Abstract
In the present study, the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Maxblend impeller have been investigated. A commercial CFD package (CFX 12.0) was used to solve the 3D hydrodynamics and to characterize the flow patterns at every point. A shear thinning fluid with yield stress was modeled in the laminar regime and transition regime. The study focused on the effect of fluid rheology, agitator speed, impeller clearance from the tank bottom and blade size on the fluid flow and power consumption. Predictions have been compared with literature data and a satisfactory agreement has been found.
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Recommended by Associate Editor Byeong Rog Shin.
Houari Ameur was born in 1982 in Tlemcen, Algeria. He received his degree of engineer in marine engineering and master in mechanical engineering at the University of Science and Technology, Oran, Algeria. He is a Ph.D student in rheology of complex fluids. His current research interests are mainly in the area of non-Newtonian fluid flows, mechanical mixing and computational fluid dynamics.
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Ameur, H., Bouzit, M. & Helmaoui, M. Hydrodynamic study involving a maxblend impeller with yield stress fluids. J Mech Sci Technol 26, 1523–1530 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-012-0337-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-012-0337-3