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Effect of Low Off-Bottom Impeller Clearance on the

Minimum Agitation Speed for Complete Suspension in
Stirred Tanks

Article  in  Chemical Engineering Science · May 1998

DOI: 10.1016/S0009-2509(98)00001-3

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 Chemical Engineering Science, Vol. 53, No. 9, pp. 1757—1775, 1998
( 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
PII: S0009–2509(98)00001–3 0009—2509/98 $19.00#0.00

Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance

on the minimum agitation speed for
complete suspension of solids in stirred
tanks
Piero M. Armenante* and Ernesto Uehara Nagamine
Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Environmental Science, New Jersey
Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102-1982, U.S.A.

(Received 13 January 1997; accepted 31 October 1997)

Abstract—Considerable attention has been devoted in the past to the determination of the
minimum agitation speed, N , required to just suspend solids in mechanically stirred tanks.
js
However, the effect of the impeller off-bottom clearance has not been well established, parti-
cularly when the impeller is positioned very close to the tank bottom. This investigation is
focused on the determination of the minimum agitation speed and power dissipation required
to completely suspend solid particles in tanks provided with impellers having small clearances
off the tank bottom. Four types of impellers were used: six-blade disc turbines, six-blade
flat-blade turbines, six-blade (45°) pitched-blade turbines, and Chemineer HE-3 impellers. The
effects of the impeller diameter, tank diameter, particle diameter, and physical variables were
also studied. Modified correlations based on the Zwietering equation (Zwietering, T. N. (1958)
Chem. Engng Sci. 8, 244—253) were obtained to account for the effect of impeller clearance and
impeller diameter-to-tank diameter ratio on N . ( 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights
js
reserved.

Keywords: Solids suspension; impeller clearance; minimum agitation speed; power consump-
tion; power dissipation; radial impellers; axial impellers; mixing.

1. INTRODUCTION Myers and Fasano, 1992, Myers et al., 1994a, b;

Mixing of liquid slurries containing finely divided
solid particles in mechanically agitated tanks and
reactors is one of the most common operations in the
chemical process industry. In many cases it is impor-
tant to provide enough agitation to completely sus-
pend the solids off the tank bottom. Below this off-
bottom particle suspension state the total solid—liquid
interfacial surface area is not completely or efficiently
utilized, and above this speed the solid—liquid mass
transfer rate increases slowly with agitation intensity.
Therefore, it is important to be able to determine the
impeller agitation speed, N , at which the just-
js
suspended state is achieved by the particles. Many
investigations can be found in the literature on the
determination of N , and its dependence on a number
js
of geometric, physical, and operational variables
(Zwietering, 1958; Nienow, 1968; Baldi et al., 1978;
Conti et al., 1981; Chapman et al., 1983; Chudacek,
1985, 1986; Gray, 1987; Raghava Rao et al., 1988;
Armenante et al., 1992; Oldshue and Sharma, 1992;
Armenante and Li, 1993; Aravinth et al., 1996).
The impeller clearance off the tank bottom is one of
the important parameters affecting N . This was rec-
js
ognized even in pioneering studies on the subject
(Zwietering, 1958; Nienow, 1968). In the vast majority
of cases however, the dependence of N on impeller
js
clearance was not fully quantified, or was only ex-
pressed in a graphical form and for a limited number
of impellers. Typically, correlations incorporating this
dependence have not been presented. In addition,
little information on N is available in the literature
js
when the impeller is placed very close to the tank
bottom. This is a serious omission since the fluid-
dynamic regime in which a radial impeller operates in
such a case is different from the more conventional
case in which the impeller is placed higher in the tank.
Furthermore, impellers placed very close to the tank
bottom are very common in industry, typically be-
cause of the requirement to maintain agitation and
suspension while charging and emptying the tank,
especially in batch or semi-batch operations. There-
fore, the objectives of this work are to:

*Correspoding author. Tel.: 973 596 3548; fax: 973 802 f investigate and quantify the effect of the impeller
1946; e-mail: armenante@admin1.njit.edu. off-bottom clearance on N and power consumption,
js
1757
1758 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
for the case in which the impeller clearance is
small (typically, below one-fourth of the tank dia-
meter);
f analyze the effects of geometric and physical vari-
ables on N , at low impeller clearance;
js
f derive correlations quantifying the effects of impel-
ler clearance and other parameters on N , for im-
js
pellers placed near the tank bottom.
2. PREVIOUS WORK ON THE EFFECT OF IMPELLER
CLEARANCE ON Njs
Zwietering (1958) found that for propellers,
paddles, and vaned disc turbines, N became smaller
js
as the impeller off-bottom clearance-to-tank diameter
ratio (C@/¹) was reduced. He quantified the effects of
C@/¹ and ¹/D on N in a graphical form, for C@/¹
js
typically in the range 1/7—1/2 (in some cases even as
low as 1/20), and established, from a graphical analy-
sis of the experimental data, that the influence of the
impeller off-bottom clearance, C@, could not be ex-
pressed in a power-law form. Chudacek (1986) also
expressed doubts on the suitability of a power law to
correlate the clearance effect. For six-blade disc tur-
bines, Zwietering found that N was independent of
js
C@/¹ for 1/7(C@/¹(1/2. However, Nienow (1968)
and Chapman et al. (1983), in disagreement with this
result, reported that the impeller clearance has a sig-
nificant effect on N for disc turbines.
js
Nienow (1968) and Conti et al. (1981) noted that
two very different types of flow patterns are produced,
depending on whether a large or small impeller clear-
ance is employed. At high impeller clearances, large
recirculation flows above and below the impeller are
present (the so-called ‘double-eight’ flow regime). At
low clearances, the lower recirculation flow is absent
(‘single-eight’ flow regime). In the latter case, N
js
and the power dissipated in the reactor at constant
impeller speed are lower. Gray (1987) also found
that the dependence of P , the power consumed at
js
N , on the impeller clearance was highly dependent
js
upon the pattern observed. These results indicate
that N and P are strongly dependent on the
js js
type of hydrodynamic regime in which the impeller
operates.
Several theoretical models have been proposed for
solid suspension (Weisman and Efferding, 1960; Ko-
lar, 1961; Narayanan et al., 1969; Baldi et al., 1978;
Musil and Vlk, 1978; Einenkel, 1980; Musil et al.,
1984; Buurman et al., 1986; Molerus and Latzel,
1987a, b; Witcherle, 1988; Rieger and Ditl, 1994; Geis-
ler et al., 1993). However, none of them predicts the
effect of impeller clearance. Although the semi-empiri-
cal model for solid suspension of Baldi et al. (1978)
provided an insight into the role of a number of
variables on N , the effect of impeller clearance was
js
incorporated in their model largely through curve
fitting of experimental data. Conti et al. (1981) pro-
posed empirical correlations based on Baldi et al.
(1978) for an eight-blade disc turbine, in which N was
js
a complex function of the impeller clearance. These
investigators were the first to propose different cor-
relations for different impeller flow regimes.
Using kinetic energy balances, Musil and Vlk
(1978) analyzed the effect of the impeller clearance for
axial-flow impellers in conical bottom tanks. They
found two different regions: one in which the impeller
clearance had no effect upon the critical impeller
speed, and other in which a linear dependence of the
critical impeller speed upon the impeller clearance
was observed. Later, Musil et al. (1984), extended this
work for truncated bottom tanks. However, in these
works the effect of the impeller clearance was affected
by the tank bottom shape due to recirculation loops
(Chudacek, 1985).
A number of other investigators have followed
Zwietering’s approach, typically presenting the results
for N in the form of proportionality or correlations
js
among variables (Nienow, 1968; Chapman et al., 1983;
Chudacek, 1986; Raghava Rao et al., 1988; Oldshue
and Sharma, 1992; Armenante et al., 1992; Myers et
al., 1994b; Aravinth et al., 1996). The data reported by
Oldshue and Sharma (1992) indicate a constant value
for N (0.05(C@/¹(0.10), for radial and mixed-flow
js
impellers. Armenante et al. (1992) observed a nearly
linear relationship between N and the C@/D ratio
js
(0.5(C@/D(0.83) for six-blade flat-blade turbines.
The data presented by Myers et al. (1994b) suggested
an exponential dependence of N with C@/¹, for
js
mixed- and axial-flow impellers.
Despite the abundant literature on solid suspension
it appears that very few of the published correlations
— even those more recently developed — explicitly
predict the effect of impeller clearance on N . For
js
example, in an extensive study of solid suspension
using pitched-blade turbines (Raghava Rao et al.,
1988) a correlation was proposed in which the effect of
a number of geometric and physical variables was
included, but not that of impeller clearance. Only
recently, Aravinth et al. (1996) proposed a correlation
for six-blade flat-blade turbines in which a power-law
expression was used to account for the effect of impel-
ler clearance. However, this correlation predicts an
effect of the impeller diameter on N much more
js
pronounced than in most correlations, including
Zwietering equations, as further discussed below.
Table 1 summarizes the available correlations that
incorporate, sometimes only indirectly, the effect
of impeller clearance in the expression for N .
js
This table clearly shows that the available informa-
tion on the effect of impeller clearance on N is ex-
js
tremely limited and, in general, difficult to interpret
or utilize.
Only a few reports are available for multiple impel-
ler systems. Armenante et al. (1992) and Armenante
and Li (1993) studied multiple radial-flow impeller
systems, and found that the clearance of the lowest
impeller off the tank bottom plays a major role on N .
js
They also found that the C@/¹ value at which the
transition from one flow regime to the other occurred
was largely independent of the presence of additional
impellers.
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance
3. APPARATUS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
More than 300 solid suspension experiments were
carried out in open, flat bottomed, cylindrical, fully
baffles, Plexiglas tanks having diameters of 0.188,
0.244, 0.292, and 0.584 m, respectively. Four types of
impellers were investigated, namely, six-blade disc
turbine (DT), six-blade flat-blade turbine (FBT), six-
blade (45°) pitched-blade turbine (PBT) pumping
downwards, and a fluidfoil Chemineer HE-3 impeller
(HE-3), also pumping downwards (Chemineer, Inc.,
Dayton, OH). The dimensions of the impellers are
given in the Table 2. A 2-HP variable speed motor
(G. K. Heller Corp.) was used to rotate a hollow shaft
on which one of the impellers was mounted. The
rotational speed was measured with an optical
tachometer (Cole Parmer Instrument Co.). The hol-
low shaft was equipped with strain gages (Measure-
ments Group Co., Raleigh, NC, CEA-06-187UV-350)
connected to a slip ring assembly (Electronics Co.,
Bayonne, NJ). The gage signal was picked-up by an
external gage conditioner and amplifier system
(2120A system, Measurement Group, Co.). A data
acquisition system (Labtech Notebook, Version
d 6.3.0, 1991) installed on a computer was used to
analyze the gage signal (mV) from the conditioner,
and calculate the torque and the power drawn by the
impeller. The reproducibility of the power measure-
ment was within $6.18%. The system was calibrated
before each impeller was used.
The tank was filled with tap water up to a liquid
height equal to the tank diameter. The temperature
was measured in each experimental run and was al-
ways 22$0.5°C. In most experiments the solid phase
was made of glass beads (Superbrite, 110—5005) hav-
ing an average particle size of 110 km, a density of
2500 kg/m3, and a 0.5% (wt/wt) solid concentration.
The effect of particle size on N was experimentally
js
determined with glass beads having diameters of 60,
75, 150, 200, and 300 km, respectively. The solid—
liquid density difference was varied using spherical
ion exchange resin particles having a density of
1375 kg/m3. In a few experiments the kinematic vis-
cosity of the liquid was increased to 148]10~6 m2/s
using a sugar solution. All the experiments in which
the particle size, density difference and viscosity were
changed were carried out in the 0.244 m tank using
0.0762 m DT or FBT impellers. The effect of solids
loading was investigated using the 0.102 m impeller in
the 0.292 m tank (D/¹"0.348) and three different
solid concentrations (wt/wt), i.e., 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5%.
The impeller clearance, C , defined here as the
b ence between N and C /¹ the data in Fig. 1(a) were
distance between the bottom of the impeller and the
tank bottom, was varied in the range 1/48)C /¹)
b b
1/4. The corresponding range using the conventional
definition of the impeller clearance, C@ (measured from
the impeller centerline to the tank bottom), was about
1/24)C@/¹)1/4. Experiments were also conducted
in the 0.292 m tank in which the value of the C /D
b js
ratio was kept constants at 1/2, 1/4, or 1/5.
The agitation speed for complete off-bottom sus-
pension, N , was that defined by Zwietering (1958), as
js
1759
the speed at which no particles were visually observed
to be at rest on the tank bottom for more than one or
two seconds. The reproducibility of N was within
js
$4.22%. As mentioned above, radial impellers such
as disc turbines typically produce a ‘double-eight’ flow
pattern, with two major recirculation loops, one
above and one below the impeller. Below a critical
value of the C /¹ ratio the lower recirculation loop is
b
suppressed and the impeller operates in the ‘single-
eight’ flow regime. In this work, all experiments (ex-
cept where otherwise noted) were conducted at impel-
ler clearances below the critical C /¹ ratio, so that the
b
impeller operated in the ‘single-eight’ regime. This was
verified by carrying out experiments at different im-
peller clearances, starting from a high C /¹ value
b
(1/4), until a change in the flow pattern was detected,
as indicated by the location where solid suspension
initiated: suspension was observed to take place from
the center of the tank bottom or from its periphery
when the impeller was, respectively, in the ‘double-
eight’ or ‘single-eight’ regime. No such transition was
observed with axial-flow impellers (FBT and HE-3),
which only produced a ‘single-eight’ flow regime ex-
tending throughout the entire tank.
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Effect of impeller clearance on N and power con-
js
sumption at low C /¹ values
b
The effect of C /¹ on N for each one of the four
b js
impellers used in this work is shown in Fig. 1. For
radial-flow impellers (DT and FBT) the critical C /¹
b
range where the change in flow pattern took place was
found to be a function of impeller type and D/¹, as
indicated by a rapid drop of N with C /¹ [Fig. 1(a)
js b
and (b)]: the higher the D/¹ value, the lower was the
C /¹ value at which the transition occurred (Table 3).
b
For DT, the change in flow pattern took place for
C /¹ in the range 0.13—0.19, although the range was
b
narrower for individual impeller sizes (e.g. 0.14—0.17
for D/¹"0.261). Previous investigators found that
the transition point was independent of D/¹. For
example, both Conti et al. (1981) and Gray (1987)
reported that the transition always occurred for
C@/¹"0.22, using an eight-blade DT and a six-blade
DT, respectively. Nienow (1968) reported a value of
0.17 for a six-blade DT.
Figure 1(a) shows that N always decreased with
js
decreasing C /¹, and approached a finite value as
b
C /¹ went to zero. In order to determine the depend-
b
js b
regressed using three different types of functions of
C /¹, namely, a linear function, an exponential func-
tion, and a power law function. The exponential func-
tion:
A B
C
N Jexp a b (1)
¹
was found to produce the best fits. This function also
has the advantage of converging to a finite value as
 1760
P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
Table 1. Correlations from the literature in which the effect of impeller clearance was incorporated in the expression for N
js

Author Impeller Range Correlation

AB A B
¹ g*o 1@2
Baldi et al. (1978) 8DT C@/D"0.5 N JPo~1@3 D~2@3X0.15d1@6
js D p o
L

AB A B
¹ g*o 0.42
C@/D"1 N JPo~0.28 D~0.89X0.125d0.14 l0.17
js D p o
L

S A B
g*o 1@2
!bA# bA2#4aAPo2@3D4@3X0.134d1@6 l~0.1
p o
Conti et al. (1981) 8DT C@/¹(0.22 N" L
js PoD3
2aA
l¹
C@ C@
aA"2.08 ) 10~5!6 ) 10~5 , bA"0.575!1.25 , Po"5.5
¹ ¹

S A B
g*o 1@2
!bA# bA2#4aAPo2@3D4@3X0.134d1@6 l~0.1
p o
8DT C@/¹'0.22 N" L
js PoD3
2aA
l¹
C@
aA"1.70 ) 10~5!4.55 ) 10~5 , bA"0.21, Po"8.0
¹
 Chudacek (1986) PBT X "6.1%, 12.2%
AB A B
v C@ 0.22 X 0.08
1/6(C@/¹(1/3 or N "13.58 ¹~0.58 d0.52 l
js ¹ p 100!X
X "24.4%
l l
1/3(C@/¹(1/2

MP X "6.1%, 12.2%
AB A B
v C@ 0.18 X 0.07
1/6(C@/¹(1/3 or N "13.78 ¹~0.53 d0.56 l
js ¹ p 100!X
X "24.4% l
l
1/3(C@/¹(1/2

A B
C@
Gray (1987) DT C@/¹(0.17 P Jexp 1.2 where N JP1@3
js ¹ js js

A B

Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance

C@
PBT C@/¹(0.37 P Jexp 0.31 where N JP1@3
js ¹ js js

A B
C@
DT C@/¹'0.17 P Jexp 5.3 where N JP1@3
js ¹ js js

A B
C@
PBT C@/¹'0.37 P Jexp 1.2 where N JP1@3
js ¹ js js

AB AB A B
¹ 2.6 C@ 0.15 g*o 0.45
Aravinth et al. (1996) FBT 1/1.5(C@/¹(1/8.5 N "0.135 D~0.85X0.1d0.2 l0.1
js D ¹ p o
L
8DT: eight-blade disk turbine
MP: three-blade marine propeller

1761
1762 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
Table 2. Impeller types and dimensions

Number
Impeller type of blades D (m) ¸ (m) w (m) k (mm)
b
Disc turbine (DT) 6 0.0635 D/4 D/5 1.6
6 0.0762 D/4 D/5 1.6
6 0.102 D/4 D/5 2.0
6 0.203 D/4 D/5 3.0
Flat-blade turbine (FBT) 6 0.0635 0.021 D/8 1.6
6 0.0762 0.027 D/8 1.6
6 0.102 0.038 D/8 2.0
6 0.203 0.088 D/8 3.0
45° Pitched-blade turbine (PBT) 6 0.0635 0.021 0.01 1.6
6 0.0762 0.027 D/8 1.6
6 0.102 0.038 D/8 2.0
6 0.203 0.088 D/8 3.0
Chemineer HE-3 (HE-3) 3 0.102 0.038 0.015 1.6
3 0.114 0.044 0.018 1.6
3 0.178 0.075 0.027 1.6
3 0.203 0.088 0.030 1.6
3 0.229 0.100 0.036 1.6

Fig. 1. Effect of impeller clearance (as C /¹) on N (d "110 km, o "2500 kg/m3, X"0.5%,
b js p S
l"1]10~6 m2/s): (a) DT (¹"0.292 m); (b) FBT (¹"0.292 m); (c) PBT (¹"0.292 m); and (d) HE-3
(¹"0.292—0.584 m).

C /¹ approaches zero. The values of a are given in and then decreases with D/¹. It is likely that these small
b
Table 4 for different D/¹ ratios. Inspection of Fig. 1(a) variations in the a values arise mainly from data fitting.
and Table 4 reveals that the slopes of the individual The linear function:
curves (for C /¹(1/8) are slightly different from one
b
another, indicating that a is a weak function of D/¹. C
N Ja@ b#1 (2)
However, no trend can be observed, as a first increases js ¹
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance 1763
Table 3. C /¹ range in which a change in flow pattern was
b
power law function always gave the poorest fit (curves
observed for radial-flow impellers not shown).
The results for FBTs (Fig. 1(b)] are similar to those
Impeller type D/¹ C /¹ for DTs. However, the change in flow pattern was
b
observed to occur in a slightly different C /¹ range
DT 0.217 0.16—0.19 b
(0.19—0.24). The range in which the transition occur-
0.261 0.14—0.17
0.348 0.13—0.16 red was smaller for individual impellers (e.g. 0.19—0.21
for D/¹"0.261). Gray (1987) reported a change of
FBT 0.217 0.22—0.24 flow pattern at C@/¹"0.17, and Armenante and Li
0.261 0.19—0.21
(1993) found that the transition region occurred for
0.348 0.19—0.21
0.21(C@/¹(0.26, independently of the number of
impellers. The N data in Fig. 1(b) were regressed
js
with eq. (1). Table 4 shows that the dependence of
N on C /¹ was a week function of D/¹
js b
was also used to regress the data. The values of a@ are (1.89(a(2.05).
given in Table 5, also for different D/¹ ratios. Also in Figure 1(c) and (d) show the results for PBTs and
this case no trend can be observed for a as a function HE-3 impellers, respectively. Only a single recircula-
of D/¹. tion loop was observed with both types of impeller
In general, the fits based on the linear and exponen- (for C /¹ up to 0.25). Zwietering (1958) and Gray
b
tial forms were found to be very similar, the latter (1987), respectively, made the same observation for
being very slightly superior, as indicated by the cor- propellers (for C@/¹ up to 0.4) and PBTs (for C@/¹ up
relation coefficients reported in Tables 4 and 5. The to 0.37).

Table 4. Values of exponent a in eq. (1)

Correlation
Impeller type D/¹ C /¹ range a coefficient
b
DT 0.217 1/48(C /¹(1/8 2.07 0.9989
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.261 1/48(C /¹(1/8 2.23 0.9878
b
0.348 1/48(C /¹(1/8 2.19 0.9937
b
Overall average regression value for DTs 2.15
FBT 0.217 1/48(C /¹(1/5 2.05 0.9983
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.261 1/48(C /¹(1/5 1.99 0.9983
b
0.348 1/48(C /¹(1/5 1.89 0.9988
b
Overall average regression value for FBTs 1.96
PBT 0.217 1/20(C /¹(1/4 0.67 0.9986
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.261 1/20(C /¹(1/4 0.58 0.9970
b
0.348 1/48(C /¹(1/4 0.68 0.9949
b
Overall average regression value for PBTs 0.65
HE-3 0.348 1/16(C /¹(1/4 0.79 0.9840
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.391 1/48(C /¹(1/4 0.64 0.9707
b
HE-3 0.304 1/12(C /¹(1/4 0.84 0.9861
b
(¹"0.584 m) 0.348 1/16(C /¹(1/4 0.80 0.9803
b
0.391 1/48(C /¹(1/4 0.79 0.9811
b
Overall average regression value for HE-3s 0.72

Note: The overall average regression values for each impeller were calculated using the same approach used
by Gray (1987) to obtain the dependence of P on C@/¹, i.e. using the equations:
js

A B
N C
jsJexp a b
Dc ¹
for DTs, FBTs and PBTs, and

A B
N C
js Jexp a b
D~1.62¹0.84 ¹
for the HE-3 impellers, where the values of the exponents were obtained from Tables 6 and 7 to account for the
effect of D and ¹.
1764 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
Table 5. Values of exponent a@ in eq. (2)

Correlation
Impeller type D/¹ C /¹ range a@ coefficient
b
DT 0.217 1/48(C /¹(1/8 2.43 0.9989
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.261 1/48(C /¹(1/8 2.63 0.9925
b
0.348 1/48(C /¹(1/8 2.61 0.9921
b
Overall average regression value for DTs 2.58
FBT 0.217 1/48(C /¹(1/5 2.60 0.9987
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.261 1/48(C /¹(1/5 2.52 0.9972
b
0.348 1/48(C /¹(1/5 2.36 0.9975
b
Overall average regression value for FBTs 2.43
PBT 0.217 1/20(C /¹(1/4 0.74 0.9985
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.261 1/20(C /¹(1/4 0.64 0.9964
b
0.348 1/48(C /¹(1/4 0.75 0.9962
b
Overall average regression value for PBTs 0.72
HE-3 0.348 1/16(C /¹(1/4 0.92 0.9822
b
(¹"0.292 m) 0.391 1/48(C /¹(1/4 0.70 0.9653
b
HE-3 0.304 1/12(C /¹(1/4 0.98 0.9836
b
(¹"0.584 m) 0.348 1/16(C /¹(1/4 0.92 0.9778
b
0.391 1/48(C /¹(1/4 0.79 0.9763
b
Overall average regression value for HE-3s 0.80

In the present work, N was typically found to
js
increase with C /¹ for PBT and HE-3. However, an
b
interesting feature of the curves in Fig. 1(c) and (d) is
that N actually decreases with increasing C /¹
js b
values for specific ranges of C /¹ and D/¹. For
b
example, with smaller impellers (D/¹(0.261) an in-
crease in N for C /¹(0.05 was observed. Chudacek
js b
(1985) reported a similar observation for a three-
blade marine propeller. A qualitative explanation for
this phenomenon is that smaller impellers require
a higher agitation speed to suspend solids than larger
impellers, producing a downward flow impacting the
tank bottom with a higher velocity, and resulting
in a sharp change in flow direction as this stream
impacts the tank bottom. Placing the impeller
progressively closer to the tank bottom may result in
a flow that does not fully reach the fillet region
throttling effect is more noticeable for P than N .
js js
Since no throttling effect occurs with DT and FBT,
radial flow impellers can be advantageously posi-
tioned as low as possible, if off-bottom suspension of
solids is the only design criterion. Mixed axial-flow
(PBT) and axial-flow (HE-3) impellers should be posi-
tioned with minimum clearance, as governed either by
the presence of the throttling effect or by the agitation
system geometry. These results support earlier obser-
vations by Chudacek (1985) for three-blade propellers
in different tank bottom geometries.
The P —C /¹ data were correlated using the three
js b
functions mentioned before, i.e. linear, exponential
and power law. Only the points for which P in-
js
creased with C /¹ were used. The best fit was ob-
b
tained with the exponential type of dependence:

where the solids accumulate, thus resulting in a higher
N value (throttling effect). This effect disappears as
js
the D/¹ ratio or the C /¹ ratio increase. The values
b
of a for PBTs and HE-3 impellers were in the
range 0.58(a(0.68, and 0.64(a(0.79, respec-
tively (Table 4). Only the points for which N in-
js
creased with C /¹ were included in the regression
b js
analysis.
In Fig. 2, the power dissipation at minimum agita-
tion speed for complete solid suspension, P , is plot-
js
ted against C /¹. Similarly to the N case, the value of
b js
P decreases when the impeller clearance decreases.
js
For PBT and HE-3 impellers, P was nearly indepen-
js
dent of impeller size (Fig. 2(c) and (d), respectively).
Similar results were found by Gray (1987) and Myers
et al. (1994a). Figure 2(c) and (d) show that the
A B
C
P Jexp b b . (3)
js
¹
The correlation using the power form gave the poor-
est fit (data not shown). Weisman and Efferding (1960)
and Gray (1987) also suggested an exponential de-
pendence of P with impeller clearance. Here it was
found that 6.72(b(8.39 for DTs. For FBTs b was
found to be in the range 4.74(b(5.30, i.e. in agree-
ment with Weisman and Efferding (1960) who found
a value of 5.3 for flat paddle impellers. However, Gray
(1987) found a value of 1.2 for a six-blade flat-blade
impeller in the ‘single-eight’ regime (C@/¹(0.17) and
a value of 5.3 in the ‘double-eight’ regime
(C@/¹'0.17). Only one size was investigated in that
work.
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance 1765

Fig. 2. Effect of impeller clearance (as C /¹) on P (d "110 km, o "2500 kg/m3, X"0.5%,
b js p S
l"1]10~6 m2/s): (a) DT (¹"0.292 m); (b) FBT (¹"0.292 m); (c) PBT (¹"0.292 m); and (d) HE-3
(¹"0.292—0.584 m).

For the case of PBTs, the exponent of C /¹ in
b
eq. (3) was found to be in the range 0.99(
b(1.06, i.e. in agreement with Gray (1987), who
reported a value of 1.2 for similar impellers. For HE-3
impellers it was found that 1.82(b(1.89 in the
0.292 m tank, and 1.65(b(1.73 in the 0.584 m
tank. The dependence of P on C /¹ was similar to
js b
that given above for the N case [eq. (1)].
js
The power number, Po, was calculated from the
experimental values of N and P and the expression
js js
(Rushton et al., 1950):
P normally pump in a true radial directions since there
Po" js . (4)
o N3 D5
SL js
In Fig. 3 the values of Po are reported as a function of
C /¹ for each type of impeller. Po was experimentally
b
obtained also using water only, with no solids. No
significant difference was found between the power
numbers obtained in the presence or absence of solids,
at least for the solid concentration used here (0.5%;
results not shown). For the DT case Po was found to
be nearly constant for 1/8(C /¹(1/28 [Fig. 3(a)].
b
A steep decrease can be observed when the impeller is
very close to the tank bottom (1/28(C /¹(1/48)
b
probably due to a reduction in the recirculation near
the bottom of the tank as the impeller is very close to
the tank bottom. The 0.0625 m impeller shows a de-
crease in the power number that could be attributed
to the higher disc thickness-to-blade width ratio (1/8
for this size against 1/10 for the other sizes), which
reduces Po (Nienow and Miles, 1971).
Po was found to be nearly independent of D/¹ for
the FBT case [Fig. 3(b)]. Po showed a slight increase
with decreasing C /¹ values for 1/16(C /¹(1/5,
b b
and a much steeper one for 1/48(C /¹(1/16.
b
A minimum in the Po value (2.14—2.16) can be ob-
served in the region where the change in the flow
pattern occurs (C /¹+1/5). The marked difference in
b
the plots of Po vs C /¹ for DTs and FBTs can be
b
attributed to the fact that whereas DTs are truly
radial impellers FBTs are open impellers that ‘do not
is a pressure difference between each side of the impel-
ler. They tend to pump upward or downward while
discharging radially’ (Oldshue, 1983, p. 10). A similar
plot of Po vs impeller clearance has been obtained
before (Bates et al., 1963).
A plot of Po vs C /¹ for PBTs [Fig. 3(c)] shows
b
a trend similar to that of the FBTs, although the
numerical values of the power number are different.
No minimum points can be observed for the PBT case
since no change in the flow pattern takes place with
this type of impeller. The increase in power consump-
tion with decreasing impeller clearance can be at-
tributed to the fact that as the impeller is placed more
closely to the tank bottom the discharge flow must
more rapidly change from downward (in the region
comprised between the impeller and the tank bottom)
to upwards near the periphery of the tank bottom,
1766 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine

Fig. 3. Effect of impeller clearance (as C /¹) on power number, Po (d "110 km, o "2500 kg/m3,
b p S
X"0.5%, l"1]10~6 m2/s): (a) DT (¹"0.292 m), (b) FBT (¹"0.292 m), (c) PBT (¹"0.292 m), and (d)
HE-3 (¹"0.292—0.584 m).

thus resulting in a higher power dissipation. Po was
found to be largely independent of the D/¹ ratio. The
higher Po value for the 0.0635 m PBT was likely
caused by the considerable effect that minor dimen-
sions have on the power number, since the blade
width-to-impeller diameter ratio for this impeller was
larger than for the other two impellers (Table 2). An
analysis of the data reported by Bates et al. (1963)
shows that an increase in the projected blade height
from 1/8 to 1/5 produced a 40% increase in the power
number. Finally, Fig. 3(d) shows the result for the
HE-3 impellers. Also in this case, as in the PBT case,
Po was found to be a monotonically decreasing func-
tion of C /¹.
b
4.2. Effect of impeller diameter on N at low C /¹
js b and Li (1993) reported values of !1.67 and !1.77,
values
In Figs 4 and 5, N is plotted against the impeller
js
diameter for constant C /¹ and constant C /D, re-
b b
spectively. The slopes of the lines through the points
are equal to the exponent on D in:
N JDc (constant C /¹) (5)
js b The values of c@ for DT were found to be equal to
N JDc{ (constant C /D). (6)
js b b
In general, the slopes are similar to one another in
each figure, but different for each impeller type and
which geometric ratio (C /¹ or C /D) was kept
b b
constant (Table 6). For the same impeller, the expo-
nents on D at constant C /¹ were always higher than
b
those at constant C /D. Armenante and Li (1993)
b
observed that a review of the literature on solids
suspension with radial-flow impellers (in which the
impeller was typically placed above the critical C /¹
b
where flow transition occurred) revealed that those
investigators who quantified the effect of D on N
js
at constant C@ (i.e. constant C /¹) reported values
b
for the exponent of D significantly higher than
those who kept C@/D constant (i.e. constant C /D).
b
For example, for radial-flow impellers and constant
C@/¹, Zwietering (1958), Nienow (1968), Narayanan
et al. (1969), and Chapman et al. (1983) reported
values of !2.35, !2.18, !2.00, and !2.45, respec-
tively, whereas Baldi et al. (1978) and Armenante
respectively, for constant C@/D. Table 6 also shows
that c and c@ are higher for radial-flow than axial-
flow impellers. This is consistent with the results of
Raghava Rao et al. (1988) for experiments with impel-
ler clearances above the critical C /¹ value for flow
b
pattern change.
!2.06 and !2.12 for C /D equal to 1/4 and 1/5,
respectively, but only!1.62 for C /D"1/2 (Table 6).
b
It is important to remark that the last point in the C /
b
D"1/2 line in Fig. 5 is actually above the critical
C /¹ value for flow transition. This line shows a rapid
b
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance 1767

Fig. 4. Effect of impeller diameter, D, on N , at constant C /¹ (d "110 km, o "2500 kg/m3, X"0.5%,
js b p S
l"1]10~6 m2/s): (a) DT (¹"0.292 m), (b) FBT (¹"0.292 m), (c) PBT (¹"0.292 m), and (d) HE-3
(¹"0.584 m).

Fig. 5. Effect of impeller diameter, D, on N , at constant C /D (d "110 km, o "2500 kg/m3, X"0.5%,
js b p S
l"1]10~6 m2/s): (a) DT (¹"0.292 m), (b) FBT (¹"0.292 m), (c) PBT (¹"0.292 m), and (d) HE-3
(¹"0.584 m).

change in slope, indicating that a different depend-
ence between N and D exists depending, on whether
js
the flow regime is of the ‘single-eight’ or ‘double-
eight’ type. This is further confirmed by previous
literature reports (Baldi et al., 1978; Armenante
and Li, 1993) in which c@ was found to be similar
to the !1.62 value found here, as mentioned
above.
1768 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
Table 6. Values of exponents c and c@ in eqs (5) and (6)

Constant C /¹ Constant C /D
b b
Impeller type C /¹ range c C /D range c@
b b
DT 1/48(C /¹(1/8 !2.25$0.02 1/5(C /D(1/4 !2.09$0.04
b b
C /D"1/2 !1.62
b
FBT 1/48(C /¹(1/8 !2.07$0.03 1/5(C /D(1/2 !1.89$0.07
b b
PBT 1/48(C /¹(1/4 !1.66$0.01 1/5(C /D(1/2 !1.60$0.02
b b
HE-3 1/48(C /¹(1/4 !1.62$0.01 1/5(C /D(1/2 !1.52$0.06
b b
Note: The c and c@ results are reported as the average slope for a given impeller $ the standard deviation.

Fig. 6. Effect of tank diameter, ¹, on N , at constant D/¹"0.348 (d "110 km, o "2500 kg/m3,
js p S
X"0.5%, l"1]10~6 m2/s): (a) DT, (b) FBT, (c) PBT, and (d) HE-3.

4.3. Effect of scale-up on N at low C /¹ values panels in Fig. 6$the maximum deviation. These re-
js b
The effect of scale-up on N was studied at constant sults are independent of C /¹ for geometrically sim-
js b
D/¹ ratio (0.348) in geometrically similar systems, ilar systems. The values of the exponent on ¹ reported
using three tank sizes (0.188, 0.292 and 0.584 m). Since by Zwietering (1958) and Chapman et al. (1983) for
the D/¹ ratio was slightly smaller in the smallest tank systems with impeller clearances above the critical
(0.337), the data for this tank were normalized using C /¹ value for flow transition are !0.85 and !0.76,
b
eq. (5) and the c values of Table 6. The results are respectively. These values are comparable to those
reported in Fig. 6. A regression of the data resulted in obtained in the present work using low-clearance im-
the following proportionality relationships: pellers.
N J¹0.82$0.01JD0.82$0.01
js 4.4. Effect of particle size, density difference, kinematic
(constant D/¹ and C /¹) (7) viscosity, and solids loading on N at low C /¹ values
b js b
for DTs, FBTs and PBTs, and A regression analysis of the experimental data in
which the particle size, density difference, and kin-
N J¹0.78$0.01JD0.78$0.01 ematic viscosity were changed gave the following re-
js
sults:
(constant D/¹ and C /¹) (8)
b

A B
for HE-3 impellers. The exponents in these equations g*o 0.50
N Jd0.22 l0.09 (9)
represent the averages of the slopes in each of the js p o
L
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance 1769
for DT and A similar approach was followed to determine the
coefficients using the linear dependence of N with
js
A B
g*o 0.53 C /¹ [eq. (2)], i.e. using the equation:
N Jd0.24 l0.09 (10) b
js p o
L
CA BAB A BD
C ¹ q{ g*o f
for FBT. From the experiments in which the solids N "t@ ) a@ b#1 ) ) D( ) Xm ) dd ) ln ) .
js ¹ D p o
loading was changed the following expressions were L
found: (14)

N JX0.13$0.003 (11) The results are reported in Table 8. The correlation

js
coefficients were all above 0.999. The coefficients of
for DT and FBT, and variation were 1.95, 1.27, 1.50, and 1.40% for DT,
N JX0.11$0.003 (12) FBT, PBT and HE-3, respectively. The largest posit-
js ive and negative deviations between experimental and
for PBT and HE-3. These exponents are very similar calculated N values were found to be (4.70%,
js
to those reported by previous investigators (Zwieter- !4.35%) for DT, (2.55%,!2.99%) for FBT, (1.98%,
ing, 1958; Nienow, 1968). !5.88%) for PBT, and (2.47%, !2.05%) for HE-3.

5. PROPOSED CORRELATIONS FOR Nj s AT LOW Cb /T 5.2. Correlations based on a modification of Zwietering

VALUES equation
The Zwietering equation (Zwietering, 1958):
5.1. Correlations based on overall data regression
l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
The first way in which the data were regressed was N "S p L (15)
by using the following equation: js D0.85

C A BAB A BD
C ¹ q g*o f
N "t exp a b ) ) D( ) Xm ) dd ) lg )
js p o
¹ D
L S"f
(13)
in which the parameters and exponents were obtained
for each type of impeller as follows. The parameter
a was obtained from Table 4 (using the overall aver-
age regression values for each impeller type). The
value of / was equal to the exponent on ¹ or D (for
constant D/¹ and C /¹) reported in eqs (7) or (8). The
b using the same exponents for these variables as in
exponent q was calculated from the difference between
/ and c in eq. (5) (obtained from Table 6), since c was
obtained in experiments in which ¹ and C /¹ were
b N and ¹/D and C /¹ used in eq. (13), i.e.
constant while D was varied. m was taken to be 0.13 or
0.11 [eqs (11) or (12)]. The exponents d, g, and f were
taken from eq. (9) (for DT) or eq. (10) (for FBT). For
the other two impeller types (PBT and HE-3), the
averages of corresponding exponents in eqs (9) and
(10) were used, since no experiments were carried out
with axial- or mixed-flow impellers in which the par-
ticle size, density difference, and kinematic viscosity
were varied. Finally, t was obtained by linearly re-
gressing the experimental N values with the term in
js
square brackets in eq. (13). The PBT and HE-3 points
for which N decreased with increasing C /¹ values
js b
(as a result of the throttling effect at very low C /¹)
b
were not included in the regression. The resulting
correlations are reported in Table 7. The correlation
coefficients were all above 0.999. The coefficients of
variation (defined as the standard error of the estimate
over the mean N value) were 2.0%, 1.1% 1.2%, and
js
1.6% for DT, FBT, PBT and HE-3, respectively, while
the largest positive and negative deviations between
experimental and correlated N values were found to
js
be (#4.9%, !3.6%) for DT, (#1.8%; !3.4%) for
FBT, (#1.7%; !3.4%) for PBT, and (#2.4%;
!3.0%) for HE-3.
with
A B A B
¹ ¹
; or S"g
¹ ¹
; (16)
D C@ D C
b
is the most commonly used equation to predict N in
js
stirred tanks. Given the similarity between the expo-
nents for D, d , (g Do/o ), l, and X obtained in this
p L
work (Table 7) and those found by Zwietering
[eq. (15)] and the wide acceptance of Zwietering equa-
tion, it made sense to regress the data obtained here
Zwietering equation. The function S was defined here
using the same exponential functionality between
js b
AB A B
¹ b C
S"a exp c b . (17)
D ¹
The S value for each experiment was calculated
through eq. (15), where all terms are known except S.
After taking the logarithm on both sides, eq. (17) was
used to regress the S values against ¹/D and C /¹ in
b
order to obtain the constants a, b, and c. The results
are shown in Table 9. As before, the PBT and HE-3
points for which N decreased with increasing C /¹
js b
values were not considered. The correlation coeffi-
cients were all above 0.997 except for HE-3 (0.96). The
coefficients of variation were 2.1, 1.2, 1.4 and 3.1% for
DT, FBT, PBT and HE-3, respectively. The largest
positive and negative deviations between experi-
mental and correlated N values were (#3.9%,
js
!4.2%) for DT, (#4.9%;!2.9%) for FBT, (#3.4%;
!2.9%) for PBT, and (#5.3%; !4.8%) for HE-3.
Parity plots showing how the calculated values com-
pared to the experimental value for each impeller type
are given in Fig. 7. In all cases the points align them-
selves along a 45° line, indicating a good agreement
between calculated and experimental N values.
js
1770 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
Table 7. Correlations for N obtained from data regression using an exponential dependence of N on C /¹ [eq. (13)]
js js b
Impeller type Correlation

A B A B A B
¹ 1.43 C g*o 0.50
DT* N "0.93 ) exp 2.15 b ) D~0.82 ) X0.13 ) d0.22 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L

A B A B A B
¹ 1.25 C g*o 0.53
FBT* N "1.47 ) exp 1.96 b ) D~0.82 ) X0.13 ) d0.24 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L

A B A B A B
¹ 0.84 C g*o 0.51
PBT N "2.33 ) exp 0.65 b ) D~0.82 ) X0.11 ) d0.23 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L

A B A B A B
¹ 0.84 C g*o 0.51
HE-3 N "3.67 ) exp 0.62 b ) D~0.78 ) X0.11 ) d0.23 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L
Note: Correlations are dimensional: N is in revolutions/s; X is in weight percentage; all other variables have SI units.
js
* For the case of radial impellers (DTs and FBTs) these correlations are valid only if the lower circulation loop is
suppressed (‘single-eight’ regime).

Table 8. Correlations for N obtained from data regression using a linear dependence of N on C /¹ [eq. (14)]
js js b
Impeller type Correlation

A B A B A B
¹ 1.43 C g*o 0.50
DT N "0.92 ) ) 2.58 b#1 ) D~0.82 ) X0.13 ) d0.22 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L

A B A B A B
¹ 1.25 C g*o 0.53
FBT N "1.44 ) ) 2.43 b#1 ) D~0.82 ) X0.13 ) d0.24 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L

A B A B A B
¹ 0.84 C g*o 0.51
PBT N "2.32 ) ) 0.72 b#1 ) D~0.82 ) X0.11 ) d0.23 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L

A B A B A B
¹ 0.84 C g*o 0.51
HE-3 N "3.60 ) ) 0.80 b#1 ) D~0.78 ) X0.11 ) d0.23 ) l0.09 )
js D ¹ p o
L
Note: Same notation as in Table 7.

An approach similar to that used above to obtain
the coefficients a, b and c when S was expressed as
a function of an exponential function of C /¹ was also
b
followed to determine the coefficients a@, b@, c@ using
a linear dependence of S with C /¹, i.e.
b
!0.94, a fact not generally recognized. The coeffi-
cients of variation for the equations in Table 10 were
2.0, 1.3, 1.4 and 3.3% for DT, FBT, PBT and HE-3,
respectively. The largest positive and negative
deviations between experimental and correlated
N values were (#4.0%, !4.6%) for DT, (#3.3%;
js

ABA B
¹ b{ C !4.4%) for FBT, (#2.9%; !3.3%) for PBT, and
S"a@ ) c@ b#1 . (18)
D ¹ (#5.8%; !6.6%) for HE-3.

The results are reported in Table 10. The correlation
coefficients were 0.967, 0.992, 0.945, and 0.832, for DT,
FBT, PBT and HE-3, respectively. These correlation
coefficients are lower than those for all the other
regressions obtained in this work (especially for the
case of HE-3) primarily because of the superior fit of
the exponential dependence over the linear depend-
ence of N on C /¹, but also because the Zwietering
js b
equation imposes a fixed exponent for D equal to
!0.85 [eq. (15)]. Whenever the N regressions pro-
js
duced a value of the exponent for D very different
from Zwietering’s!0.85 (e.g.!0.78 for HE-3; Tables
7 and 8) the fit of the modified Zwietering equations
(Tables 9 and 10) was found to be poorer. Bowen
(1989) pointed out that Zwietering (1958) actually
obtained exponents for D in the range !0.78 to
5.3. Comparison with previous work
Since a systematic examination of the effects of low
impeller clearances on N has not been conducted to
js
date, nor were correlations typically presented for
such a case, comparison with previous work can only
be made by looking at the sparse data available in the
literature on low clearance impellers, or correlations
originally derived for impellers operating in a different
C /¹ range.
b
The values of the exponents m, d, g, and f found here
[eq. (13); Table 7] are similar to those found by other
authors who mainly studied systems in which the flow
regime for radial impellers was or the ‘double-eight’
type (Zwietering, 1958; Nienow, 1968; Narayanan
et al., 1969; Chapman et al., 1983; Raghava Rao et al.,
1988; Aravinth et al., 1996). This implies that the
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance 1771
Table 9. Proposed correlations for N using a modified Zweitering equation containing an exponential dependence of
js
N on C /¹ [eqs (15) and (17)]
js b
Impeller type Modified Zweitering correlation

C A B A BD
¹ 1.40 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
DT* N " 0.99 ) exp 2.18 b ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

C A B A BD
¹ 1.20 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
FBT* N " 1.43 ) exp 1.95 b ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

C A B A BD
¹ 0.83 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
PBT N " 2.28 ) exp 0.65 b ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

C A B A BD
¹ 0.79 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
HE-3 N " 3.49 ) exp 0.66 b ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

Note: In each equation the expression in square brackets is equal to the S value.
* For the case of radial impellers (DTs and FBTs) these correlations are valid only if the lower circulation loop is
suppressed (‘single-eight’ regime).

Table 10. Proposed correlations for N using a modified Zweitering equation containing a linear dependence of N on
js js
C /¹ [eqs (15) and (18)]
b
Impeller type Modified Zweitering correlation

C A B A BD
¹ 1.41 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
DT* N " 0.96 2.58 b#1 ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

C A B A BD
¹ 1.21 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
FBT* N " 1.40 2.42 b#1 ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

C A B A BD
¹ 0.83 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
PBT N " 2.27 0.70 b#1 ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

C A B A BD
¹ 0.92 C l0.1d0.2 (g*o/o )0.45X0.13
HE-3 N " 3.06 0.68 b#1 ) p L
js D ¹ D0.85

Note: Same notation as in Table 9.

dependence of N on physical and geometric para-
js
meters such as particle diameter, viscosity, density
difference, and solids loading is not substantially af-
fected by the change in the fluid-dynamic regime re-
sulting from placing the impeller close to the tank
bottom.
Table 11 shows the S values obtained by different
investigators for DT impellers. The S values obtained
in this work are typically lower than those of Zwieter-
ing (1958), but similar to those of Nienow (1968). This
is not surprising since Zwietering found, oddly, that
S was independent of the C@/¹ ratio. An analysis of his
data indicates that SJ(¹/D)1.5. Nienow (1968) cor-
rected this relation for different values of C@/¹. An
analysis of Nienow’s data for DTs in the ‘single-eight’
flow regime shows that his data can be regressed by
S J (¹/D)1.33. This exponent is very similar to that
found here (1.40; Table 9).
An inspection of the correlations obtained by
Chudacek (1986) for flat-bottomed tanks reveals that
the agitation speeds for complete off-bottom suspen-
sion are similar using three-blades square pitch pro-
pellers and six-blade (45°) pitched-blade turbines
(¹"0.5 and 1 m, ¹/D"3; C@/¹"1/3—1/12, d "
p
77!290]10~3 m, X "6.1—24.4% v/v). A comparison
l
between the S values for marine propellers reported
by Zwietering (1958) and those obtained here for PBT
supports this observation (Table 12). However,
Zwietering’s results for C@/¹"1/2.5 (outside the
range of the present work) are slightly higher than
those calculated here using the PBT equation in Table 9.
Also, Zwietering’s data suggest an exponential de-
pendence [SJexp(0.94 C@/¹)], for C@/¹"1/2.5
and 1/4, stronger than that found in this work
[SJexp(0.65 C /¹)], for 1/20(C /¹(1/4. A com-
b b
parison with the results for PBTs obtained by Nienow
and Miles (1978) and Chapman et al. (1983) is also
shown in Table 12.
The correlation proposed by Raghava Rao et al.
(1988) for PBTs does not explicitly include the effect of
the impeller clearance on N . These investigators
js
found that N JD~1.16. This exponent is signifi-
js
cantly smaller that those reported by other investiga-
tors who studied axial-flow impellers (e.g. Zwietering
found N JD~1.67 for marine propellers and
js
Chapman et al. (1983) obtained N JD~1.5 for PBT).
js
1772 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine

Fig. 7. Comparison between experimental N , values and calculated N , values (via regression using
js js
modified Zwietering equations with exponential dependence of N on C /¹; Table 9); (a) DT, (b) FBT, (c)
js b
PBT, and (d) HE-3.

Raghava Rao et al. attributed this difference to the
effect of possible differences in flow pattern due to the
larger sizes of the impellers and vessels they used.
Myers and Fasano (1992) studied the influence of
baffle off-bottom clearance on solid suspension. They
used a four-blade (45°) PBT and a Chemineer HE-3
impeller (D"0.203 m), and acrylic plastic beads
(d "3250 km; o "1180 kg/m3) as solids. For the
p S
configuration they used (¹/D"3, H/¹"1,
C /¹"1/4), N for the PBT was 3.07 rps, while that
b js
for the HE-3 impeller was 4.79 rps, for a baffle off-
bottom clearance of zero. Using these parameters
their S values for PBTs and HE-3 impellers can be
calculated to be equal to 6.2 and 9.7, respectively.

Table 11. Comparison of S values for DT impellers

S value

Nienow and Miles Chapman et al. This work

¹/D C@/¹ Zwietering (1958) Nienow (1968) (1978) (1983) (Table 9)*s

2 1/5 4.0 4.1 — — 3.6

3 1/5 7.4 6.9 — — 6.6
4 1/5 11.4 10.2 — — 9.9
2 1/6 — — 3.4 — 3.4
3 1/6 — — — 5.8 6.1
4 1/6 — — 10.7 — 9.2
2 1/7 4.0 3.7 — — 3.2
3 1/7 7.4 6.3 — — 5.8
4 1/7 11.4 9.2 — — 8.7

*Valid only if the lower circulation loop is suppressed (‘single-eight’ regime).

sThe C /¹ values were obtained from the corresponding C@/¹ values before the DT equation in Table 9 was applied.
b
 Effect of low off-bottom impeller clearance 1773
Table 12. Comparison of S values for PBT impellers and propellers

S value

Zwietering Nienow and Chapman et al. This work

¹/D C@/¹ (1958)* Miles (1968) (1983) (Table 9)s

3 1/2.5 7.7 — — 7.3

4 1/2.5 9.7 — — 9.3
5 1/2.5 11.6 — — 11.1
2 1/4 — 7.8 5.8 4.7
3 1/4 6.7 — — 6.6
4 1/4 8.4 10.0 7.1 8.4
5 1/4 10.1 — — 10.1

* Valid for marine propellers.

s The C /¹ values were obtained from the corresponding C@/¹ values before the PBT
b
equation in Table 9 was applied.

These S values are in good agreement with those
calculable using Table 9 (6.6 and 9.8, respectively).
Aravinth et al. (1996) have recently proposed a modi-
fied Zwietering equation for FBTs in which S is given by
In general, mixed-flow and axial-flow impellers are
more energy efficient than radial-flow impellers to
completely suspend solids in the region very near to
the tank bottom. However, as the impeller clearance is
progressively decreased the difference in impeller per-

AB AB
¹ 2.6 C@ 0.15
S"0.135 ) ) . (19)
D ¹
A maximum deviation of 19.2% and an RMS error of
9.4% were reported. The N values predicted with this
js
equation are much smaller (typically by a factor
0.15—0.5) that those predicted by the equations for
FBT obtained in the present work (Tables 7 and 9).
However, an examination of their data shows that
Aravinth et al. did not distinguish between data col-
lected in the ‘single-eight’ regime and the ‘double-
eight’ regime. This approach may introduce unnecess-
ary scatter in the data since N is affected by the type
js
of hydrodynamic regime in which the impeller oper-
ates. The choice of a power-law expression for the
dependence of N on C@/¹ may also be inappropriate
js
to study solid suspension at low impeller clearances.
Finally, in the equation they proposed, those investi-
gators reported that N JD~3.45. Such an exponent
js
for D is larger, in absolute value, than any of those
reported in the literature for radial-flow impellers,
such as those for disc turbines [!2.35 (Zwietering,
1958),!2.21 (Nienow, 1968),!2.45 (Chapman et al.,
1983), !2.30 (Armenante et al., 1992)], or flat-blade
turbines [!2.00 (Narayanan et al., 1969), !2.05
(Armenante and Li, 1993)].
6. CONCLUSIONS
In this work, the effect of impeller clearance on
N for low values of the C /¹ ratio was experi-
js b
mentally determined. Currently, little information is
available in the literature on such systems, although
agitation systems containing impellers with low off-
bottom clearance (typically smaller than 1/10 of the
tank diameter) are very common in many industrial
tanks in which agitation is to be maintained at all
times during the emptying or filling up operations.
formance becomes less pronounced. Furthermore,
N for axial and mixed-flow impeller may actually
js
increase with lower C /¹ ratios, when C /¹ ap-
b b
proaches zero.
Correlations relating N to C /¹, ¹/D, and other
js b
geometric and physical variables were obtained. The
exponents for the particle diameter, solid—liquid den-
sity, kinematic viscosity, and solids loading are very
close to those reported in the literature, and, in par-
ticular, to those presented by Zwietering (1958). The
impeller off-bottom clearance does not appear to af-
fect these exponents.
Empirical correlations, as well as modified Zwieter-
ing equations for different impellers, were derived.
These equations also incorporate the effects of C /¹
b
and ¹/D, for impellers placed near the tank bottom
(C /¹(1/4). Good agreement between the experi-
b
mental data and the predictions from the equations
was obtained. In general, regression equations that
incorporated an exponential dependence of N on
js
C /¹ were found to be superior to those that included
b
a linear dependence.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Ms. Jessyca Susanto for carrying
out some of the experiments to determine the effect of par-
ticle diameter, density difference, and kinematic viscosity.
Partial support for this work came from the National
Science Foundation (Grant Number EEC 9520573).
NOTATION
a, b, c constants in eq. (17)
a@, b@, c@ constants in eq. (18)
Cb impeller clearance measured from the bot-
tom of the impeller to the tank bottom, m
C@ impeller clearance measured from the impel-
ler centerline to the tank bottom, m
1774 P. M. Armenante and E. U. Nagamine
D impeller diameter, m
dp particle size, m
g gravitational constant, 9.81 m/s2
k metal thickness of impeller disc or blades,
mm
¸ length of blade, m
Njs minimum agitation speed for complete off-
bottom solid suspension; revolutions/s (rps),
or revolutions per minute (rpm) where
otherwise indicated
Po power number, defined in eq. (4); non-di-
mensional
Pjs power drawn by impeller at Njs , Watts
S Zwietering correlation parameter, defined in
eq. (15), non-dimensional
¹ tank diameter, m
wb blade width, m
X weight percentage of solids (solids loading),
g/g]100
Xl volume percentage of solids, v/v]100
Greek letters
a, a@, b, c, c@, d, f, g, m, q, q@,/, t, t@ constant parameters
l kinematic viscosity, m2/s
oL density of liquid, kg/m3
oS density of solid, kg/m3
o density of solid—liquid slurry, kg/m3
SL
*o solid—liquid density difference, (oS!oL ),
kg/m3
Abbreviations
DT six-blade disc turbine
FBT six-blade flat-blade turbine
HE-3 chemineer HE-3 impeller
PBT six-blade (45°) pitched-blade turbine
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