Effect of some design parameters on the suspension characteristics of a mechanically agitated sand–water slurry system

Suspension characteristics of a slurry system depends, to a large extent, upon the design parameters apart from the process parameters. Lack of data for application in the metallic system prompted the authors to study this transparent modeling using a sand–water slurry system stirred in a cylindrical vessel of 10 cm diameter×20 cm height. In this study, the effect of some important design parameters such as the type of stirrer, angle and shape of blades, direction of rotation of stirrer, number of stages of impeller, baffle condition and the process parameters, namely, power input, rev./min and location of stirrer, etc., were investigated and optimised. This study is expected to help in understanding the suspension characteristics of the solid liquid slurry system used in metallurgical processes such as composite making by the liquid metallurgy technique.