Combined Planetary Mixer Machines for Medium and High Viscosity Products

 

As the chemical industry has developed, mixer technologies have advanced accordingly, necessitating the availability of mixing machines with high performance and robust design. These types of mixers can actually serve a very wide range of products. The design and characteristics of vertical mixers vary depending on viscosity. When the viscosity of a product increases significantly during production, fixed-shaft high-speed mixers cannot adequately mix the product in the mixing vessel, resulting in poor homogeneity of the product. As viscosity increases, mixer selection shifts from left to right as follows: Combined planetary mixers are distinguished from other vertical mixers due to two characteristics. The first and most important is that they have two planetary-type shafts with angled blades on these shafts. These planetary shafts rotate both around their own axes and in a specific orbit within the vessel. Due to the orbital motion of the planetary shafts within the vessel, the planetary blades continuously move through the production charge. The second characteristic is that it has a high-speed shaft, which is a mandatory feature for producing certain formulations. The dispersing blade on the high-speed shaft is very effective in wetting and dispersing powders. In addition to these shafts, the combined planetary mixer machine also has another shaft called a scraper arm, which assists the mixing process by conveying product from the vessel wall toward the center. Only the combined planetary mixer machine can be considered as an alternative to the Z-blade mixer. It should not be forgotten that for producing products with very high viscosity, sometimes the Z-blade mixer machine is the only option. This is because beyond a certain very high viscosity value, the combined planetary mixer machine will also fail to create adequate mixing in the mixing vessel.

The combined planetary mixer machine has four mixing shafts as follows:

• A high-speed dispersing shaft at the very center, • Two planetary shafts on the right and left sides of the high-speed shaft, rotating both on their own axes and orbiting within the vessel, • A scraper arm or shaft for scraping the vessel wall. Sözer Makina combined mixers are preferred for viscosity ranges of 1,500 to 3,000,000 centipoise. With these types of mixers, you can achieve remarkable output in incredibly short timeframes. Single-shaft, speed-adjustable mixers that have been produced for many years and typically serve products with fluid viscosities are used only for mixing and dispersing low to medium viscosity products, with dispersion being the primary requirement and aided by some scraper option. Our SM-type high-speed mixers are designed most efficiently to achieve 19–25 m/sec peripheral speed at the shaft end to enable the mixing impeller to perform the dispersing function. Our combined mixers are machines used for producing products with medium or medium-to-high viscosity. They can be used in all fields where fast-speed dispersion alone is insufficient and where heavy-duty mixing is required to achieve highly homogeneous mixing in short timeframes. Due to their high and heavy-duty mixing capability, they have a wide range of applications. In a sense, they are systems that have reduced the operation of two different machines into one. With Sözer Makina combined mixers, you can easily produce in very short timeframes products such as pigment paste, petrochemical products, insulation and filler materials, putty, paste, sealing products, silicone, mastic, and sealant components. The machine features two or three mixing systems along with a scraping system. Compared to other mixers, the scraper system on these machines has four arms. This allows the vessel edges and bottom to be thoroughly scraped. This significantly reduces the time required for the product to reach the desired consistency. All mixing systems, including the scraper, can operate at adjustable speeds independently of each other. For example, on a three-shaft machine, two high-speed impeller systems mounted one above the other on one shaft can operate in the 100–1,500 rpm range while, completely independently, butterfly mixers one above the other on a second shaft can operate in the 50–700 rpm range. Additionally, the hoe scraper system, which operates independently of the third and the other two shafts, can operate in the 0–20 rpm range using a separate frequency inverter. Equipment on the shaft can be modified according to your requirements. At the same time, all mixing equipment (impellers, butterfly mixers) can be adjusted on the shaft to perform mixing at the desired height. These types of machines have electrohydraulic systems allowing them to raise and lower on their own frame and also feature automatic clamping systems fed from the same hydraulic unit. Specially manufactured vessels for the machine can enter the clamping center thanks to ears located on their sides. All our machines are equipped with safety and warning equipment compliant with work and occupational safety standards within the ISO framework. Products produced on these machines generally need to be mixed under vacuum or remain under vacuum during the final 10 minutes of the production process. Thanks to the vacuum system on the machine, air bubbles formed within the produced product cannot escape on their own. For this reason, the goal is to reduce the atmospheric pressure from 760 mmHg at sea level to 50–100 mmHg levels, vacuum the area between the product and the vacuum cover, and forcefully remove these bubbles. This process is carried out by a vacuum pump. Additionally, in cases where vacuum processing is critical, pressure sensors integrated into the PLC system are optionally used. In this way, when the sensor detects pressure loss, it activates the vacuum pump. Dispersion impellers can generate some heat on the material due to their blade profile and peripheral speed. To prevent the produced product from reacting with heat and deforming, or to monitor this temperature curve, a PT100 temperature measurement system is included as a standard feature on these machines. Standard cooling motors that accompany the machine and allow for extended operation at low speeds are battery-equipped. On multi-shaft combined mixers, in addition to features such as scraper, vacuum, pressure, and PT100, timed mixing is also included as standard. Since these types of machines require very powerful motors and equipment, machine frames are manufactured as complete castings. In terms of capacity, they can be produced starting from laboratory types, i.e., 10-liter capacity, up to 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,500, and 5,000-liter capacities. The casting of the machine frame ensures it does not deteriorate over its lifetime and operates rigidly. The machine control panel displays individual speed, amperage, and timer digital indicators for the mixing motors, as well as digital temperature display screens showing the temperature of the produced product, in addition to machine functions. Beyond this, semi-automatic or fully automatic recipe control systems and PLC control system features are offered as optional features on operator panels. Sözer Makina combined mixer machines are manufactured in compliance with "CE," "Occupational Health and Safety," and "ATEX Zone 1 EEx dIIB T4" standards. In mixers, particularly in machines with many mixing systems like these, transmission components are critically important. Your machines should be designed with the correct type and purpose, and engineering calculations at this point are very important. Faulty designs and incorrectly selected transmission components can result in incomplete power transfer from motors to mixing equipment. You may see oversized motors used on these types of machines. This is because some companies believe they can compensate for deficiencies caused by faulty designs by selecting powerful motors. For example, suppose we have a 30 kW mixer and during production you experience fuse blowouts, excessive motor heating, impeller stoppage, excessive current draw, inability to reach desired speed, smoke coming from belts, slippage, and similar complaints. Technically uninformed individuals may immediately attribute this problem to low motor power. They may say you are making a high-viscosity product and the motor is underpowered, but perhaps the real issue is not that the motor power is low, but rather how effectively you are transferring that power to the shafts and mixing equipment. It would be beneficial to examine pulley selection, bearing selection, bearing systems, and whether the transmission system uses belts or chains, in addition to motor power calculations. Unfortunately, companies that purchase these types of machines end up both producing for long hours and consuming excessive electricity due to unnecessarily powerful, redundant motor selections. Design and transmission components are very important even in single-shaft mixers. From an external perspective, you might think "What difference does a speed-adjustable mixer with a scraper make," but if you are making a viscous product, companies may immediately direct you toward powerful motors because they lack full confidence in their machines and do not fully understand the subject. However, each machine has engineering calculations specific to its capacity and design. Machines where all calculations are properly done have a very low incidence of encountering such issues. The importance of time as a cost factor under today's conditions is something we all appreciate. When examining the processing procedures of produced products, significant time is spent achieving the desired consistency according to their formulations. A properly designed combined mixer machine provides significant advantages in consolidating, so to speak, two machines into one machine and accelerating processes. While achieving this, the quality and durability of our machines are of serious importance in the long term. Let us not forget that engineering is actually a tool, and our machines are the engine of this tool. T. Emrah Sözer Industrial Engineer Production Director Sözer Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Ltd. Şti