Estudio del comportamiento fluido-dinámico de un agitador a escala reducida mediante simulación numérica

This paper presents the study of the behavior of a stirred tank with hydrofoil impeller, used to mix water with polymetallic particles in the mining industry, through numerical simulation with CFD software. The mixture has an average density of 1.623 kg / m3 and an apparent viscosity of 0.065 kg / m-s, and was modeled as a non-Newtonian homogeneous liquid. The homogeneous Euler-Euler model for free surface biphasic flow in steady state is solved in the simulation, using the k-ϵ turbulence model. The power curve, which correlates the power number (Np) with the Reynolds number (Re), was obtained from the torque curve of the impeller versus its angular velocity between 200 and 700 rpm. It was found that Np asymptotically converges to 0.32 in turbulent regime, a value that is in agreement with experimental results obtained in the present study and those available in the literature.