Effect of curved anchor impellers on power consumption and hydrodynamic parameters of yield stress fluids (Bingham-Papanastasiou model) in stirred tanks

This study introduces a three-dimensional numerical analysis of the mixing yield stress fluid inside stirred vessels. The Bingham-Papanastasiou model predicts the yield stress behavior of the working fluid. The implications of a new anchor impeller design are investigated; it involves certain modifications to a typical anchor impeller's blade. Different curved shapes replace the straight blade of a classical anchor. The flow pattern and energy consumed inside the stirred system for various geometrical configurations, Reynolds numbers (0.1, 1, 10, and 100), and Bingham numbers (1, 10, 100, and 500) have been investigated. According to the findings, introducing this new geometrical configuration gives a significant acceleration of flow pattern and extension of the well-mixed zone, as well as decreased power consumption (Np). Three configurations were introduced to the mixing system: Case 1 is a standard anchor impeller, and Cases 2 and 3 are curved anchor impellers with two shapes different. Case 3 (helical design of blade) has been found to be the less power consumption case by five times, i.e., for Case 1 and Case 2, Np = 5, whereas for Case 3, Np = 1. Based on the results, it is evident that the configuration (Case 3) demonstrates a superior geometric design in enhancing mixing characteristics compared to the other configurations.