Abstract
In the present work, computational fluid dynamics study of stirred tanks
of three sizes (20L, 400L and 5000L) provided with helical coils has
been carried out. Various design parameters (impeller diameter, type and
clearance) and operational parameters (Reynolds Number and Power per
unit volume) have been varied and their effect on process side heat
transfer coefficient has been studied. CFD model is validated with
experimental work of Cummings and West[9] and in house
experimentation. Design settings of D/T=0.5, C/T=0.33 for PBTD450
resulted in maximum heat transfer (5440 W/m2K for P/V=1000 W/m3). For
constant RPM and constant D/T (Constant Reynolds Number), Increasing the
power number of impeller increased process side HTC at the cost of
increased power requirement (decreasing efficiency). In such cases,
proper selection of impeller system needs to be made based on the
requirements of heat removal and optimizing parameters such as product
yield, product quality etc.