Making and suspension capabilities of vibratory agitators in a slab tank

Seven different vibratory agitators, consisting of single and dual flat blade configurations or dual angle blade configurations, were studied for their ability to produce mixing and solid suspension in a slab tank. The mixing behavior of the various configurations was recorded on video tape, and mixing times were measured as the time needed to disperse injected dye. The solid suspension tests, using ash tray sand, were conducted to determine the minimum stroke frequency of the agitators needed for complete off-bottom suspension. The mixing studies demonstrated that vibratory agitation produced strong vertical fluid motion, good bulk circulation and dispersion in the liquid. The effects of stroke frequency, n; amplitude, a; blade width, w; blade clearance, c; and liquid depth, h, on mixing time, {theta}, were studied. Single blade geometries produced complete mixing in the least number of strokes. The most effective geometry, in terms of both mixing and solid suspension, was a single flat blade with minimum off-bottom clearance and a blade width/tank thickness ratio, w/T, of 0.74 at the maximum stroke amplitude of 51 mm