Optimization of Stirrer Configuration in a Tank

Funded by Volkswagen Foundation, 2002-2005

Coordinators:

1. Bülent Karasözen (Department of Mathematics & Institute of Applied Mathematics, Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
2. Michael Schäfer (Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Technology Darmstadt, Germany)

Researchers:

1. Haluk Aksel (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
2. G. Karakaş (Department of Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
3. Ömür Uğur (Institute of Applied Mathematics, Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
4. Yusuf Uludağ (Department of Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey)
5. Kerim Yapıcı (Department of Chemical Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Turkey)

Abstract

Mixing of fluids in stirred tanks, being one of the oldest of unit operations, is commonly used by chemical, biotechnological, pharmaceutical, food processing etc. industries. In the view of the fact that the geometrical configuration of the tank and impeller type varies depending on the kind of operation that is going to be carried out, it is an awkward task to select the most suitable tank for the process to reach the desired product quality. The main objective of the project is to develop and apply a numerical optimization tool to determine the optimum configuration parameters of stirrer configurations.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, derivative-free optimization, energy, numerical optimization, parallel computing