Gericke, Regensdorf, Switzerland, reports that where different powders need to be blended – sometimes with the addition of liquids – continuous mixers are increasingly being used in preference to batch mixers which have traditionally been employed for this type of application. Typical examples include: addition of vitamins to foods, mixing of a range of components for the manufacture of detergents, production of chemical products, and mixing of various raw materials in the manufacture of coatings. Indeed, if the number of ingredients does not exceed seven or eight and if the recipes are stable over time, a continuous process offers several major advantages according to Gericke.

 

Firstly the volume of the mixer is greatly reduced: a few tens of litres suffice to mix several tonnes per hour. Consequently, the installed electric power required for such flows does not exceed 2-3kW. If the operation downstream of the mixer is continuous, for example a packaging line, the product exiting the mixer does not need to pass through a buffer volume, which eliminates the risk of segregation. The low speed of the continuous mixer combined with a mean dwell time in the mixer that does not exceed 60s, ensures gentle blending of the products. It is possible to process volumes from a few kilograms per hour to several tens of tonnes per hour. www.gericke.net 

 

 

Mixing chamber of a Gericke GCM continuous mixer