Abstract
To develop an enhanced form of apparatus for operations in chemical processes, an unbaffled vessel was constructed, fitted with an agitator employing an impeller whose rotation alternates unsteadily the direction at set range and rate, i.e., a forward-reverse rotating impeller. For this type of agitation vessel when the disk turbine impeller with six flat blades was used, liquid flow in the impeller rotational region was examined for the flow path between the neighboring blades of the rotating impeller. Internal flow of the impeller was compared with those of the unidirectionally rotating impeller of identical design in the baffled and unbaffled vessels. The results suggested that forward-reverse rotation of the impeller could have a function of the baffles. Additionally, it was found that the forward-reverse rotating impeller produced a characteristic disturbed liquid flow. Energy consideration provided a perception helpful for improvement of the unbaffled vessel agitated by the forward-reverse rotating impeller.
