Non-isothermal mixing of rheologically complex fluids with close-clearance impellers: Effect of natural convection

Transient heat transfer in a mechanically agitated vessel is studied in the case of an anchor and an helical ribbon impeller using Newtonian and shear thinning fluids. Temperature stratification is found more pronounced with the anchor, making this impeller clearly inadequate for heat transfer. The impact of natural convection is evaluated first using the classical Gr/Re² ratio. It is shown that the use of this criterion in viscous mixing is somewhat misleading. A new Grashof number is then proposed to assess the significance of the viscous and buoyancy effects in non-isothermal, non-Newtonian mixing applications. It is shown that the interpretation of this new number is strongly related to the concept of process viscosity.