Simulation and measurement of the turbulent flow in a monolithic stirred tank

Monolithic stirred reactors (MSR) could be used to replace traditional slurry-catalyst stirred reactors. A better understanding of the mixing, reaction rates and the yield of such a reactor is required for industrial design and optimization. Research on the flow patterns inside a MSR are reported here. An angle-resolved velocity field was measured using Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) and it is compared with CFD predictions. The CFD predictions include two techniques for modeling the revoloving impeller in the baffled tank: a multiple reference frames (MRF) approach and a sliding mesh model (SLM). In addition the monolith blades were modeled both as porous regions and as solid (impermeable) blocks in the simulations. It is shown that the MRF approach is inappropriate for the flow conditions under investigation. The initial results also indicate that the monolith (porous) modeling can be improved.