Lödige Builds Smallest Mixer in its History

Lödige Process Technology has built the smallest machine in its company history in order to meet the highly specialized demands of the high-containment segment. The Ploughshare L 1 laboratory mixer has a drum volume of only one liter.

What led to this new development was an enquiry by a customer that was looking for a process engineering solution for exceptionally challenging dry mixtures for its development lab. As powdered substances such as these can be highly sensitive, extremely expensive, or even hazardous to health and the environment, the only suitable solution was a contained process in a gas-tight container, also referred to as a “glovebox.” That means the mixer can only be operated and serviced within a glass safety housing using integrated gloves.

For this reason, the machine must be designed to meet special requirements, and the mini-mixer meets all of them. Thanks to its small drum and an angle drive, it is compact. At the same time, it is consistently easy to operate. All components are easy to remove, meaning that particularly wear parts that must be inserted into the glovebox through an airlock, are easy to replace and reinstall.

The compact Ploughshare laboratory mixer is a special addition to the L series, which is Lödige’s lab range for small batches. These machines are designed for development and small batch production and are available in several sizes with drum volumes generally ranging from 5 to 50 l. The L series laboratory mixers cover a wide range of applications in product and process development. In particular, they permit processing of powdered, grainy, and fibrous components, addition of liquids for moistening, granulation, and coating, processing of fragile substances without destroying their structure and mixing in of greases, lecithins, and similar substances.

Like other Ploughshare batch mixers, the laboratory mixers use the mixing and fluidization process introduced to industrial mixing systems by Lödige. This process involves the generation of a fluidized bed.

Gebr. Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH, Paderborn, Germany +49-5251-309-283 www.loedige.de