Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.33, No.3, 508-522, 2010
Enhanced Mass Transfer in Stirred Tanks
The present effort will extend the scope of previous papers in which brine was prepared in a mixing tank with a Rushton turbine. In the present study, the large-eddy simulations (LES) of the turbulent flow driven by an axial flow turbine in a baffled, cylindrical, lab-scale stirred tank is coupled to a Lagrangian description of multi-sized dissolving granules. In addition, a Lagrangian dynamic-mesh methodology is applied to resolve the interfacial motion. An analysis of the results from computational flow simulation of dissolving solids suggests that the granulated form of dissolving sodium formate can be handled so as to maximize deagglomeration and to minimize packing. The large granules allow faster and easier preparation of formate brine compared to brine preparation from sodium formate powders, which are difficult to hydrate in a stirred tank.