Speaker

Steve Drury, Sharpe Mixers

Date 

***TUESDAY***, October 10, 2000

Time

Program

Bench top to full scale using computational fluid dynamics

The most common non-Newtonian fluids (fluids where the viscosity is dependent on the shear rate) are ones where increasing shear rates decrease the viscosity. These are known as pseudoplastic or shear thinning. Examples of these are paints, emulsions, slurries and many food products such as catsup.

Shear thinning fluids represent a special challenge to the mixer designer because the viscosity at the impeller will be much lower than elsewhere in the tank. If this property is not accounted for the mixer will not be able to develop the required power and the mixer will fail to meet the process requirements.

Until recently the most successful design techniques were to copy success (which is impossible to do with a new product/process), do a number of bench and pilot scale tests and develop correlation’s that can be used for scale up (costly and time consuming) or over design (not a very competitive approach and not always successful).

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has now reached the point where a desktop P.C. can run a model of the agitator and predict reliable full-scale results.

The presentation will use a case history of an agitator for a polymer reactor that was designed and built using lab data, CFD and Sharpe Mixers Q1 mechanical design software to demonstrate the cost and time savings using these tools.

The CFD software used for this project is AEA Technology’s CFX-ProMixus. Representatives of AEA will also be at the meeting to address questions and inquiries about their fluid modeling software and consulting services.

This presentation will be of special interest to those interested in computer modeling of fluid flow, process development or equipment design.

Steve Drury is the Director of Applications for Sharpe Mixers and has been with Sharpe since 1993. Sharpe Mixers designs and manufactures agitation equipment for a broad spectrum of industries, including the CPI, water treatment, food, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper.

Steve’s interest in chemical engineering started when he worked as a laboratory technician at the old Monsanto vanillin plant on East Marginal Way. After graduation from the University of California in Berkeley he worked for UOP (Des Plaines, IL) starting up and trouble shooting various petroleum refinery processes designed by UOP. Since returning to the Puget Sound area Steve has worked for Anvil in Bellingham as a process engineer, at Boeing’s Renton facility working on waste reduction and wastewater processing and permitting. He has also spent a good part of his career in developing; designing and operating processes to recycle and reclaim solvents, motor oil and anti freeze.

Steve is a past chairman of the Puget Sound section, a member of TAPPI and a registered engineer in Washington.

Location

Rock Salt Steak House

1232 Westlake Ave N, Seattle, WA Tel: (206) 284-1048

Direction

VIA I-5: Take the Mercer Street/ Seattle Center exit number 167. Turn right onto Fairview Ave N. Turn left onto Valley Street. Turn right onto Westlake Ave N. Proceed for about half a mile and Rock salt is on the lakeside of Westlake Ave N.

Cost

$22.50

Menu

Menu: 

1. Chicken Riesling, breast of chicken with Riesling Wine and a mushroom cream sauce served with pasta.

2. Beef Stroganoff over noodles.

Each dish is served with green salad, fresh vegetables, coffee, tea, bread and butter.

NOTES

1.  Please pay by check made out to Puget Sound Section AIChE, or bring exact change.

2.  For reservations:  

3. You can cancel by calling by noon of the day of the meeting. Dinner reservations "no-shows" will be billed !!