What Is a Liquid Mixer?
Mixing is a process in which liquids are combined to form a homogeneous mixture. The liquid mixer is a machine that is used for this purpose.
This mixing process is commonly conducted to combine liquids, solids, and gases for chemical reactions such as hydrogenation or fermentation. This process is also used to create suspensions, which are immiscible combinations of solid reagents and liquid media.
Continuous Liquid Mixing
Continuous mixers allow for a continual flow of mixed liquids and eliminate the need for tank filling/emptying. This can increase your production rates since you do not need to wait between each batch of mixing. It also allows you to mix multiple different products with each other without changing the formulation (ie: a textile mill can use continuous blending to ensure that dye lots remain identical).
The most important thing to consider in continuous mixing is the amount of time the product spends in the mixer, known as residence time. The optimum residence time can vary depending on the application, such as how much liquid is added to the system, and how viscous the liquid is.
Another consideration in continuous blending is the mixing intensity needed for the process. This varies from low shear to simulate manual stirring, up to high shear dispersing and homogenizing. Our patented inline continuous solid-liquid mixer from IKA is perfect for these applications. Its two-stage design allows for both gentle pumping and high shear dispersing.
The first stage uses a Smith turbine or Rushton turbine to transport powders and granulates into the mixer and create turbulent eddies that help suspend them in the liquid phase. This is especially necessary for a gas-solid reaction, where the gases and solid catalyst particles must be well-distributed in the liquid medium to function.
High-Viscosity Liquid Mixing
When mixing high-viscosity materials, engineers need to understand the complex rheologies and agitation forces involved. Getting the best results for these types of applications requires careful selection of the right mixer equipment and knowledge of how to operate it effectively. This is because a single batch of mixed liquid can have an impact on the stability, durability and performance of the final product.
In low-viscosity mixtures, such as water or milk, achieving homogeneity is relatively straightforward because the liquid flows easily compared to its own resistance to movement (measured in centipoise). liquid mixer However, when it comes to combining and dispersing higher viscous ingredients, including pastes and dispersions made up of solids in a liquid matrix, it’s far more difficult to get good mixing results.
As a result, shear rates in these types of mixes are typically lower than in less-viscous products because shear is a function of both mixer blade speed and the liquid viscosity. However, shear alone won’t achieve uniform blending because high-viscosity products are also non-Newtonian and exhibit thixotropic or rheopectic behaviors.
Mixing a high-viscosity product requires the use of a specialist mixer with an impeller designed to handle the challenge. This is because high-viscosity materials are more dense and have a higher resistance to rotational force than low-viscosity liquids. The result is that conventional mixers struggle to apply enough shear to reduce the liquid’s viscosity in a short period of time. High-viscosity mixers are designed with broad and aggressive impeller blade designs to maximise the surface area in contact with the liquid to overcome this resistance.
Low-Viscosity Liquid Mixing
The vast majority of industrial mixing applications involve low-viscosity liquids that flow easily when agitated and continue to flow after the agitation ceases. However, many companies work with mixtures that contain both high- and low-viscosity components – or mixtures of different viscosities. This type of blending is much more challenging and requires more sophisticated mixing equipment.
A new technology called ResonantAcoustic Mixing (RAM) enables the rapid mixing of highly-viscous materials that are composed of solid particles suspended in a liquid matrix. RAM delivers wetting, incorporation and widespread mixing across the entire material matrix – all at rates no traditional mechanical mixer can achieve.
The secret to RAM’s success lies in a fundamental fluid dynamics concept known as the Reynolds number. The higher a substance’s Reynolds number, the more it will experience turbulent flow and intense mixing. As a substance’s Reynolds number decreases, it experiences laminar flow and less intense mixing.
The RAM device utilizes a pump 3 that supplies the high-viscosity fluid to a main line 2a and an auxiliary line 2b. Auxiliary line 2b includes a pipe section 23 that forms a knee-shaped bend and a feed nozzle 40 used to introduce the lower-viscosity additive to the mixture. The tip 41 of feed nozzle 40 is positioned essentially transverse to the direction of shearing of the high-viscosity fluid flowing through auxiliary mixer 5. This allows the thinner additive to enter the thicker mixture through a physical process called “viscous fingering.” As the thinner liquid pours into the thicker mixture, it creates fingers of the thinner liquid that penetrate into the thicker fluid.
Optimum Blending
A great blender does a lot more than just puree ice, smoothies and other liquids. It can even knead dough, bake cakes and steam vegetables. The Optimum G2.6 – Platinum Series Vortex Blender does all of this and more with the touch of a button. It automatically adjusts its initial speed to match the thickness of what is being blended. Its powerful motor can also make delicious, preservative-free nut butters in under 10 minutes.
It is incredibly easy to clean, Packaging Machinery Supplier too. It comes with a set of two, 32-ounce cups that are big enough for hearty servings. They have convenient, slip-on handles and flip-top lids for on-the-go drinking and snacking.
Optimum is a globally-respected appliance brand that designs, tests and manufactures premium quality blenders. They use only the best parts, sourced from third-party manufacturers who have decades-long reputations for quality. They are incredibly durable, too. During our testing, we smashed a few of them with a hammer, ran one over with a car and dropped a few others from ten feet up, all to evaluate how they held up to the test of time. The results are in: they all perform well and are designed to last for many years. They are the ideal choice for anyone who wants to create healthy meals and snacks quickly and easily.
