Combined Mixers for Medium and High Viscosity Products

As the chemical industry develops, mixer technology advances alongside it, making high-performance, robust mixing machinery essential. These types of mixers can actually serve a broad product range. Sözer Makina Combine Mixers are preferred for products in the viscosity range of 1,500 – 3,000,000 centipoise. With this type of mixer, you can achieve impressive output in remarkably short times. Single-shaft, speed-adjustable mixers—produced for many years and primarily serving low-viscosity fluid products—are used solely for dispersion and, with the benefit of some scraper options, for mixing and dispersing low-to-medium viscosity products. Our SM-type High-Speed Mixers are machines designed with maximum efficiency to reach peripheral speeds of 19-25 m/sec. at the mixer blade on the shaft for effective dispersion operations. Our combine mixers are machines used for producing medium or medium-to-high viscosity products. They can be used in all applications where high-speed dispersion alone is insufficient and a highly homogeneous mixture is required in short times through heavy-duty mixing. Due to their high-speed and heavy-duty mixing capabilities, they have a wide range of applications. In a sense, these systems reduce the operation of two different machines into one. With Sözer Makina combine mixers, you can easily and quickly produce pigment pastes, petrochemical products, insulation and filler materials, putty, paste, gasket products, silicone, mastic, and sealant components. The machine features two or three mixing systems along with a scraper system. Compared to other mixers, the scraper system on these machines has four arms. This ensures that the tank edges and bottom are fully subjected to scraping. 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 mixer blades positioned vertically on one shaft can operate in the 100-1,500 rpm range, while independently on a second shaft, butterfly mixers also positioned vertically can operate in the 50-700 rpm range. Additionally, the anchor scraper system, which operates independently of the third and other two shafts, can operate in the 0-20 rpm range with the aid of a separate frequency inverter. Equipment on the shaft can be modified according to your requirements. Similarly, all mixing equipment (propellers, butterfly mixers) can be adjusted to perform mixing at any desired height on the shaft. These types of machines feature electro-hydraulic systems with the ability to raise and lower on their own frame and also have automatic clamping systems fed by the same hydraulic unit. Custom-manufactured tanks can enter the clamping center through ears located on their sides. All our machines are equipped with protective and warning devices in compliance with ISO standards and workplace safety regulations. Products manufactured in these machines typically require mixing under vacuum or exposure to vacuum during the final 10 minutes of production. Thanks to the vacuum system on the machine, air bubbles generated within the product cannot escape on their own. For this reason, atmospheric pressure, which is 760 mm Hg at sea level, is reduced to 50-100 mm Hg levels, and the area between the product and vacuum cover is evacuated to forcibly remove these bubbles. This process is performed via a vacuum pump. Additionally, in cases where vacuum operations are critical, pressure sensors integrated into the PLC system are optionally used. This allows the sensor to detect pressure losses and activate the vacuum pump accordingly. Dispersion propellers can generate some heat on the material due to their blade profile and peripheral speed. To prevent the manufactured product from being deformed by this heat or to monitor this temperature curve, our machines feature PT100 temperature measurement systems as standard. Cooling motors that enable extended operation at low speeds are also coupled to the motors as standard. In multi-shaft combine mixers, beyond features such as scraper, vacuum, pressure, and PT100, timed mixing capability is also included as standard. Since these machines require very powerful motors and equipment, machine frames are manufactured as complete castings. In terms of capacity, they can be produced from laboratory types—starting at 10 liters—up to 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,500, and 5,000 liter capacities. The cast construction of the machine frame ensures long-term durability and rigid operation. The machine control panel displays separate speed, amperage, and timer digital indicators for the mixing motors, as well as digital temperature display screens showing the temperature of the manufactured product. Beyond this, semi-automatic or fully automatic recipe control systems and PLC control system features are offered as optional capabilities on operator panels. Sözer Makina Combine Mixer Machines are manufactured in compliance with "CE," workplace health and safety, and ATEX Zone 1 EEx dIIB T4 standards. In mixers, particularly in machines with multiple mixing systems like these, drive components are extremely important. Your machines must be designed with the correct type and purpose-oriented approach; the engineering calculations at this point are critical. Poor design, incorrectly selected drive components, and incomplete power transmission from motors to mixing equipment can result from such errors. You often see machines of this type equipped with excessively powerful motors. This is because some manufacturers believe they can compensate for gaps created by faulty design by selecting a more powerful motor. For example, assume we have a 30 kW mixer and during production you experience fuse trips, motor overheating, propeller stalling, excessive current draw, inability to reach desired rpm, smoke or slippage from belts. Technically untrained personnel might immediately attribute this problem to low motor power, suggesting you are making a high-viscosity product and the motor is too weak. However, the real issue may not be low motor power at all but rather how effectively you are transmitting that power to the shaft and mixing equipment. It is worthwhile to examine pulley selection, bearing selection, bearing systems, and whether the drive system uses belts or chains alongside motor power calculations. Unfortunately, companies that purchase these types of machines end up both running production for extended hours and consuming excessive electricity due to unnecessarily powerful and redundant motor selections. Even in single-shaft mixers, design and drive components are extremely important. From an external perspective, you might comment, "What difference does a speed-adjustable, scraper-equipped mixer make?" However, if you are producing a viscous product, because manufacturers lack full confidence in their machines and do not have a clear grasp of the subject, they may readily direct you toward more powerful motors. In reality, each machine has engineering calculations based on its capacity and design. In properly calculated mixers, the likelihood of encountering such issues is very low. The importance of time as a cost factor under current conditions is something we all recognize. When examining the processing steps of manufactured products, significant time is spent achieving the desired consistency according to formulations. A properly designed combine mixer machine effectively reduces two machines into one and significantly accelerates processes, bringing serious advantages. While achieving this, the quality and durability of our machines are of considerable importance in the long term. Let us not forget: "Engineering is actually a tool, and our machines are the engine of that tool." **T.Emrah SÖZER / Industrial Engineer / Production Director**