This paper presents an analysis of the blending characteristics of axial flow high-speed impellers under a turbulent regime of flow of an agitated low viscosity liquid. The conductivity method is used to determine the time course of blending (homogenisation) of miscible liquids in a pilot plant fully baffled mixing vessel, and a torquemeter is used for measuring the impeller power input in the same system. Four-blade and six-blade pitched blade impellers and three high efficiency axial flow impellers are tested for the given degree of homogeneity (98%).

The experimental results and also the results of the authors' previous study, in accordance with the theoretical approach described in the literature, show that there is a universal relationship between the impeller power number and the dimensionless blending time, taking into consideration the impeller-to-vessel diameter ratio, independent of the geometry of the axial flow impeller but dependent on the degree of homogeneity. This relationship is found to be valid on a pilot plant scale under a turbulent flow regime of an agitated liquid.

This paper presents a comparison of the blending efficiency of eight high-speed rotary impellers in a fully baffled cylindrical vessel under the turbulent flow regime of agitated charge. Results of carried out experiments (blending time and impeller power input) confirm that the down pumping axial flow impellers exhibit better blending efficiency than the high-speed rotary impellers with prevailing radial discharge flow. It follows from presented results that, especially for large scale industrial realisations, the axial flow impellers with profiled blades bring maximum energy savings in comparison with the standard impellers with inclined flat blades (pitched blade impellers).