VISUALIZATION OF PSEUDOCAVERNS IN STIRRED VESSELS

Abstract

A new technique for reconstructing the geometry of well-mixed regions (pseudocaverns for Newtonian fluids) in unbaffled vessels agitated with radial discharge impellers eccentrically placed has been developed for obtaining their three dimensional geometry. The mixer frame rotates at low speed allowing the video system to capture a sequence of pictures of the flow patterns by using the laser induced fluorescence technique. The recorded video sequence was used to isolate the contours of the pseudocaverns for reconstructing the three dimensional structure of the well-mixed regions within the tank.

Keywords

• Mixing
• 3-D visualization
• Homogenization
• Imaging
• Laminar flow