Mixing & Blending Spotlight - June 08

Pneumatic Blending Systems
Pneumatic blending is a quick, clean, and efficient method for obtaining homogenous batches of powdered, granular, or abrasive materials in transporters, atmospheric bins, or storage silos. These pneumatic blenders are equipped with 6 or 12 wear-resistant aerators mounted around a housing cone. The aerators inject gentle blasts of compressed air into the center of an unblended batch at various angles to gently lift the materials upward and outward until the blending target is achieved. Built with few moving parts, the blenders have long service lives and require minimal maintenance.
Nol-Tec Systems Inc., Lino Lakes, MN 651-780-8600 www.nol-tec.com

Sanitary Lab Batch Mixer
This 15-cu-ft custom-designed paddle-style mixer is ideal for blending granulated materials. It comes equipped with an electric-actuated tilting tub, which provides 120° of rotation from vertical and offers an infinite number of positions through the range of rotation. The chopper motor and drive motor are disabled once the tub begins to tilt. As a sanitary batch mixer, the design meets FDA quality standards. It includes a high-speed chopper for controlled, high-shear mixing and comes equipped with a liquid-spray manifold to incorporate both solids and liquids. Added electric control features include timers, an ammeter, and an alarm system. This operator-friendly mixer is ideal for custom variations in batch blending.
Marion Mixers, Marion, IA 800-397-6371 www.marionmixers.com

Horizontal Blenders
This company offers two 900-cu-ft horizontal blenders for export to China. Each mixer is 9 ft wide × 9 ft 2 in. tall × 25 ft long with 125-hp direct-connected drives. Multipitch agitators blend granular polypropylene with additives to customers’ exact mixing requirements. Accessories furnished with each blender include a temperature gauge, a temperature transmitter, and four 15,000-lb-capacity load cells, all of which are prewired to a local control panel with a hand switch and a weight indicator.
Young Industries Inc., Muncy, PA 800-546-3165 www.younginds.com

Jacketed Rotary Batch Mixer
This 3-A- and USDA-compliant jacketed rotary batch mixer blends batches of ingredients in parts down to one per million. It gently tumbles, turns, and folds material while achieving 100% uniformity in 2 or 3 minutes, regardless of disparities in bulk densities, particle sizes, or flow characteristics. The unit can be piped to a chiller to prevent heat-sensitive products from agglomerating, clumping, degrading, smearing, or sticking, or it can be connected to an in-plant steam, hot-water, or hot-oil system to maintain elevated material temperatures during processing. The unit evacuates 100% of the batch and sanitizes rapidly without tools. Models from 10 to 600 cu ft are available.
Munson Machinery Company, Inc., Utica, NY 800-944-6644 www.munsonmachinery.com

Continuous Mixer
This continuous mixer is available for blend capacities down to 1 t or less per hour for powders, slurries, or liquid ingredients. Recent inquiries from the food and specialty-chemical industries confirm the growing interest in continuous blending. The MCD-4 and Mini-Blend models occupy an overall floor space of only 12 × 65 in. and have a capacity range of up to 2500 lb/hr based on medium-level bulk-density materials. A variety of options are available, including construction materials and finishes such as carbon steel, high-polish 400-grit stainless steel, and other alloys.
S. Howes Inc., Silver Creek, NY 716-934-2611 www.showes.com

Air Blender
The Blendcon air blender is a fast, efficient blender for mixing large batches of dry bulk materials. It can typically blend a 300-cu-ft batch in just 4 minutes and can handle batches up to 200 tons in capacity. By producing large, consistent, homogeneous batches, the blender simplifies material handling and quality control while increasing productivity. It uses available plant compressed air to provide rapid, homogeneous blends and can be installed on an existing or customer-supplied silo. It can be ordered with a standard silo or custom-designed silo to suit specific applications.
Dynamic Air Inc., St. Paul, MN 651-484-2900 www.dynamicair.com

Custom-Manufactured Agitation Systems
These custom-manufactured agitation systems are designed specifically for customers’ current equipment, even used equipment or another vessel manufacturer’s equipment. Applications and design engineers assist users in choosing and custom designing the right agitation systems to meet their needs. Field-service crews are available to install equipment.
Process Systems & Equipment, Division of Lee Industries Inc., Philipsburg, PA 814-342-0470 www.leeind.com

Integrated Powder Feed and High-Speed Blending Systems
The LiquiShear provides the processing power of a bottom-entry high-speed blender with an optional integrated powder induction system. The basic blending module is a heavier-duty, higher-quality, and more powerful blender than conventional liquid processors. An optional powder induction and conveying system conveniently and ergonomically feeds powders, solids, and semisolids into a floor-level hopper to transfer ingredients into the blender. With powder feed rates up to 200 lb/min, users can shorten processing times and incorporate most dry solids or powders into liquids for blending, dispersing, deagglomerating, reconstituting, and reworking in 3 to 5 minutes.
Admix Inc., Manchester, NH 800-466-2369 www.admix.com

Vibrating Blender
The Vibra blender employs the principle of controlled vibration to “fluidize” dry materials for rapid dispersion and continuous, high-speed blending of solids. With extremely low power requirements and minimal particle degradation, the unit approaches the efficiency of a batch blender. Three modes are available with rates up to 1200 cu ft/hr.
Vibra Screw Inc., Totowa, NJ 973-256-7410 www.vibrascrewinc.com

Cantilever Design Mixers
Gardner mixers and blenders feature an easy-clean cantilever shaft. Available in various designs with a choice of a plough, paddle, or interrupted-spiral agitator, the large top and end door allow for trouble-free cleaning and inspection. Completely contained mixing media provide a hygienic environment for dry, semidry, or moist powder applications.
Kemutec Powder Technologies, Bristol, PA 215-788-8013 www.kemutec.com

Horizontal Mixer
The newly designed horizontal Ploughshare mixer is easy to clean. The full-access door across the front of the unit provides open access to perform frequent cleaning operations. The new easy-clean design is available on batch or continuous mixers. The system provides benefits to manufacturers who are concerned with cross-contamination from batch to batch from allergens, flavors, colors, and formula changes.
Littleford Day Inc., Florence, KY 800-365-8555 www.littleford.com

Conical Screw Blender
The Saturn conical screw blender is used for mixing and blending powders. The unit is available in carbon steel, varying grades of stainless steel, and other exotic alloys. Sizes are available from 2 to 2650 cu ft. The blender’s tapered screw is more efficient than a straight screw. This design reduces the unit’s total overall height, decreases blending times, and improves mixer efficiency.
Jaygo Inc., Union, NJ 908-688-3600 www.jaygoinc.com

Lab and Pilot Plant Systems
Reactron systems can be used in lab, pilot plant, and production environments for reactions requiring simultaneous mixing, dispersing, or homogenization. The systems are complete processing plants, with working volumes from less than 1 L up to several thousand liters, including all the necessary processing vessels, stirrers, pumps, piping, and connections. Control of the various processes can be manual, semiautomatic, or fully automatic. A key component of the system is either the Polytron batch or Megatron in-line processing disperser, or a combination of both. Each Reactron is designed and manufactured according to customer and product specifications. Among the systems’ many applications are the formulation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic lotions and creams, dispersion and suspension of solids or additives in liquid media, production of dairy products, and polymerization reactions.
Kinematica Inc., Bohemia, NY 631-750-6653 www.kinematica-inc.com