Study on optimal design of vertical-shaft mechanical mixer based on numerical simulation of flow field

摘要

In the paper the three-dimensional flow fields are numerically simulated in the vertical-shaft mechanical mix tank of a water treatment plant by means of FLUENT software based on the method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The influences of design parameters on flow fields and the mixing effect are analyzed. Firstly,the prediction capability of the turbulence model adopted in simulations is evaluated. And then,the mesh independence is checked up. Finally,the flow fields in various dimensionless blade diameters and dimensionless shaft spans are numerically simulated respectively. The results have shown that the numerical simulation method based on CFD is a feasible assistance for the optimal designs of mixers. Moreover,the optimal design of the blade diameter should take into account both the flow field and the power consumption. The optimization of the shaft span is to achieve a relatively even distribution of the flow field without any rupture. With the consideration of an optimal design,the dimensionless blade diameter and dimensionless shaft span should be 0.45 and 0.57 respectively in the case.