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A preliminary experimental investigation into the air‐lift pumping of shear‐thinning suspensions
Author(s) -
Heywood Nigel I.,
Michalowicz Robert A.,
Charles Michael E.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450590105
Subject(s) - lift (data mining) , materials science , gas compressor , isothermal process , shear thinning , mechanics , raising (metalworking) , composite material , mechanical engineering , engineering , thermodynamics , rheology , physics , metallurgy , computer science , data mining
In a recent article (1) , it has been postulated that the air‐lift principle may be applied to the raising of liquids or suspensions possessing shear‐thinning Theological behaviour, in order that significant reductions in power requirement may be made compared with conventional mechanical pumping. Using a 41 mm i.d. riser, an experimental study of the raising of highly flocculated kaolin suspensions, at volumetric concentrations ranging from 8.1 to 18.4%, has confirmed that power savings are possible, provided that the isothermal efficiency of the compressor for air injection is substantially greater than mechanical pump efficiencies. Such power savings appear limited to a range of superficial air velocity in the air‐lift riser of 0.25 to 1.25 m.s. −1 , and to suspensions containing a relatively high volumetric fraction of flocculated solids.