Turbulent Agglomeration of Polydispersed Particles in a Liquid

Abstract

In this study, water model experiments were performed using a mechanically agitated vessel, and a mathematical model was developed to investigate the effect of the size distribution of inclusions on turbulent agglomeration behavior. A 3 mol L⁻¹ KCl aqueous solution and two types of polydispersed acrylic particles with different average particle sizes were used in the water model experiments. Furthermore, a variable agglomeration coefficient was applied to the model using an approximate expression as a function of the size ratio and dimensionless values of the viscous and van der Waals forces. This agglomeration coefficient was applied to the Smoluchowski population balance equation; consequently, the resulting agglomeration curves were slower than those obtained with a constant agglomeration coefficient. This observation was in a good agreement with the experimental results, except for the case of a high agitation rate and a large particle size, possibly due to the breaking up of the aggregates. Therefore, it was concluded that the variable agglomeration coefficient is suitable for the agglomeration of polydispersed particles.