(291c) Integrating Mixing Education Into Fluid Mechanics and Reaction Engineering Courses At Rowan

Process Fluid Transport

Chemical Reaction Engineering

Unit Operations Experimental Design and Analysis

As well as taught in a senior elective titled, "Biopharmacuetical and Industrial Fluid Mixing"

Topics in Process Fluid Transport:

1 week is spent on Mixing:

Mixing Definition:

Mixing is the reduction of inhomogeneity in order to achieve a desired process result. 

Inhomogeneity:  concentration, phase, temperature.

Process results:  increase mass and/or heat transfer, reaction rate, or product properties. 

Typical Tank Dimensions

Types of Tanks with mixers

Fluid flow patterns with different impellers, diameters and liquid viscocity.  PBT:  Pitched Blade Turbine, FBT:  Flat Bladed Turbine. 

Impeller Types and Power Numbers

Power and D/T

Scale-up

Blend Time

Homework:  Calculate the required blend time for the following tank:

Pitched blade turbine (6 Blade)

Impeller Diameter:          1 m

Operating speed:             84 RPM

Fluid:     Water

Tank Diameter = 3.0 m 

Tank Volume = 5600 gallons

1. Calculate Reynolds Number
2. Calculate blend time for within 5% of desired value
3. Design a blending tank for a volume of 10,000 gallons assuming =H and =/3 and dimensions scaled with volume
   1. Constant Blend Time
   2. Constant speed
   3. equal power per unit volume
   4. assuming power per unit volume based on Figure 15.

Give the power required, the tank and impeller dimensions and impeller speed for each case.

 Topics in Chemical Reaction Engineering

Industrial Mixing in Chemical Reactors, Richard Grenville, DuPont

Biopharmacuetical and Industrial Fluid Mixing

The senior elective is taught by Drs. Arthur W. Etchells and Richard Grenville

In both the biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industries mixing is an important step in development, scale up and manufacture. It is most important in process steps involving multiple phases and complex liquids and chemical reactions. This course will discuss the application of fundamental single and multi-phase fluid dynamics to such processes and the development of industrial equipment designs based on these fundamentals along with the concepts of process scale up and scale down. A major objective of the class is to develop equipment designs based on fundamentals and empirically derived correlations. Emphasis will be on designs for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry but having equally applicability to other process industries. Both lecturers have extensive industrial experience with Dupont and other companies.

Arthur W. Etchells is a world recognized authority in the field of mixing for the process industries. For thirty nine years he worked for the DuPont Company and for thirty years as an internal consultant for the many diverse DuPont businesses in the field of fluid flow with emphasis on mixing and slurry transport and retired in 2002. He is a past president of the North American Mixing Forum and winner of their award for contribution to mixing technology. He is now an independent consultant in the field.

Richard K. Grenville is the lead consultant in mixing for the Dupont Company. He has twenty five years experience in the field. He has extensive publications in the field, has given many seminars to companies outside of Dupont and is a member of the North American Mixing Forum governing board.