Chapter 54 – A phenomenological model for the quantitative interpretation of partial suspension conditions in stirred vessels

Publisher Summary Many important chemical engineering operations involve the suspension of solid particles in a liquid phase inside stirred tanks. Relevant examples include adsorption, crystallization, dissolution, leaching, precipitation, ion exchange and catalytic multiphase processes. This chapter describes a phenomenological model for the quantitative determination of the suspended solids mass fraction in stirred tanks operated at partial suspension conditions. Experimental data on fractional suspension, obtained by the “Pressure Gauge Technique” in vessels stirred by a downward-pumping pitched-blade-turbine, are presented. Furthermore, model predicted trends are compared with experimental data and an encouraging agreement is observed. Though the model requires further development and comparison with more experimental data in order to validate it, this first analysis of results is highly encouraging on the validity of the proposed approach. The present results indicate, however, that this is a road that may well be worth following.