| Pipes
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Pipeline
Mixers, Pipe Mixer, In-line Mixing, Line Mixers, Line Blenders, Process
Intensifiers
These mixing containers are installed right in the pipeline. Ideal
for continuous processes or when a fluid component must be intensely mixed
prior to injection or addition into another mixing vessel. This is not
limited to just miscible
fluids, but can also handle liquid-liquid
dispersions, gas-liquid
mass transfer, or solids
dissolution. Its a great way to mix high viscosity fluids, that
are already being transported through a pipeline.
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Example of a pipe being the mixing
vessel. |
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Illustration by P. Csiszar |
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| Vertical tanks
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These are tanks standing upright. Mixers are most often mounted as top
entering or bottom entering, where they are mounted centrally on
the base or top head of the reactor. Some mixers are mounted on the
heads, but off to the side. Most common bottom entry off-center
mounted mixers are the magnetic mixers. Most common versions for top
entry are off-center shafts parallel to the tank walls (eccentric mixers),
or angled toward the center as is the case with most portable mixers. |
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Example of a top entry mixer on a
vertical tank. |
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Illustration by P. Csiszar |
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Cylindrical tanks
Most common form of mixing vessel or chemical reactor in all of the
process industries. If nothing else is mentioned about a mixing
tank, most likely a metal vertical cylindrical tank is considered, fully
baffled. There are several types of heads on cylindrical
tanks.
 | ASME dish: Standard and many variants |
| Semi-elliptical dish |
| Spherical |
| Conical head |
| Flat |
Here is an example of a glass-lined vertical tank that has been
cut-out to show the interior. It has a C-baffle
and a pH-probe and 3 impellers all made of glass-lined steel. |
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Example of a top entry mixer on a
glass-lined vertical tank. |
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Courtesy of
Jürgen
Reinemuth |
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Square tanks
Often square tanks are used based on materials of construction and
expense. Square tanks are often cheaper to build than cylindrical
tanks. They are common in phosphoric acid production, waste water
treatment, and older mineral solvent extraction plants. Often
people erroneously assume that because the walls are square, baffles are
not needed. This is true for up to about 0.5 Hp/1000 gallons or
0.1 kW/m3. Above that and you need baffles to stop the
swirl.
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Example of a square tank made of cement
for a copper solvent extraction process. Click on the image for a
better view. |
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Vertical tanks with side-entry mixers
Another common mixer mounting practice is called side entering
mixing. Here the mixer is mounted on the tank walls, mostly near the
base of the tank. The petroleum and flood oil industry uses many of
these, typically with just one mixer per tank. Flue Gas
Desulfurization (FGD) often has 3 or more mixers per tank, either located
all on one side (cluster arrangement) or evenly spaced around the tank
perimeter (symmetrical arrangement). Side entry mixers can also be
used in waste water treatment. They are typically found in large
volume squat tanks, where top entry would be impractical. |
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Examples of a side-entry mixer and orientation rules
for the mounting of side-entry mixers on a tank as a function of the
number of mixers. Click on any picture to get a better view. |
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Courtesy of Philadelphia
Mixers |
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| Horizontal tanks
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still looking for a picture here
If
you would like to see yours here with links to your site or to your
email address please let us know. |
Cylindrical tanks are most common with dished heads. They are
commonly under pressure. In the mining industry they call these types
of vessels autoclaves. Autoclave reactors often have chambers
inside of the tank, each having one to three agitators, so that this continuous
process mixer behaves as several continuous stirred tank reactors
(CSTR) in series. These types of vessels can also be found
skid-mounted or on a trailer and pulled or transported by trucks. |
