to the sandwich large vortices gave much better agreement with exper-
principle) (the size of one channel is 45 × 200 μm), iment than the model of the Reynolds-averaged
which are rapidly mixed due to diffusion. A micro- Navier–Stokes equations complemented with the tur-
mixer makes it possible to obtain an ethanol yield that bulent mixing model [75, 76]. The particle size was
is 1.60 to 1.65 times higher than in a T-mixer, all other reduced to Re = 2000 and then remained unchanged,
things being equal. Extraction in a micromixer at a which means higher mixing rate compared with the
pressure of 101 bar and a temperature of 60°C gave the reaction rate. The particles formed in a vortex mixer
same results as in a packed column with a diameter of (d43 = 2.5 μm) proved slightly larger than those formed
19 mm and a height of 2 m with an irregular Interpack in a symmetric mixer (d43 = 1.7 μm). The selectivity of
type packing of 10 mm. the parallel reaction decreased with increasing Reyn-
Heat transfer augmentation due to Taylor vortices olds number and was lower in the vortex apparatus
during the flow of a gas–liquid mixture in a micro- than in the symmetric mixer, which is explained by
channel was found theoretically in [63]. Earlier, a sim- better mixing in the jet collision zone due to the
ilar effect was observed experimentally for mass trans- increased vorticity and intensity of turbulence.
fer from the walls of a microchannel [64]; the mecha- New principles and development of nonconventional
nism of mass transfer augmentation in a Taylor flow, ways of mixing. The new and nonconventional meth-
determined mainly by longitudinal convection (which ods of mixing include pulsating, vortex (swirling),
is possible only due to the presence of bubbles in the ultrasonic, and Taylor–Couette flows, and the NET-
microchannel or disperse phase droplets [66]), was MIX® matrix mixer.
found based on a three-layer model of a two-phase
flow [65]. Continuous methods for measuring the particle
velocity and laser-induced planar fluorescence were
Several original designs of micromixer were studied used for Taylor–Couette flows in [77]. The effect of
in [67–69]. The fragmentation and combination of successive flow bifurcations and azimuthal waves on
flows in Y-shaped microchannel sections connected the distribution of dye injected into a single-phase
in series with the separated flows rotated through 180° flow in a liquid was found. The solid spherical particles
after each section were considered in [67]. Numerical were used as a model for hard liquid droplets. The
simulation of a commercialized AMAR microreactor, influence of the particle size and their concentration
in which the principles of lamellar (thin-film) chan- on the size of vortices and conditions of transition
nels are combined with a sequence of micromixing between the modes was determined. These results
chambers, was reported in [68]. In [69], an analysis of were compared with the experimental data on planar
a micromixer termed a C–H micromixer by the laser fluorescence, which showed a significant
authors was performed. It was shown that the devel- improvement in mixing after the introduction of par-
oped micromixer had an excellent mixing efficiency ticles in the Taylor–Couette flow.
over a wide range of Reynolds numbers (from 1 to 100)
with pressure losses two or three times lower than in In addition to pulsating devices with a fixed case
the existing chain and drop-shaped mixers. developed at St. Petersburg State Institute of Technol-
ogy [78, 79] and well proven in various technological
Another interesting trend, namely, mixing due to processes, where mixing significantly affects the pro-
the frontal collision of liquid jets continues to develop cess rate as a whole [80], pulsating flow apparatuses
[70–72]. For the first time, the idea of using microjets have recently become widely studied [79, 81–84]. The
colliding at an angle of 120° in a Y-shaped mixer was dispersion of oil droplets in water using these appara-
suggested more than 10 years ago (see [73]). This tuses was studied in [81]. Droplets with a maximum
device is especially suitable for fast reactions, for size of dmax = 35 μm and average size of 20 μm were
example, precipitation (production of barium sulfate, obtained at a residence time of less than 1 s. A compar-
oxides, and hydroxides). ison with an apparatus with a turbine stirrer showed
In [70–72], jet collision in a limited volume was that the average energy dissipation rate ε in it to obtain
studied experimentally and numerically. Two-dimen- droplets with the same dimensions was 4.5 times
sional modeling of turbulence in a reactor of this kind higher. An analysis of the points plotted on the depen-
showed that small-scale turbulent energy introduced dence of the maximum droplet size on the energy dis-
with jets transforms into large-scale vortices having sipation rate (Davies diagram) given in [85] showed
dimensions of the order of half the diameter of the that at an energy level comparable to that for static
mixing chamber. The system resonance was detected mixers, the droplet size in them was approximately the

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Vol. 52 No. 4 2018

 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MIXING: A REVIEW 483

same as in flow type apparatuses. The slope of the the Kenics mixer, it reached 83%. Similar results were
dmax(ε) curve was steeper than for conventional appa- obtained in numerical simulation: the coefficient of
ratuses, in which dmax(ε) obeys the A.N. Kolmog- variation (the ratio of the standard deviation to the
orov’s theory. This effect is explained by the presence concentration during complete mixing) in the eddy
of droplet fragmentation mechanisms other than the ejector was three times lower than in the Kenics mixer
turbulent mechanism: Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at 10 ms, although at a residence time of 30 ms they
and shear and dynamic mechanisms [86]. were comparable. In our opinion, this reversal effect
An idea of avoiding or suppressing turbulence can be associated with centrifugal erosion of the flow
(instead of generating turbulent eddies, whose decay core in the diffuser part of the vortex ejector.
leads to a loss of a significant amount of energy) was
put forward in [79]. This can be done by any low-cost The use of ultrasonic methods for nanoparticle dis-
method, for example, geometry optimization of the aggregation is still a matter of interest. Two devices
device. To reduce energy consumption, it was pro- were studied in [94]: a mixer with a high shear field
posed [79] that methods for organizing technological and an ultrasonic bath. The former is a Silverson mixer
processes should be sought in which turbulence is (LS4) rotor-stator device with a rotor diameter of 28 mm
maintained at a minimum level, and the macroscopic and a length of 15 mm with a gap between the rotor
transfer occurs due to the and stator of 0.5 mm; it is used for disaggregation of
(i) secondary currents arising during the vibra- silica nanopowders. In the latter, aggregates of iron
tional motion of bodies in a fluid; secondary currents oxide nanoparticles were processed.
in the swing sections of pipelines and channels of non-
circular cross-section; Taylor and Dean vortices in The results of shadow electron microscopy and
microreactor technology; analysis on a laser device for particle size determina-
(ii) reciprocating displacement of the elements of tion showed that even at the maximum energy density
the disperse phase with respect to the continuous (400 MJ/m3 at 60 min in the former apparatus and
phase accompanied by the renewal of the surface film 1300 MJ/m3 at 240 min in the latter), the size distribu-
and mixing inside the droplets/bubbles; tions were bimodal: large aggregates decayed into
(iii) radial convection caused by the intermittently nanoparticles and nanoaggregates. Iron oxide
changing cross-section of the apparatus and the radial nanoparticles of ~100 nm were obtained, while silica
flow rates ur generated by it (flow type pulsating appa- nanoparticles of 10–12 nm were not.
ratus, horizontal pulsating apparatus).
The original NETmix® REACTOR device [95] is
Note that one of the ways of generating the force
fields in a liquid is to create intense swirling flows. As a plate in which cylindrical mixing chambers are stag-
is known, in swing channels, the secondary currents gered in the form of a matrix (2D variant) or in a
delay the formation of turbulence and scale up heat spherical form (3D variant), each having four nozzles
exchange. A swirled flow is used for various processes located at an angle of 90° to each other and 45° to the
in so-called vortex jet devices, including those for axis of the apparatus. Stirring in the chambers can be
degassing due to deep evacuation [87] and formation achieved only above critical Reynolds numbers, when
of finely dispersed foam [88]. Both results are achieved the laminar flow becomes a self-sustained oscillating
at a residence time of only 0.5 s. Various modifications laminar flow [96, 97]. This mode is due to the local
of vortex jet devices were proposed for trapping, gas– hydrodynamic instability determined by the geometry
liquid processes, and chemical reactions and mass of the chambers and collision of jets in the chamber.
transfer processes in heterogeneous systems [89–91]. The ability of NETmix to effectively control the mix-
A similar device, but with a different design of the ing allows it to be used for complex chemical reactions
mixing chamber—vortex ejector—was proposed by the with fast kinetics, where mixing plays a critical role. The
Japanese researchers [92]. In this apparatus, an insert serious potential of this apparatus is revealed in reactions
element with three screw channels is mounted in the with a high thermal effect, which is due to its huge spe-
conical confuser for swirling the flow. The diameter of cific surface area of heat transfer. Despite the fact that the
the confuser is 10 and 4 mm, the width of the grooves Nusselt number in it is lower than in the turbulent flow
is 7.5 mm at the inlet and 2.5 mm at the outlet. The mode in pipes or between plates, the special geometry of
authors compared the efficiency of mixing in a vortex the apparatus allows it to surpass all the existing analogs.
ejector and in Kenics static mixers experimentally and Thus, the specific surface area in it is higher than in
numerically. In the experiments they used the polyvi-
nyl alcohol gel formation test reaction; polyvinyl alco- plate heat exchangers due to the presence of a lateral
hol was supplied in a mixture with 0.5 wt % aqueous surface near the cylindrical or spherical chambers.
solution of sodium tetraborate (borax) [93]. At this The amount of thermal energy transferred per unit
concentration, gelling did not occur even after suffi- volume at a unit driving force is 106–109 W/(m3 K) in
cient mixing. The experiments showed that the gel NETmix, which is even slightly higher than in micro heat
fraction after the vortex ejector was 9%, whereas after exchangers (106–108 W/(m3 K)) [95].

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Vol. 52 No. 4 2018

484 BARABASH et al.

CONCLUSIONS (Leningrad, 1990). Moscow: Nauchno-Issled. Inst.

Tekh.-Ekon. Issled. v Khim. Komplekse, 1990, p. 89.
The practice of design, manufacture, and opera-
tion of apparatuses with agitators for numerous pro- 7. Logvinenko, D.D., The use of a rotating magnetic field
for the agitation of liquid media, Tezisy dokladov. VI
cesses in various industries shows that good results can Vsesoyuznaya konferentsiya “Teoriya i praktika
only be obtained if modern calculation algorithms are peremeshivaniya v zhidkikh sredakh” (Abstracts of
used with allowance for the real physical laws underly- Papers Presented at the VI All-Union Conference
ing a definite mixing process. “Theory and Practice of Mixing in Liquid Media”)
The majority of reliable calculated dependences (Leningrad, 1990). Moscow: Nauchno-Issled. Inst.
are based on the information about the flow structure Tekh.-Ekon. Issled. v Khim. Komplekse, 1990, p. 26.
and hydrodynamic characteristics of the motion of the 8. Landau, L.D. and Lifshitz, E.M., Mekhanika splosh-
working medium. The arrangement of any internal nykh sred (The Mechanics of Continua), Moscow:
devices of various technological purposes in the work- Gostekhizdat, 1953.
ing volume of the apparatus can cause significant 9. Soo, S.L., Fluid Dynamics of Multiphase Systems,
changes in the flow structure, which, in turn, can Waltham, Mass.: Blaisdell, 1967.
affect the correctness of the use of certain calculation 10. Levich, V.G., Physicochemical Hydrodynamics, Engle-
models and lead to deterioration of equipment perfor- wood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1962.
mance. 11. Kogan, V.B., Teoreticheskie osnovy tipovykh protsessov
The active development of experimental methods khimicheskoi tekhnologii (Theoretical Fundamentals of
in the field of mixing in recent decades such as visual- Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering), Leningrad:
ization of the flow structure in stirred vessels, contin- Khimiya, 1977.
uous measurement of the particle rate in moving 12. Cudak, M., Domanski, M., Szoplik, J., and Karcz, J.,
media, and laser-induced planar fluorescence com- An effect of the impeller eccentricity on the process
bined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) characteristics in an agitated vessel, Proc. 15th Euro-
techniques and the use of selective laser sintering for pean Conference on Mixing (St. Petersburg, 2015), St.
manufacturing agitators of complex shape will lead to Petersburg: Saint-Petersburg State Inst. of Technology
(Technical Univ.), 2015, p. 75.
substantial development of the scientific foundations
of mixing processes. This updated scientific founda- 13. Montante, G., Bakker, A., Paglianti, A., and Magelli, F.,
tion in the coming years will lead to the development Effect of the shaft eccentricity of the hydrodynamics of
of reliable engineering methods for calculating the unbaffled stirred tanks, Chem. Eng. Sci., 2006, vol. 61,
no. 9, pp. 2807–2814. doi 10.1016/j.ces.2005.09.021
equipment that use information on the physical mech-
anism of a process, flow structure, and local hydrody- 14. Oldshue, J.Y., Recent changes in mixing process tech-
namic characteristics in a specific version of the nology have increased our understanding of process
design of reliable apparatuses with mixing devices. mechanics, Chem. Eng. Prog., 1989, vol. 5, pp. 3–42.
15. Domanskii, I.V., Mil’chenko, A.I., and Vorob’ev-
Desytovskii, N.V., Large size agitators with precession
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