Abstract:In order to improve the solid-liquid suspension performance, by replacing the standard flat-plate (FP) baffle with the semi-circular tube, the semi-circular-tubular (SCT) baffled stirred tank was designed. Numerical simulations and experimental measurements of the sand-liquid mixing in the standard Rushton impeller stirred tank were carried out. Suspension performance, sand concentration distribution characteristics and power consumption were studied and compared with their counterparts in the FP baffled stirred tank. The results show that, when agitated at the same impeller rotation speed, the SCT baffle can improve the suspension performance, especially when the solid loading is low (5%). Overall, in the SCT baffled stirred tank, the sand concentration distributions are homogenous than those in the standard FP baffled stirred tank. Besides, for the standard Rushton impeller rotating in the SCT baffled stirred tank, the power number is about 13% lower than that in the FP baffled stirred tank. This indicates that the SCT baffle is more energy-saving. The findings obtained in this work lay a foundation for the industrial application of the SCT baffle.