Thesis Abstract

The construction of propeller agitator used for agitating and mixing of low viscous fluid was fabricated in the mechanical workshop of the institute of management and technology Enugu. In the construction, galvanized mild steel was chosen due to its inherent properties. After procurement, the following constructional operations were carried out; working drawing, marking, center punching folding, welding and finally subjected to finishing touched of the mixer which was sand papering and painting for beautification and corrosion resistance. The shape and form of the mixer were from the formulation of the different components which are shaft height 530mm, blade diameter = 280mm, vessel diameter = 315mm, vessel height =, 36mm, length of buffle 300mm. The constructed agitator has a high efficiency when subjected to test comparable to those produced industrially. The estimated rate of rotation in Vpm.   The cost of the mixer is however minimized due to the preferred choice of the raw materials and method of fabrication. Although this approach did not compromise in any form the efficiency of the mixer. It can therefore be used for small scale industries and laboratories.

Thesis Overview

1.0                   INTRODUCTION In unit operation, mixing of two or more substances have posed difficulty in chemical engineering process. Because of the problem encountered during the process. Industrial equipment are being designed from experience rather than the fundamental theory because of the high dependency on the effective mixing of fluids and solids in unit operation process.   The term mixing, is applied in preparation of uniform combination of two or more material, which may differ in degree of homogeneity of mixed material. The product from the process may be homogenous or heterogeneous. In most chemical industries, factories even homes, two or more substances are expected to be properly mixed for a specific purpose. To enhance these process, experimental agitation were developed to serve a broad practical and basic fluid mixing problems. In process operation, he action of agitation enable one to predict the performance of a full equipment or help in establishing more general correlation in fundamental studies. The application of propeller agitator is common in low viscous liquid which is commonly used in confectionary industries, liquid food drinks e.g five-alive, bottled drinks and canned beer. Mixing machine (propeller egitator) is therefore indispensable to humanity and nutrition based industries. However, varied method of material mixing are applicable in some cultural setting to form a homogenous product. There are varieties of mixers, but in selecting a mixer for a purpose, some basic factors are put into consideration such as process requirements, equipment cost, flow properties of the process fluid. The constructional material to achieve high level and the equipment chosen to meet all purpose requirements. A good mixer is however the one which provides a well mixed product at lowest cost. 1.1                   SCOPE AND OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT The scope/objective of constructing a propeller agitator that is versatile in application in small scale, laboratory and domestic purpose which is usually of low viscous fluid.   From literature survey on mixing constructed propeller agitator is not used for continuous process. The components which are shaft blade and the impeller are for effective mixing.