METHODOLOGY

One of the objectives of the experiment is to compare the power requirement of a baffled
and non-baffled agitator, respectively, which primarily uses in the industry for mixing. The
experiment only utilized the agitator equipment; moreover, the high-torque stirrer was excluded
due to its unavailability. Prior to the experiment, a couple of measurement was made the
diameter of the vessel and impeller, which are vital in the computations later on. The fluids
densities and viscosities were assumed because of its similarities with the properties of water.
Two fluids were examined Soap solution (Fluid A) and Calcium carbonate solution (Fluid B).
The data were obtained with and without the baffled vessel. The Agitator equipment, which can
be seen in the below figure, consisted of the following: (1) tachometer (2) cylindrical vessel, (3)
a shaft (4) impeller, (5) the motor and (6) baffle.

Figure 1. An agitator is a device to put something into motion by shaking or stirring.

Figure 2. The tachometer determines the speed in revolutions per minute, while the motor that
runs the shaft inside the vessel.
 To start the experiment, the 6-bladed flat turbine impeller was attached at the lower end
of the shaft and the shaft was fastened to the motor carefully by screws (not tightly to avoid
damage). The baffle was then placed in the tank properly. The shaft must be placed in the middle
of the tank to lessen the error occurred.

Figure 3. Before placing the tank, it was vital to measure the temperature of the solution.
This experiment was divided into 2 parts. The first part was using Fluid A to determine
the power requirement with and without baffled vessel and the Second part was using Fluid B to
determine the power requirement for baffled and unbaffled vessel. Magnesium Carbonate
Solution and Soap solution were used as Fluid A and Fluid B, respectively. The dimensions of
the impeller, shaft and the vessel were measured by the students while the other members of the
group measured the temperature of the first fluid used (Fluid A).
When the experimental set-up was done, the speed setting was adjusted and agitation
started. It took at least 30 seconds for adjustments, and then one used the tachometer to
determine the speed. It should be noted that the tachometer must be already placed on the spindle
before triggering it. These procedures were repeated at different speed settings, for the other
fluid, and with & without the baffled vessel. A vortex was seen if without the baffle, as seen in
the figure below.
Figure 4. Vortex was seen in the first figure (top) if no baffle set-up was used.
It should be noted that the properties of the solution were assumed to be similar to the
water. Since density and viscosity is a function of the temperature, one only needs a correlation
equation to obtain the desired values. From the following data, we were able to compute for the
Reynolds number to be used to obtain the power number from a given graph that can be read in
Chemical Engineering Handbook. Using the power number formula given in the manual, Power
was computed.