Authors: A. Bakker and L. Oshinowo
Institution of Chemical Engineers, September 2004
Abstract
The Application of large eddy simulation (LES) to the prediction of large-scale chaotic stuctures in stirred tanks is investigated. Typical stirrer configurations representing different flwo regimes are assessed: a single radial pumping impeller, single axial pumping impellers, multiple hydrofoil impellers. and a retreat curce impeller. The dynamic tubulent flow field in each configuration is calculated using LES. The impeller motion is explicitly modelled using the slidng mesh model. It is concluded that the flow field in stirred vessels are very rish in structure and that a wide variety of flow regimes exist. The predicted flow patterns comape well with digital particle imahe velocimetry data reported in the literature, and exhibit the long time-scale instabilities seen in experiments reported in the literature.
