Novel Close-Clearance Impeller Structure for Solid–Liquid Mixing at Low Reynolds Numbers Based on the Paravisc Impeller

This paper presents an enhancement for Paravisc impellers, commonly used for low-Reynolds-number solid–liquid mixing. The design of the new impellers is based on chaos theory and presents an asymmetrically curved structure. Two new impellers, PVS and PVW, are designed, and their multiphase mixing processes are simulated using CFD–DEM models. The new impellers were found to be more advantageous for particle dispersion and suspension at low Reynolds numbers (Re= 92). The PVW was observed to suspend 70.2% more particles than PV under the simulated conditions, and the energy spent on suspending particles was reduced by 36.9%. The change in distance of particle pairs in the flow field is quantified, resulting in an increase of 76.8% in the particle mixing efficiency of PVW. This indicates a more homogeneous dispersion of solid-phase particles in the flow field.