Mixing 101: Baffled by Baffles?
Mixing 101: Baffled by Baffles? How Baffle Configuration Can Optimize Industrial Mixing In our previous posting on configuring your mixer, we learned that the tank type and volume, viscosity, specific gravity and the process are key factors the mixing process. In this article, we dive into how baffle configuration and mixer mounting can prevent the undesirable flow pattern of swirling. Let’s look at a common tank configuration: an un-baffled cylindrical tank. If a mixer is center-mounted in this tank, what we see is a very inefficient flow pattern: the tangential velocities coming from the impeller cause the entire fluid mass to spin (Fig. 1). Basically, the entire fluid (and its solids) moves like a merry-go-round. In solid suspension applications, the solid
