The “Development of Operating Model for the Design of Stirrer Arms of Slurries: Design and Fabrication of Stirrer Arms” is reported. In the previous research titled “Development of Operating Model for the Design of Stirrer Arms of Slurries: A Review”, a research gap was identified to exist between the Two Z and TETE blade stirrer arms. The aim of this current research was to demonstrate a model/design and fabrication of the Two Z and TETE blade stirrer arms with the view of creating a platform for the future comparative tests of these stirrer arms. The specific objectives for this research include the identification and selection of all the materials needed to achieve the aim of the research (including the selection of the mixer that will host the stirrer arms); Design of the Two Z and TETE blades of the stirrer arms (with the application of the Solid Work software) in tandem with the selected mixer; Design calculations for the Two Z and TETE blades; Fabrication of the Two Z and TETE blades of stirrer arms in tandem with the selected mixer; Constitution of the slurry to be mixed and Calibration of the slurry viscosity. All the set objectives for this research were achieved and consequent on the foregoing, the theoretical (predicted or expected) mixing power consumption for the Two Z, TETE and hybrid Two Z – TETE blade stirrer arms were determined. The order of merit analysis for the theoretical (predicted or expected) power revealed the Two Z stirrer arm as the most efficient. Further future work should include empirical performance tests of the Two Z, TETE and hybrid Two Z – TETE stirrer arms. This will establish/validate the level of degree of agreement between the theoretical (expected) and empirical (observed) mixing power consumption of the stirrer arms. Also such tests will highlight the comparative mixing power and energy efficiency of these stirrer arms hence the order of merit of being called to bar.

An in dept review of the Development of Operating Model for the Design of Stirrer Arms of Slurries is reported. The works of several authors were reviewed. These works covered research on the importance of slurries, application of different slurries in the area of Agriculture and agricultural farming, construction and allied industries, foods and pharmaceutical industries, chemical and paints industries. Also considered were the research works on the design, fabrication and test investigation of performance of different stirrer arms. From the review, three key outcomes from three set of researchers were identified thus: Researcher team 1:  the TTP propeller was the most efficient in liquid phase mixing; Researcher team 2: the TEET geometry contributed the best quality of the mixing and significantly reduced the cost of the mixing process; Researcher team 3: the two Z blade stirrer arm was considered as the best in terms of mixing effectiveness. These three outcomes appear as standalone and do not give the user(s) information on comparative advantages for deployment of stirrer arms. Consequent on the above, further theoretical and empirical   research will need to be done to evaluate the Order of Merit of these stirrer arms to be called to bar.

The “Development of Operating Model for the Design of Stirrer Arms of Slurries: Empirical Evaluation of Stirrer Arms” is reported. Previous work reviewed the “Operating Model for the Design of Stirrer Arms of Slurries” and identified the Two Z and TETE stirrer arms as the most effective. Furthermore, subsequent work “Development of Operating Model for the Design of Stirrer Arms of Slurries: Design and Fabrication of Stirrer Arms” designed and fabricated the Two Z and TETE stirrer arms, evaluated the theoretical (expected) Slurry Mixing Power and Order of Merit Analysis.  The current work did the empirical evaluation of the Two Z and TETE stirrer arms and also the hybrid Two Z - TETE stirrer arms. The Objectives of this research were: to do the mixing performance tests in terms of mixing time, power and energy consumed by the Two Z blade, TETE blade and Two Z – TETE hybrid blade using the constituted slurry; to validate the theoretical (predicted or expected) mixing power for the Two Z blade, TETE blade and Two Z – TETE hybrid blade by comparison with the empirical power using the Chi Square; to do the Power, Time and Energy order of merit analysis for the Two Z blade, TETE blade and the Two Z – TETE hybrid blade. Using the Philips HR 1565 mixer with the Akamu (pap) (Viscosity calibrated) slurries, the time and current drawn for complete and consistent slurry mixing by each type of stirrer arm (namely: Two Z, TETE and Two Z – TETE) was recorded. Results obtained were analyzed using the Chi Square and the Order of Merit. There was excellent agreement between the adjusted predicted (expected) slurry mixing power (E’) and Observed slurry mixing power (O) at 5% confidence level. Empirical model was developed to predict expected slurry mixing power. The Order of Merit analysis revealed the TETE stirrer arm as the most energy efficient.