EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE POWER REQUIREMENTS FOR AGITATING BEDS OF SOLID PARTICLES, AND PROPOSAL OF A NEW MODEL

Abstract

The power requirements for agitating the beds of solid particles have been investigated by a proposed model based upon the foundation capacity theory. The ratio of inertia force to shearing stress, N_M, and the power number, N_P, both non-dimensional terms, have been found very important for the estimation of power requirements for agitating solid beds. They can be correlated by the following equation;
N_P = K₁N_M^-1 + K₂
which is quite similar to those for agitating liquid in tanks. The values of the above constants have been calculated from the experimental data as K₁ = 20 and K₂ = 50 over the wide ranges of tank diameters, shapes of blades, rotational speeds, and various kinds of solid particles.