Rushton turbine
The Rushton turbine or Rushton disc turbine is a radial flow impeller used for many mixing applications in process engineering and was invented by John Henry Rushton. The design is based on a flat horizontal disk, with flat, vertically mounted blades that are usually six or eight in number. Recent innovations include the use of concave or semi-circular blades.
It is preferred in the fermentation and bioprocessing industries, because it can very efficiently facilitate gas dispersion, and it can create independent large-scale circulation loops for better homogenisation. This is because it can effectively handle non-Newtonian fluids, such as solid suspensions. In these cases, the diameter of the turbine is usually between a third to half of that of the cylindrical tank.