Viscosity Paste Mixer, Viscosity Mixer, High Viscosity Mixers
In the mixing process, two vertically mounted mixing tools rotate around a common sun gear. In addition, they rotate at a higher speed around their own axes, according to the planetary principle. A swinging type scraper continually sweeps the inside wall, transporting material from the walls of the vessel to the mixing tools, and transferring the heat efficiently.
High Viscosity Mixers, Batch Mixers, Homogenizers, Powder/Liquid Mixers, Food Mixers, Hygienic Mixers. Applications that benefit from using APPLEPACK Mixing equipment in the Food, Chemical, Cosmetics and Pharmaceutical Industries.
Mixing machine with mixing percentages/ratios that can be electronically set via HMI touch screen display. These static mixers are ideal for products such as adhesives, silicone sealants (silicone), acrylic sealants, polyurethane sealants, glues, putties, mastics, etc
PRODUCT APPLICATIONS
- Epoxies Mixer – multi component reactive mixtures used in the electronics, medical, marine, adhesive/sealant, semiconductor and fiber optics industries. APPLEPACK mixers are used to add fillers, viscosity reducers, colorants, thickeners, accelerators, adhesion promoters, etc.
- Hot Melts Mixer – this thermoplastic adhesive is commonly sold in solid sticks designed to melt in special application tools. Our mixers are used for low and high viscosity materials and are often supplied to extrude the hot melt into a final form.
- Latex Sealants Mixer – typically used for filling holes in wood, as a firestopping material, padding of electrical outlet boxes, glass glazing etc. Ultra high viscosity mixtures under vacuum operating conditions are possible using APPLEPACK mixers and controlled shear rates.
- UV & Light Activated Adhesives Mixer – UV & light cured – activated adhesives for bonding, sealing and coating applications are produced on APPLEPACK mixers and used for automotive, medical, dental and general industrial applications.
- Pipe Joint Compounds Mixer – used for sealing metal or plastic pipe joints and fittings. These compounds can be either low viscosity solutions of plastic or high viscosity non-flowing materials.
- Polybutene Emulsions Mixer – applications for these emulsions are wide ranging and include lubricants, sealants and adhesives, coatings, polymer modification, personal care products and more. Because of the big range of applications a wide variety of variable shear mixers and dispersers are used for this application.
- Polyurethanes Mixer – polyurethane formulations cover a wide range of stiffness, hardness, and densities. These materials include flexible foam , rigid foam used for thermal insulation, soft solid elastomers used for gel pads and print rollers, and hard solid plastics used as electronic instrument bezels and structural parts. APPLEPACK mixers offer a APEtility including vacuum, jacketing for temperature control and multiple speeds when manufacturing these end products.
- Rubber Cements and Adhesives Mixer – rubber cements are commonly used for applications to easily peel or rub off without damaging the substrate or leaving any trace of adhesive behind. They are ideal for use with photographs and specialty papers and as cements to secure laminates. APPLEPACK mixers easily dissolve at high speed the polymers used in the carrier solvent.
- Silicones Mixer – silicones are used for a variety of applications and in a very diversified industrial mix. The product consistencies are broad thus many different mixers and blenders are used in the manufacturing process. Common end products include sealants, gasketing compounds, mold making materials, electronic encapsulants, breast implants and personal care products.
- Carbopol Gels Mixer – Carbopol resins are a family of water-soluble acrylic acid polymers, available in dry white powder form. It is used in many applications as a thickening agent producing a wide range of viscosities to suspend insoluble ingredients and to stabilize emulsions. Applications in the cosmetic industry include hand and body lotions, sunscreens, skin cleansers, moisturizing creams, shampoo, medicated gels and other personal care products. Although laboratory scale batches of Carbopol Solution can easily be made using bench type agitators, large-scale production of these thickened solutions can present problems. If the white Carbopol powder is not sifted very carefully into a typical agitated vessel, the Carbopol can clump together. The clumps solvate to form a tough outer layer, which prevents complete wetting of the interior polymer particles. This can result in solution defects such as grainy texture, reduced viscosity, or the presence of insoluble particles resembling “fish eyes”. The high shear conditions usually needed to break up these agglomerations can also shear the hydrated polymers and result in a permanent viscosity loss. The APPLEPACK APEMix has been extremely successful at producing consistent, high quality Carbopol formulations. In addition, the APPLEPACK SLIM System, used by itself or in combination with the APPLEPACK APEMix is a practical solution to preventing fisheye formation.
- Lipsticks Mixer – One the largest cosmetics manufacturers in the world standardizes on APPLEPACK Three Roll Mills for their diverse line of lipstick products.
- Powder Foundations Mixer – The APPLEPACK Power Mix equipped with a planetary stirrer and four-blade chopper has been tested to thoroughly coat talc powder and titanium dioxide with a blend of water and silicone. These materials are used in the cosmetic industry for powder foundations and sunscreen coatings. The customer’s pony mixer displayed inadequate coverage of both the titanium and talc. Problems were experienced with material clinging to mix can sidewalls and unprocessed material at the bottom of the mix vessel. The Power Mix’s planetary mixing action and shearing capabilities solved these problems.
- Skincare Creams Mixer – The Ultra-High Shear Mixer is utilized in various cosmetic plants for final grinding of creams. Product coming out of large mix tanks is passed once through the APE-Series to obtain the desired smoothness and optimal particle size.
- Toothpaste Mixer – APPLEPACK High Speed Dispersers, High Shear Mixers and Double Planetary Mixers are widely used in the manufacture of toothpastes – from preparation of low-viscosity intermediates to the final paste product.
- Wax Emulsions Mixer – Wax emulsions serve as a solubilizer in skin cleaning products or as a gloss modifier in hair care and styling products. Waxes also stabilize the shape of decorative pencils or sticks and adjust the viscosity of creamy products. The APPLEPACK line of High Shear and Ultra-High Shear Mixers, available in batch and inline configurations, are an excellent choice for the preparation of wax emulsions.
- Cheesecake Formulations Mixer – Mixing butter and cheese until a smooth, lump-free, creamy consistency is achieved without “breaking up” the butter, over-beating the cream cheese or over-heating the mixture is the key to success.
- Candy and Confectionary Products Mixer – The APPLEPACK APE Mix is the new choice for candy and confectionary manufacturers. This highly viscous application was previously made using double arm sigma blade mixers. However, gum dispersion can be inadequate resulting to fisheyes and lumps in the finished product. Several lab tests have confirmed that the APE Mix can properly disperse these gums and create a smoother, better-quality product. Conventional propeller or turbine mixers simply cannot achieve the same level of dispersion, nor could they handle this tough mixing application.
- Dry Solid Blends Mixer – The food industry is the main end user of most APPLEPACK Ribbon Blenders. Common applications include coffee, spices, food coloring, flour, sugar, cake and bread mixes, frozen vegetables, salsa mixes, snack foods and tea blends.
- Gums Mixer – APPLEPACK Kneader Extruders are appropriate equipment for processing chewing gums and other extremely viscous food products.
- Juices Mixer – Fortified milk and juices are prepared in APPLEPACK Sanitary High Shear Mixers.
- Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Dressings Mixer – APPLEPACK Ultra-High Shear Mixers are great alternatives to expensive and high-maintenance high pressure homogenizers when it comes to preparing fine food emulsions and dispersions as in salad dressings, mustard sauce, ketchup, etc.
- Pet Foods Mixer – APPLEPACK Blenders are also commonly used for making pet food mixes and animal feeds.
- Syrups Mixer – In various soft drink manufacturing facilities, APPLEPACK High Shear Mixers are successfully being used for dissolving preservatives and artificial sweeteners into water. Previously, propeller mixers were being used which were not able to eliminate the lumps formed by the preservative and sweetener.
- Sauces Mixer – A major supplier of pizza sauce utilizes a APPLEPACK Dual Shaft Mixer with Anchor and Disperser to blend large volumes of tomato paste with water, salt and spices.
- Meats and Seafood Mixer – The APPLEPACK Ribbon Blender is being used by a customer to blend fresh shrimp with cocktail sauce. Chopped meats and vegetables may likewise be mixed in a APPLEPACK Paddle Blender.
- Soup Bases Mixer – The gentle blending action of the APPLEPACK Vertical Blender makes it ideal for soups.
- Plant-based proteins Mixer – Various APPLEPACK Mixers and Blenders are employed in the development and production of plant-based meats, milks, cheeses, butters, eggs and other proteins.
- Dry Pet Foods Mixer – Ribbon Blenders with double helical ribbons are used for pet food formulations in the form of flakes, extruded kibbles, soft pellets, and biscuits.
- Wet Pet Foods / Gravies Mixer – High Speed Dispersers and High Shear Mixers are commonly used for manufacturing wet pet foods and purees.
- Chewable medicines Mixer – Granulations and dry powder blends are easily batched in APPLEPACK Double Planetary Mixers and Planetary Dispersers, depending on the product characteristics and shear requirement.
- Gels and pastes for parasite control Mixer – APPLEPACK Multi-Shaft Mixers are ideal for viscous preparations such as gels, pastes, cream and other topical solutions used in deworming and removing parasites from pets and farm animals.
- Liquid supplements Mixer – A wide range of High Shear Mixers and Multi-Shaft Mixers are available for trial testing at the APPLEPACK Test & Development Center and have been proven to efficiently produce emulsions and suspensions, a key step in the manufacture of high-quality liquid form nutritional supplements.
- Antibiotics and vaccines Mixer – APPLEPACK High Shear Mixers and Ultra-High Shear Mixers break down agglomerates, create fine emulsions and yield stable, homogeneous solutions.
- Animal feeds and additives Mixer – Through our selection of Mixers, Dispersers and Blenders — the most comprehensive in the industry — APPLEPACK offers a multifaceted approach to solving processing challenges such as blending solids of different sizes, shapes and densities; thoroughly mixing minor or trace ingredients into a base formula; inline mixing of fluids with very different viscosities; wetting out hydrophobic thickeners; or simultaneous blending, heating and drying in a single vessel.
- Fumed Silica Dispersions Mixer – Manufacturers of paints and coatings benefit from purchasing fumed silica in powder form and preparing the dispersions themselves than ordering silica dispersions for which they absorb higher shipping costs. Depending on the maximum viscosity and final grind, various APPLEPACK Mixing Equipment allow manufactures to create these dispersions in-house.
- Inkjets – in the inkjet industry Mixer, the move away from dye-based inks towards pigments-based inks to deliver products of greater resistance to weathering and exposure to moisture, have also demanded mixing equipment that efficiently grinds pigments with reduced or no downstream milling necessary. Various APPLEPACK high shear mixing devices, including the Premix, have dramatically improved the production of inks for inkjet printers.
- Lithographic Pastes Mixer – high-viscosity pastes composed of oleoresin varnish filled with carbon black are prepared on APPLEPACK Double Planetary Mixer and a Discharge System, economical alternative equipment to sigma blade mixers. Recent developments in mixing equipment and coatings formulations have shown that an investment in high viscosity vacuum premixing can return a larger dividend in productivity than a comparative investment in downstream milling.
- Paints Mixer Various APPLEPACK Mixers are used to disperse pigments and extenders used in paint including Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), Clay, Talc, Silica, Mica, and other coloring or plastic pigments into either water, oil or solvent, along with modifiers and additives.
- Silicone Coatings Mixer – silicon-based substances are used to create coatings and encapsulants for electronics, automobiles, aerospace, medical devices, etc.
- Specialty Inks – metallic/conductive, fluorescent, security, phosphorescent Mixer, and others.
- Standard Printing Inks – web offset ink, sheet-fed ink, soybean-based ink, rubber-based ink, water-based ink, UV ink, laser ink, process ink for color printing, and others.
- Steel Activators – coatings applied to steel prior to plating.
- Abrasives Mixer – products developed to shape and finish surfaces in various applications including woodworking, autobody painting & repair, construction, personal products, etc. Typically, materials used as abrasives are either hard minerals (rated at 7 or above on Mohs scale of mineral hardness) or synthetic stones. Softer minerals like calcium carbonate are used as abrasives, such as “polishing agents” in toothpaste. APPLEPACK Blenders efficiently mix, coat or vacuum dry abrasive powders. Our Multi-Shaft Mixers are suitable for preparing binder solutions for abrasives formulations.
- Asphalts Mixer – Modified asphalt is a blend of asphalt (bitumen) and fillers, such as calcium carbonate, and then modified by a polymer such as SBS rubber (styrenebutadiene-styrene block copolymer) or APP (atactic polypropylene). These polymers are often in pellet or crumb form and require very high shear conditions to soften and dissolve them into the asphalt at temperatures from 350 to 400F. The polymer modification gives the usually brittle asphalt improved mechanical characteristics such as tensile strength, elastic modulus and freeze/thaw stability – all are important factors for road paving applications. The processing of polymer modified asphalt using the APPLEPACK Inline High Shear Mixer has been proven to be successful and is also applicable to other industries such as roofing and gasket manufacture.
- Chlorinated Organics Mixer – key ingredients in a wide variety of end products including paints and coatings, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, aerosols, dry-cleaning agents, degreasing solvents, etc. A APPLEPACK customer offloads chlorinated hydrocarbon slurry from railcars and trucks. During transport some solids settle and agglomerate. The slurry is fed at 10 to 30 gpm to reactors that operate with 1/4″ nozzles. In the past they used centrifugal pumps to offload this slurry. In an attempt to break down the solids, they recirculated the solution through the pumps — obviously a waste of time and energy, and a purpose for which centrifugal pumps are not well suited. The solids still ended up plugging the reactor nozzles. Installation of several APPLEPACK Model HSM-401 Horizontal Inline High Shear Mixers solved the problem. Agglomerates that can potentially clog the reactor nozzles are broken down as they pass through the rotor/stator interface. The presence of chlorine necessitated Hastelloy C materials.
- Coal Suspensions Mixer – In the processing of synfuel, powdered coal is combined with oil that is fed into the furnaces of large power plants. APPLEPACK Inline High Shear Mixers have been proven very effective in this area. Also, our vacuum Double Planetary Mixers are ideal for drying coal and recovering solvents. The dried coal is used for making fire-resistant insulation boards and ablative coatings on aircrafts.
- Epoxy Hardeners Mixer – The building blocks of epoxy adhesives are essentially five: epoxy resins, hardeners, accelerators, fillers and additives. Cure is generally achieved using hardeners (co-polymerization). Hardeners then fall into two big categories: the ones for two-part epoxies which cure at room temperature, and the ones for one-part epoxies which require a form of energy to start the reaction (heat, light etc.). Common hardeners are polyamines, polyamides and polymercaptanes. In terms of performance, each hardener provides specific properties to the product. For example, polymercaptanes are generally used to cure the resin very quickly, polyamines to give high performance and polyamides for good adhesion, flexibility, relative insensitivity to mix ratio, and good health & safety classification. “Five minutes epoxies” which have 3 – 6 minutes of pot life generally contain polymercaptane hardeners. High temperature two-part resins, which are characterized by superior resistance to thermal environments, often contain polyamine adducts. A 1000-gal APPLEPACK APEMix services one of the biggest epoxy hardener production plants in the world.
- Fertilizers – Mixer APPLEPACK Inline High Shear Mixers with Solids/Liquid Injection Manifold (SLIM) are installed and successfully operated in fertilizer production plants for introducing solids into low-viscosity fluids such as induction of silicon dioxide (diatomaceous earth) into phosphoric acid for stripping of fluorine.
- Flotation Reagents Mixer – Flocculants are chemicals that are specifically designed to form agglomerations, usually in an aqueous medium, such as wastewater. When the compound to be removed comes in contact with the flocculent, an agglomeration is formed. The resultant agglomerate can then be filtered and removed from the effluent stream. Two APPLEPACK Inline Mixer Emulsifiers, Model HSM-4100 (100 HP) are in service at a client’s facilities, each producing 3000 gallon batches of polyelectrolyte-based flocculants. The manufacture of polyelectrolyte-based flocculants involves bringing together a 4-constituent aqueous phase with a 3-constituent oil phase. The two phases are introduced to the 3000 gallon tank. The batch is recirculated through the 100 HP mixer emulsifier, until complete – approximate batch time is 2.5 hours. When the batch is finished, the flocculant is again pumped through the Mixer Emulsifier, on its way to a storage vessel. The finished product is shipped to industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities via bulk tankers and also in 55-gallon drums. Application note: Both units referenced in this case history are reportedly working extremely well. They have been operating successfully for over 15 years.
- Lubricant Pastes and Oils Mixer – A manufacturer of oil-based lubricating grease is using asphaltic oil, to which they add organic acids and aluminum isopropoxide powder to thicken the oil into a grease product. Large turbine-agitated vessels were utilized to make this product, however the addition of AIP, which is a dusty solid, created an environmental issue. The APPLEPACK inline SLIM offered them an improved way of introducing the AIP powders into heated asphaltic oil.
- Optical Brighteners Mixer – Cyanuric chloride, C3N3Cl3, is a key ingredient in Optical Brighteners. These find use in the textile industry for intensifying color in cotton and regenerated cellulosic fibers. The effect of optical brighteners is to absorb invisible UV-light and emit visible light primarily in the blue spectral range. Yellow or yellowish substrates appear whiter when more bluish light is emitted. In a customer’s expansion project, a 2,500-gallon APPLEPACK APEMix became the equipment of choice over their existing single shaft turbine-type mixers. The Three Wing Anchor of the APEMix provides mass flow while the High Shear Mixer promotes deagglomeration and dispersion of solids. Lumps 100-200 microns in size must be broken apart. A single-blade mixer is inferior to the APEMix because effective mixing would be confined to certain areas in the tank, especially for large batch volumes such as this one. A colorless crystal with pungent odor, C3N3Cl3 reacts violently with water producing cyanuric acid, hydrochloric acid and heat. Hence, the vessel is insulated and sheathed in stainless steel.
- Precious Metals Mixer – At some point in the manufacture of catalytic converters, a clean out is done whereby products are washed with water. Rinse water is recycled and stored due to the presence of precious metal residue. During storage the metal particles settle. A APPLEPACK High Speed Disperser effectively agitates this soup, keeping the precious metals suspended and dispersed within the rinse water before it is sent to a drier. Metals recovery is critical because these catalysts are very expensive.
- Propellants Mixer – APPLEPACK Planetary Mixers are widely used for making composite propellant pastes and slurries made from solid oxidizers such as ammonium perchlorate or ammonium nitrate, powdered metal fuel such as aluminum, rubber, cellulose, epoxy, and/or other fuel/binder compounds.
- PVB Emulsions Mixer – aqueous polyvinybutyral dispersions are used as decorative, protective or temporary coatings for paper, metal, wood or glass. A sample blend consists of viscous oil plasticizer, surfactant and powdered PVB polymer resin. Suitable equipment for this application are Kneader Extruders and Planetary Mixers.
- Technical Polymers Mixer – One APPLEPACK customer, a multi-billion dollar chemical & pharmaceutical company, uses the Model VM-100 as a mixer/reactor in its R&D efforts to further broaden their range of high-performance polymers and meet the evolving needs of the market. Their resins are vacuum-formed, injection-molded or machined into products designed for a variety of demanding applications. Engineering polymers can be classified into two groups: amorphous and semicrystalline. Amorphous polymers are generally transparent, feature high dimensional stability, good chemical resistance and toughness. Semi-crystalline polymers are usually opaque and exhibit excellent fatigue resistance. Processing of engineering polymers requires high pressure and temperature, tightly sealed mixer/reactor vessels highly resistant to chemical degradation, jackets for optimum heat transfer, and clog-free discharge systems.
- Thermal Transfer Grease Mixer – used as heat transfer material in central processing units of computers, other appliances, and vehicles. A client used to make their greases in single planetary mixers without much efficiency. After addition of each ingredient, it was necessary to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot and the blades. For their formulation, excess heat must be avoided to prevent formation of formaldehyde, an unwanted by-product. Successful lab tests confirmed that the APPLEPACK DPM with HV Blades is very appropriate for this application. The costumer was then able to optimize the packing fraction of the greases.