Analysis of the Performance of a High-Speed Scott Turbon Mixer in Immiscible Liquid–Liquid Mixing through Endoscopy, Tomography, CFD, and Statistical Methods

Abstract

The performance of a high-speed Scott Turbon impeller in immiscible liquid− liquid dispersions was explored. In the current study, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the high-speed Scott impeller in the immiscible liquid−liquid mixing operation in terms of the mixing index (MI), droplet size (d 32 ), and power consumption using four independent variables: impeller type, impeller speed, oil volume fraction, and oil type. An advanced visualization technique, electrical resistance tomography (ERT), was used to determine the mixing index of the liquid−liquid dispersions, while an endoscopy technique was utilized for the droplet size measurement. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed and used to investigate the flow field generated by the high-speed Scott Turbon mixer. A statistical-based experimental design (DOE) model with response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to assess the influence of the independent variables and their interactive effects on the mixing index and oil droplet size. The highest mixing index values were achieved by the smooth disk impeller, while the smallest Sauter mean oil diameters were attained with the toothed disk impeller with a narrow droplet size distribution. Both oil type and oil volume fraction had the most impact on the mixing index of the immiscible liquid−liquid dispersions, while both oil type and impeller speed had a strong influence on the Sauter mean diameter.