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Hydrodynamics and Volumetric GasLiquid

Mass Transfer Coefficient of a Stirred Vessel
Equipped with a Gas-Inducing Impeller

Article in Chemical Engineering Science August 2002

DOI: 10.1016/S0009-2509(02)00200-2

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 Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 3299 3306
www.elsevier.com/locate/ces

Hydrodynamics and volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient of a

stirred vessel equipped with a gas-inducing impeller
S. Poncina; , C. Nguyena , N. Midouxa , J. Breysseb;1
a Laboratoire des Sciences du Genie Chimique, CNRS - ENSIC, 1, rue Grandville, BP 451-54001 Nancy Cedex, France
b Rh
one-Poulenc Industrialisation, 24, av. Jean-Jaur*es, BP 166, 69151 Decines-Charpieu Cedex, France
Received 14 August 2001; received in revised form 17 March 2002; accepted 17 March 2002

Abstract

Hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of a gasliquid stirred tank provided with a radial gas-inducing turbine were studied.
The e7ect of the rotation speed and the liquid submergence on global hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters such as the critical
impeller speed, the induced gas 8ow rate, the gas holdup, the power consumption and the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient
were investigated. The experiments are mainly conducted with airwater system. In the case of critical impeller speed determination, two
liquid viscosities have been used. The volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient kL a has been obtained by two di7erent techniques.
The gas holdup, the induced gas rate and the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient are increasing functions with the rotation
speed and decreasing ones with the liquid submergence. The e7ects of these operating parameters on the measured global parameters have
been taken into account by introducing the dimensionless modi:ed Froude number and correlations have been proposed for this type of
impeller. ? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Absorption; Hydrodynamics; Mass transfer; Mixing; Multiphase reactors

1. Introduction
Many processes involve the dispersion of a gazeous phase
in a liquid phase. This operation is often conducted in gas
liquid agitated tanks. In the conventional gasliquid mixed
reactors, the gas is introduced in the reactor through a sparger
located under the impeller. In this case, the super:cial gas
velocity and the impeller speed are independent parameters.
However, in some industrial :elds such as chemistry, bio-
chemistry and mineralurgy, gas-inducing impellers are in-
volved. Several designs of these systems have been reported
in the literature. The choice and the geometry of the im-
peller depend on the process objective and application. For
biotechnological processes, intensive liquid mixing without
the disadvantageous e7ects of shearing stresses which cause
disintegration of biomass cells have generally to be ob-
tained simultaneously. These requirements seem to be satis-
:ed by impellers such as helical paddles, disk, six pipe im-
pellers (Heim, Kraslawski, Rzyski, & Stelmach, 1995) etc.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-83-17-52-23; fax: +33-83-32-29-75.
E-mail address: souhila.poncin@ensic.inpl-nancy.fr (S. Poncin).
1 Present address: Rhodia Centre de Recherche de Lyon; 85, av. des
FrEeres Perret; 69190 Saint-Fons.
However, radial and=or axial turbines are also used when
the biomass cell is resistant and when the gasliquid mass
transfer is the rate-limiting step to get high liquid circulation
and interfacial area. In chemical industry, radial and=or axial
self-inducing turbines are used in many applications such as
hydrogenations, oxidations or chlorations to avoid an exter-
nal loop and compressor especially in the case of hazardous
or undesirable gas recompression and when almost complete
utilisation of the solute gas has to be obtained. Turbines
similar to the design of a centrifugal pump have also been
used as gas inducing impellers of 8otation cells for gas
liquidsolid contacting operations involved in mineral win-
ning (Koen & Pingaud, 1977; Zundelevich, 1979; Sawant,
Joshi, Pangarkar, & Mhaskar, 1981, Raidoo, Raghav Rao,
Sawant, & Joshi, 1987).
It is well known that the impeller performance per unit
power consumption strongly depends upon the impeller de-
sign (Joshi, Pandit, & Sharma, 1982). For a given geometry
of the reactor and gasliquid system, the knowledge of the
evolution of global parameters such as the gas holdup, the
power consumption, the volumetric gasliquid mass trans-
fer coe%cient with the operating conditions (rotation speed,
gas 8ow rate, etc.) is of primary importance for scale-up
purpose.

0009-2509/02/$ - see front matter ? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 0 9 - 2 5 0 9 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 0 0 - 2
3300 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306
The aim of this work is therefore to propose the perfor-
mance of a radial gas inducing turbine which is similar to
the design of a centrifugal pump. This type of impeller uses
the acceleration of the liquid phase over the blades to lo-
cally reduce the pressure and hence to induce a 8ow of gas
through the hollow shaft from the headspace; the gas 8ow
rate and the impeller speed become dependent which is not
the case of non-inducing systems. The critical (or minimum)
turbine speed Nc at which the onset of gas induction occurs
may be considered as the :rst step in the design of the re-
actor and the rate of gas induction has to be determined as
a function of the impeller speed. Furthermore, the knowl-
edge of the power consumption is of vital importance: it
governs the performance of mechanically agitated reactors
and is directly related to the operating cost. The prediction
of the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient is fre-
quently important as gas-to-liquid mass transfer can be the
rate limiting step in chemical and biochemical reactors. This
parameter as well as the gas holdup on which it is related
are also investigated in this study.
2. Experimental set-up
Experiments are carried out in a 0:6 m i.d. mechanically
agitated reactor used by Nguyen (1993). The cylindrical
8at bottomed perspex vessel is equipped with four baIes of
width W = T=10 and the radial turbine used in this study is
associated to the hollow shaft. The geometry of the impeller
is similar to that of centrifugal pumps; it consists of a dou-
ble disc which covers eight straight radial 8at blades and is
open to the liquid circulation around the base of the hollow
shaft as shown in Fig 1. The experiments are conducted with
airwater system, except in the case of the critical impeller
speed determination for which a 60% sucrose solution has
also been used in order to study the e7ect of liquid viscos-
ity. The main dimensionless geometric characteristics of the
apparatus are presented in Table 1.
The impeller speed is varied up to about 1200 rpm. The
critical agitation speed for gas induction is obtained for
di7erent liquid heights. For this purpose, the turbine was
Gas
Liquid Liquid
liquid
and
gas
Fig. 1. Design of the impeller.
Table 1
Characteristics of the reactor
D=T W=T Ha =T Ho =T
0.333 0.1 0.3 0.71.53
observed under strobe lighting, with the strobe speed
matched to the turbine speed. The power is deduced from
the measurements of the torque transmitted to the impeller.
The motor is mounted vertically between two ball bearings
so that it can turn freely on itself. A counterweight system
allows measurements of the resisting couple necessary to
maintain the motor motionless. Power numbers of standard
turbines such as the Rushton turbine and the pitched blade
turbine are determined in order to check the precision of
results obtained with the equipment used. The impeller di-
ameter was 0:20 m in both cases and a blade angle of 45
was used in the case of pitched blade. The power numbers
were found to be 5.1 for the Rushton turbine and 1.7 for the
pitched blade, which is in close agreement with those re-
ported in the literature (Oldshue, 1983; Rewatkar, Raghava
Rao, & Joshi, 1990). For the rate of gas induction measure-
ments, the reactor is completely sealed and a volumetric
gas meter connected to the outlet of the reactor is used. The
pressure drop across this meter is only a few mm H2 O and
therefore has negligible e7ect on the volumetric gas 8ow
rate. The air pressure above the liquid surface in the vessel
has been measured with a U tube.
The mean gas holdup is measured midway between the
two adjacent baIes, at di7erent rotation speeds, from the
increase of liquid height on aeration. The volumetric gas
liquid mass transfer coe%cient kL a is obtained using two
di7erent techniques: a physical technique and a chemical
absorption technique. The dynamic physical absorption
technique concerns the absorption of oxygen into water
or into a 15 kg=m3 potassium sulphate solution. For each
impeller speed, the liquid has been :rst stripped of oxy-
gen by chemical reaction. For this purpose, a small but
su%cient amount of sodium sulphate solution is added at
the beginning in the liquid in the presence of the catalyst
(cobalt sulphate, 106 kmol=m3 ) in order to get a slow
reaction regime and to avoid the modi:cation of the coales-
cent behaviour of the system. The sodium sulphate is thus
totally oxidised by the dissolved oxygen and the dissolved
oxygen concentration increases again up to the saturation.
The chemical technique consists of the classical oxidation
of sulphite (0.4 0:8 kmol=m3 ) catalysed by cobalt sulphate
(5:106 kmol=m3 ) at pH = 8 and ambient temperature.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Critical impeller speed
Gas induction through the hollow shaft begins when the
pressure reduction at the tip, obtained at a certain value
of the impeller speed, is su%cient to overcome the static
 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306
6 1.00
Nc (Rps)
5
4
water
3
sucrose solution
2 (60%)
1 (Ho-Ha)/D
Ho-Ha (m)
0
0 0 .25 0 .5 0.75 1 Fig. 3. E7ect of the liquid viscosity on the critical Froude number.
Fig. 2. Critical conditions for gas induction.
head of liquid above the impeller. The corresponding rota-
tion speed Nc is therefore called the critical turbine speed
for gas induction. This phenomenon was :rst and simply
analysed by Braginsky (1964) as reported by Evans, Rielly,
Davidson and Carpenter (1991). Results of Nc as a function
of the liquid submergence (Ho Ha ) have previously been
reported by a number of investigators for other impeller de-
signs (White & de Villiers, 1977; Joshi & Sharma, 1977;
Sawant & Joshi, 1979; Saravanan, Mundale, & Joshi, 1994,
etc.). Models have been developed or extended for the crit-
ical impeller speed in the case of impellers of di7erent de-
signs (Evans, Rielly, Davidson, & Carpenter, 1990; Evans et
al., 1991; Saravanan et al., 1994; Saravanan & Joshi, 1995).
The typical critical impeller speed data obtained for dif-
ferent liquid submergences (Ho Ha ) and airliquid systems
used in this study are reported in Fig. 2. The critical turbine
speed logically increases with the liquid submergence and
with the liquid viscosity. Assuming ideal frictionless liquid
motion, the energy balance expression applied between the
gas ori:ce ejection and the free surface of the liquid pro-
vides a constant modi:ed critical Froude number Frc based
on submergence as follows:
(Nc D)2
Frc = : (1)
g(Ho Ha )
The data of the studied impeller are correctly represented by
(Ho Ha )
Frc = 0:153 ; (2)
D
which gives
Frc = 0:153 (3)
for the airwater system and for liquid loadings Ho =T ranged
from 0.6 up to 1.6.
Sawant and Joshi (1979) compared the critical Froude
numbers Frc obtained with di7erent types of impellers and
3301
Frc(w/)0.07
0.75
sucrose solution
0.50 L = 14 mPa s
water
L = 1 mPa s
0.25
Equ.4
0
0 2 4 6 8
also di7erent operating and design variables such as the liq-
uid level and the impeller and vessel diameters. They con-
cluded that this dimensionless number which was found to
be 0:21 0:04 is not a7ected by the impeller design and di-
ameter, the vessel diameter, and the liquid submergence. As
proposed by Patwardhan and Joshi (1999), the impeller used
in this study may be classi:ed in type 22 systems for which
two-phase 8ow (gas and liquid) is obtained at the inlet and
at the outlet of the impeller zone. These authors classi:ed
as type 12 systems the impellers for which a two-phase 8ow
(gas and liquid) and a single-phase 8ow (gas) are obtained
at the outlet and at the inlet of the impeller, respectively. The
comparison between the results of critical conditions for gas
induction obtained with this impeller and those reported in
the literature for type 12 and 22 systems clearly shows that
the value of Frc obtained in this study is lower than those
of type 12 and 22 systems for other impeller geometries.
However, the di7erence between the values may be due to
the measurement technique of Nc and the subjectivity which
may also play a role for Nc determination.
The e7ect of physical properties of the system as the liq-
uid viscosity and density has also been studied by Sawant
and Joshi (1979), Sawant et al. (1981) and Koen and Pin-
gaud (1977) who extended the preceding approach of Frc =
constant to include the e7ects of liquid physical properties
on Nc . The experimental results obtained in this study may
be represented by the following correlation (Fig. 3):

0:07
w
Frc = 0:153: (4)

The value of the exponent (0.11) proposed by Sawant and
Joshi (1979) who used a large range of liquid viscosities (up
to 82 mPa s) is slightly higher than that obtained in this study
where only two liquid viscosities were used. These authors
do not :nd any e7ect of liquid density on the impeller speed
in the range 800 1200 kg=m3 . The results of Nc have also
been represented in the same form as that proposed by Koen
and Pingaud (1977) even if the diameter of the impeller
3302 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306

2.0 5

FrcRec0.07 QG x 103 (m3/s)

4
1.5 sucrose solution Ho (m)
L = 14 mPa s 3 0.42
water
0.62
1.0 L = 1 mPa s
2
0.72
Equ.5
0.92
1
0.5 Koen and
Pingaud (1977) N(rps)
0
(Ho-Ha)/D
0 0 5 10 15 20
0 2 4 6 8
Fig. 5. E7ect of impeller speed and liquid submergence on the gas
Fig. 4. Comparison with the correlation of Koen and Pingaud (1977). induction rate.

0.04
has not been varied. The following correlation holds in this QG /(ND3)
case:
Ho (m)
(Ho Ha ) 0.03
Frc = 0:35 Rec0:07 or Frc Rec0:07 = 0:35; (5) 0.42
D
0.52
which shows the same Reynolds exponent (0.07) and a co- 0.02
0.62
e%cient (0.35) close to that determined by Koen and Pin-
gaud (0.4). The comparison between predicted and experi- 0.72
mental values is illustrated in Fig. 4. 0.01 0.92
Equ.6
3.2. Gas induction 9ow rate
0
_
When impeller speed is increased beyond the critical 0.1 1 Fr* Frc* 10

speed at which gas induction occurs, the quantity of gas
in the reactor increases and the bubbles rise as in a bubble
column, the zone situated below the impeller being ap-
proximately free of bubbles. The most important variables
in8uencing the rate of gas induction are the impeller de-
sign, the impeller diameter, the impeller speed, the liquid
submergence and the physical properties of the liquid. The
results of gas induction 8ow rate measured at the outlet of
the reactor as a function of the impeller speed and liquid
submergence are reported in Fig. 5. The experimental data
show the increase of the gas induced 8ow rate with the
impeller speed for the di7erent liquid submergences. For a
given impeller speed, QG is signi:cantly reduced when the
liquid height increases.
Di7erent dimensionless groups were proposed in the lit-
erature to correlate the gas induced 8ow rate. The gas 8ow
rates obtained in the presence of airwater system for di7er-
ent liquid heights are well correlated by plotting the aeration
number NA as a function of the modi:ed Froude number
Fr or the di7erence Fr Frc . The following correlation
is thus obtained:
NA = [23(1 + (Fr Frc )1:7 )]1 :
The comparison between experimental and correlated val-
ues of NA is shown in Fig. 6. The agreement between
Fig. 6. Correlation of the gas induction rate.
experimental and calculated values with Eq. (6) is within
20%.
3.3. Power consumption
The most important variables in8uencing the power con-
sumption are the impeller diameter and design and liquid
submergence. Without gas sparging, i.e. at ungassed condi-
tions, the power consumption is given by Po = Npo N 3 D5 ,
where the power number Npo is a constant which depends
upon the design of the impeller. At gassed conditions,
the power consumption may be represented by the power
number NpG or by the ratio NpG =Npo (aerated power
number=unaerated power number). The value of the power
number Npo measured at ungassed turbulent conditions is
found to be 1.1 for the turbine under study. This result has
been obtained by sealing the holes through which the gas is
induced.
(6) Fig. 7 shows the power number NpG plotted against the
impeller speed. The power consumption obtained for im-
peller speeds higher than the critical speed Nc is lower than
that measured at ungassed conditions. This is due to the gas
 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306 3303

1.5 NPG
NPG
Ho (m) 1.2
1.3 Ho = 0.62 m
0.62
1.1 Ho = 0.72 m
0.72 Ho = 0.82 m
0.9 0.8
0.82 Ho = 0.92 m
0.7 Equ.7

0.5
0.4
0.3
N (rps)
0.1
5 10 15 20 Fr* _ Frc*
0
Fig. 7. Evolution of the power number with the impeller speed and the 0 1 2 3
liquid height.
Fig. 9. Correlation of the power number.

1.2
PG /Po As shown previously for Nc and QG , the e7ect of the
1.0 Ho = 0.62 m
liquid height is taken into account by the modi:ed Froude
number. This is obtained by plotting the ratio NpG against
Ho = 0.72 m
0.8 Fr as represented in Fig. 9. The results of NpG obtained
Ho = 0.92 m for di7erent liquid heights may be correlated by:
0.6 0:92
NpG = 0:19 + (7)
1 + 0:57(Fr Frc )2
0.4
This :gure shows the good agreement between the exper-
imental results and this correlation which is valid for air
0.2
NA = QG/ND3 water system in the following operating range and condi-
0
tions: T = 0:6 m; D = 0:2 m; 0:7 (Ho Ha )=T = 1:2 and
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 N = 13 rps.

Fig. 8. Evolution of PG =Po with the aeration number. 3.4. Global gas holdup

recirculation which causes a decrease of the average density
in the impeller vicinity and also due to the adherent cavities
formed by the induced gas behind the impeller blades which
causes a decrease of the free volume available for the liquid
circulation inside the impeller, between the two discs. As a
result, the liquid pumping capacity decreases. Furthermore,
the decrease of NpG when the impeller speed N increases
at gassed conditions is due to the increase of the induced
and the recirculated gas 8ow rates with N . The increase of
NpG with the liquid height is caused by the decrease of the
induced gas 8ow rate with Ho .
In conventional mechanically agitated reactors, the gas
rate as well as the rotation speed are operating parame-
ters and it has been more common to consider the gassed
power=ungassed power ratio and to relate it to the aeration
number NA . For the gas inducing impellers, the gas rate de-
pends on the impeller speed which is an independent op-
erating parameter. It is therefore more suitable in this case
to correlate the hydrodynamic parameters with the Froude
number, even if the power number may also be correlated
with the aeration number as illustrated in Fig. 8 which shows
a good correlation between NA and PG =Po .
The fractional gas holdup is intimately lined to the gas in-
duction rate which cannot be varied independently as men-
tioned above and which is in turn related to the power con-
sumption (impeller speed and geometry) and to the disper-
sion ability of the impeller which depends on its design. The
results of fractional gas holdup obtained by measuring the
heights of the gasliquid dispersion and the clear liquid, are
plotted as a function of the impeller speed and the clear liq-
uid height in Fig. 10. As expected, G increases with the im-
peller speed. This is related to the increase in the rate of gas
induction with N . When the liquid submergence increases,
the gas holdup decreases due to the reduction of the gas in-
duction rate with Ho . The measurements are less accurate
for the lower N due to the high oscillations of the liquid
level which occur at low impeller speeds. More accuracy is
obtained from G = 2%. Fig. 11 shows the experimental data
from Fig. 10 using the modi:ed Froude number to correct
the e7ect of the liquid height on the fractional gas holdup.
The experimental results are thus well described by the fol-
lowing equation:
(Fr Frc )1:1
G = (8)
0:043(Fr Frc )1:1 + 0:135
3304 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306

12 0.16
G (%) kLa(s-1)
10
0.12 Ho (m)
8 0.66
Ho (m) 0.72
0.08
6 0.62 0.82
0.78 0.92
4 0.04
0.92

2 N (rps)
N (rps) 0
0 5 10 15 20
0 5 10 15 20 25
Fig. 12. Evolution of kL a with the impeller speed and the liquid height.
Fig. 10. Variation of the gas holdup with the impeller speed and the
liquid height.

technique are plotted against the rotation speed in Fig. 12.

12 With respect to the evolution of the gas holdup with N; kL a

G (%)
Ho (m) increases with N and decreases with increase in Ho .
10 0.62 Sawant et al. (1981) reported a linear behaviour between
0.66 kL a and N Nc for Denver-type 8otation cells. Joshi and
8
0.72
Sharma (1977) obtained the following variation of kL a for
pipe and 8attened cylindrical impellers:
0.78
6
0.82 kL a kL ao (N Nc )1:2 ;
4 0.92
Where kL ao is the value at the minimum impeller speed, ob-
Equ.8
2 tained by extrapolation. The exponent on the impeller speed
Fr* _ Frc* obtained by the preceding authors for other inducing im-
0 peller types di7ers from that corresponding to our experi-
0 1 2 3 4
mental results which is of 2.2.
Fig. 11. Variation of the gas holdup with Fr . As the description of experimental data of G and kL a is
quite similar, it was thought desirable to correlate kL a with
the modi:ed Froude number, in the same form as the gas
The comparison between experimental values and results holdup. The following empirical correlation is thus obtained
obtained using this relation is shown in Fig. 11. The error and holds within 25% in the range of the operating param-
between experimental and calculated values does not exceed eters covered in this work and with airwater system:
10% for G values higher than 2%.
0:065(Fr Frc )1:1
kL a = (9)
3.5. Volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe<cient kL a 1 + 0:132(Fr Frc )1:1

The good agreement between experimental and predicted

The mass transfer performance of the reactor can be char-
acterised by the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%-
cient kL a which was evaluated by using two di7erent clas-
sical techniques: the physical dynamic oxygen absorption
technique and the oxidation of sul:te by the oxygen for
which the system used is known as coalescence inhibiting. A
coalescent system (airwater) and a coalescence-inhibiting
system (airK2 SO4 solution) were used in the case of the
dynamic absorption technique. Reviews on the limitations
and advantages of these techniques have been previously
proposed (Linek & VaTcek, 1981; Linek, VaTcek, & Benes,
1987; Deckwer, 1992).
The values of the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer
coe%cient kL a obtained by the dynamic oxygen absorption
values of kL a is shown in Fig. 13. Moreover Smith, Vant
Riet, and Middleton (1977) proposed the following general
correlation for conventional mechanically agitated reactors
operating with coalescing systems

0:475
PG
kL a = 0:01 VG0:4 : (10)
VL
Even if this kind of correlation is not suited for gas induc-
ing impellers since it involves the gas induction rate which
is a dependent parameter in this case, we decided to test the
validity of this correlation for gas inducing impellers. Fig.
14 shows the good agreement obtained between the experi-
mental results and this correlation.
 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306 3305

1 10
kLa(s-1)
kLa/VG0.4(m-0.4s-0.6)

0.1

1
0.01

Fr* _ Frc*
0.001
0.1 1 10 PG/VL (W/m3)
0.1
Fig. 13. Correlation of kL a with Fr . (1) Dynamic tech- 100 1000 10000
nique: water: ; Ho = 0:52 m; ; Ho = 0:62 m; ; Ho = 0:66 m;

; Ho = 0:72 m; ; Ho = 0:82 m; ; Ho = 0:92 m; K2 SO4 soln Fig. 15. Comparison of Linek et al. (1987) correlation with experimen-
(15 kg=m3 ): ; Ho = 0:72 m; (2) sulphide oxidation: 4; Ho = 0:72 m; , tal data obtained in non-coalescing systems by dynamic and chemical
Eq. (9); , Eq. (13). techniques. Ho = 0:72 m , dynamic method (airK2 SO4 ); 4, chemical
technique (sulphide oxidation); , Eq. (14) (Linek et al., 1987).

1
0.4
oxygen absorption technique using a coalescent system
kLa/VG (m-0.4s-0.6) (waterair) are lower than those measured using a
non-coalescent system (K2 SO4 solution) and those deter-
mined from the chemical technique (sulphite oxidation)
which requires the use of a coalescence-inhibiting system.
This is primarily due, as often mentioned in the literature,
to the higher gas holdups and thus the higher interfacial
areas obtained when coalescence-inhibiting systems are
used. The best agreement for both non-coalescing systems
is obtained with the following correlation:
PG / VL(W/m3) 0:35(Fr Frc )1:6
kL a = : (13)
1 + 0:2(Fr Frc )1:6
0.1
100 1000 10000 Linek et al. (1987) established the following relation in the
case of coalescence inhibiting systems and conventionally
Fig. 14. Comparison of Smith et al. (1977) correlation for coalescing agitated reactors:
systems with data obtained by dynamic method in airwater system.
0:946
; Ho = 0:52 m; ; Ho = 0:62 m;
; Ho = 0:72 m; ; Ho = 0:82 m; PG
; Ho = 0:92 m; , Eq. (10) (Smith et al., 1977). kL a = 0:00135 VG0:4 : (14)
VL
A good agreement is obtained again here between predicted
This type of correlation has also been proposed by Joshi and experimental values as con:rmed by Fig. 15.
and Sharma (1977) who proposed:

0:55
3 PG 4. Conclusion
kL a = 6:8 10 VG0:5 for VG 5 mm=s; (11)
VL
The global characteristics of a hollow shaft gas induc-

0:55
3 PG ing turbine based on the principle of centrifugal pumps are
kL a = 3:26 10 VG0:25 for VG 5 mm=s: presented. The evolution of the critical turbine speed has
VL
(12) been correlated in a viscous and a non-viscous system. The
e7ects of the impeller speed and the liquid height on the
The experimental results under study are generally slightly gas induced 8ow rate, the gas hold-up, the power consump-
underestimated by these correlations. tion and the volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient
Fig. 13 also shows that the volumetric gasliquid have been presented and correlations have been proposed
mass transfer coe%cient values obtained by the dynamic using the modi:ed Froude number which makes possible the
3306 S. Poncin et al. / Chemical Engineering Science 57 (2002) 32993306

design of the studied impeller. There is a good agreement Evans, G. M., Rielly, C. D., Davidson, J. F., & Carpenter, K. J. (1991).
between the experimental and the predicted values of the Hydrodynamic characteristics of gas inducing impeller. Proceedings
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Notation Koen, C., & Pingaud, B. (1977). Development of self-inducing disperser
for gasliquid and liquidliquid systems. Second European conference
on mixing, 30th March1st April, Paper F5 (pp. 6781).
D diameter of the impeller, m Linek, V., & VaTcek, V. (1981). Chemical engineering use of catalyzed
Fr Froude number, dimensionless sodium sul:te oxidation kinetics for the determination of mass transfer
Fr modi:ed Froude number, dimensionless characteristics of gasliquid contactors. Chemical Engineering Science,
Frc modi:ed critical Froude number, dimensionless 36, 17471768.
Linek, V., VaTcek, V., & Benes, P. (1987). A critical review and
g acceleration due to gravity, m=s2
experimental veri:cation of the correct use of the dynamic method for
Ha height of the impeller from the bottom of the vessel, the determination of oxygen mass transfer in aerated agitated vessels to
m water, electrolyte solutions and viscous liquids. Chemical Engineering
Ho height of the liquid in the tank, m Journal, 34, 1134.
kL a volumetric gasliquid mass transfer coe%cient, s1 Nguyen, C. (1993). Etude et comparaison de trois contacteurs
gaz-liquide a* auto-aeration. ThEese de doctorat de lInstitut National
N impeller speed, rpm
Polytechnique de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
NA aeration number, dimensionless Oldshue, J. Y. (1983). Fluid mixing technology. New York: McGraw-Hill
Nc critical impeller speed, rps or rpm Co.
Np power number, dimensionelss Patwardhan, A. W., & Joshi, J. B. (1999). Design of gas-inducing reactors.
PG power consumption in presence of gas, Wa Industrial and Engineering Chemical Research, 38, 4980.
Raidoo, A. D., Raghav Rao, K. S. M. S., Sawant, S. B., & Joshi, J.
Po power consumption in absence of gas, Wa
B. (1987). Improvements in gas inducing impeller design. Chemical
QG gas 8ow rate, m3 =s Engineering Communications, 54, 241264.
Re Reynolds number, ND2 =, dimensionless Rewatkar, V. B., Raghava Rao, K. S. M., & Joshi, J. B. (1990). Power
T tank diameter, m consumption in mechanically agitated contactors using pitched bladed
V total clear liquid volume, m3 turbine impellers. Chemical Engineering Communications, 88, 6990.
Saravanan, K., & Joshi, J. B. (1995). Gas inducing type mechanically
VG super:cial gas velocity, m=s
agitated contactors: Hydrodynamic characteristics of multiple impellers
W baIe width, m Industrial and Engineering Chemical Research, 34, 24992514.
G gas holdup, Saravanan, K., Mundale, V. D., & Joshi, J. B. (1994). Gas inducing type
L liquid viscosity, Pa s mechanically agitated contactors. Industrial and Engineering Chemical
Research, 33, 22262241.
Sawant, S. B., & Joshi, J. B. (1979). Critical impeller speed for the onset
Acknowledgements of gas induction in gas-inducing types of agitated contactors. Chemical
Engineering Journal, 18, 8791.
Sawant, S. B., Joshi, J. B., Pangarkar, V. G., & Mhaskar, R. D. (1981).
The authors are grateful to J. Breysse and C. Mathieu, Mass transfer and hydrodynamic characteristics of the Denver type of
formerly Rhone-Poulenc, now Rhodia for their support. 8otation cells. Chemical Engineering Journal, 21, 1119.
Smith, J. M., Vant Riet, K., & Middleton, J. C. (1977). Scale-up of
agitated gasliquid reactors for mass transfer. Proceedings of the
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