Experimentally validated CFD simulations of multi-component hydrodynamics and phase distribution in agitated high solid fraction binary suspensions

The mixing of dense (5-40 wt%) binary mixtures of glass particles in water has been studied in a stirred vessel at the ‘just-suspended’ speed and at speeds above it, using an Eulerian-Eulerian CFD model. For each phase component, numerical predictions are compared to 3-D distributions of local velocity components and solid concentration measured by an accurate technique of positron emission particle tracking. For the first time, it has been possible to conduct such a detailed ‘pointwise’ validation of a CFD model within opaque dense multi-component slurries of this type. Predictions of flow number and mean velocity profiles of all phase components are generally excellent. The spatial solids distribution is well predicted except near the base of the vessel and underneath the agitator where it is largely overestimated; however, predictions improve significantly with increasing solid concentration. Other phenomena and parameters such as particle slip velocities and homogeneity of suspension are analysed.