3.2.4. Effect of impeller clearance
The impeller off-bottom clearance plays an important role in the overall flow pattern, which affects directly the mixing time and power consumption. In this work, the effect of impeller clearance on the mixing time with aeration and without aeration is tested for each impeller type. The values of the impeller clearance from the tank bottom for the Rushton impeller are T/ 6, T/4 and T/3 (Fig. 5(a)). The mixing time with aeration decreases as the impeller clearance decreases in the range of T/3 to T/6, which coincides with that in liquid–liquid systems. When the impeller is located at the position of T/6 from the tank bottom, the lower circulation zone in the double loop flow structure is restrained. So only an upper loop exists and the flow pattern tends to be an axial one. The three-phase dispersion circulates in one loop through the impeller region with high turbulence, which makes the mixing much faster. As the clearance from the tank bottom changes from T/6 to T/3, the flow structure of double loops is resumed, the radial flow is strengthened and the mixing time becomes longer. As seen from Fig. 5(b), the value of mixing time is found to increase with the increase of the impeller clearance for HCDT. This is due to the flow patterns of HCDT are similar to that of RDT.