A Fluid-Mixing Laboratory for ChE Undergraduates

Authors

  • Gabriel Ascanio Ecole Polytechnique
  • Robert Legros Ecole Polytechnique
  • Philippe A. Tanguy Ecole Polytechnique

Abstract

Mixing experiments have been developed for the undergraduate unit operations laboratory to provide a practical introduction on mixing operations. The experiments are designed so that the students characterize the effects of impeller speed and the type of discharge on mixing time and the power consumption with Newtonian and  non-Newtonian fluids. Dimensional analysis is used to process the results, and the effective shear rate in the vicinity of the impeller is determined by means of the Metzner-Otto concept. The laboratory setup is based on a benchtop mixing system provided with axial flow and radial flow impellers.

Author Biographies

Gabriel Ascanio, Ecole Polytechnique

Gabriel Ascanio received his BS and MS from the National University of Mexico in 1988 and 1995, respectively, and his PhD from Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal in 2003. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at URPEI in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Some of his research interests are in coating processes and mixing of rheology complex fluids.

Robert Legros, Ecole Polytechnique

Robert Legros is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal. He received his BS from Ecole Polytechnique in 1983 and his PhD from the University of Surrey in 1987. His academic research involves solids thermal treatments in fluid beds, modeling of combustion reactors, heat and mass transfer, and hydrodynamics of spouted beds. Some of his current research interests are related to pharmaceutical engineering, namely in powder technology and downstream processes.

Philippe A. Tanguy, Ecole Polytechnique

Philippe A. Tanguy is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal. He received his BSc in 1976 and his Doctoral de specialite in 1979, both from Universite de Paris, and his PhD from Laval University in 1982. His research interests are in non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, CFO and process engineering involving complex fluids, in particular coating processes, and in agitation and mixing operations.

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Published

2003-09-01

Issue

Vol. 37 No. 4 (2003): Fall 2003

Section

Manuscripts