3-DIMENSIONAL TURBULENT-FLOW IN AGITATED VESSELS WITH A NONISOTROPIC VISCOSITY TURBULENCE MODEL

Solutions of the time‐averaged equations of motion with a nonisotropic k‐e model were developed for the three‐dimensional turbulent flow field in turbine stirred tanks. These results were validated with the measurements of three velocity components with a hot wire anemometer and literature data. The nonisotropic turbulence model considered the rotation and curvature effect of the turbulence with a turbulent Richardson number term and accounted for the important three‐dimensional effects through the nonisotropy of the viscosity. Also, it was found that a frequently used isotropic k‐ϵ turbulence model did not describe this three‐dimensional turbulent flow field. Copyright © 1990 Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering