Measuring Mixing Time in the Agitation of Non-Newtonian Fluids through Electrical Resistance Tomography

Electrical resistance tomography (ERT), which is a non-Invasive and robust measurement technique, was employed to visualize, in three dimensions, the concentration field inside a cylindrical mixing vessel equipped with a radial-flow Scaba 6SRGT impeller. The ability of ERT to work in opaque fluids makes this technique very attractive from an industrial perspective. An ERT system with a 4-plane assembly of peripheral sensing rings, each containing 16 electrodes, was used to measure the mixing time in agitation of xanthan gum solution which is a pseudoplastic fluid with yield stress. An image reconstruction algorithm was used to generate images of the tracer distribution within the sensing zone. In this study, the effect of impeller speed, fluid rheology, power consumption, and Reynolds number on the mixing time was investigated.