Feature Mixing equipment The foundation for efficient mixing
Two different manufacturers of cementitious products are both relying on equipment from JR Boone to ensure efficient mixing - one company is using a Helical Blade mixer while the other is using a Delta Blade version
nstarmac manufactures specialist cements, adhesives and grouts for the highway maintenance, streetscape, commercial flooring and contract tiling markets, so places great demands on its mixing plant. Therefore, when the time came to move to its new £16,000,000 purpose built production facility in Tamworth, upgrading the existing machinery was top priority.
I
The company was using a 2000l paddle mixer, but this became unable to produce such sizeable quantities. Instarmac selected a 4000l helical blade (ribbon) mixer from JR Boone as a replacement, which has doubled the size of batch production, while also producing consistently reliable results. During a series of tests using Boone’s 160l mobile test mixer, all Instarmac’s product types were trialled at the client’s site, and found to be mixed well within the specification and times required using a Horizontal Helical Blade installation.
Paul Evans, plant manager at Instarmac, said: “Depending on what the product is, mix times and blade speeds vary greatly. Some mixes have to be looked after very precisely. “The technology behind the mixing blade is all-important, especially for high shear mixes. After successful trials
we placed an order for the 4000l unit plus a 40l pilot batch mixer to enable further development of our range of products. “We have found the results achieved on this lab plant have been scaled up to the production size consistently.” The mixer is designed to deal with adhesive pastes having a bulk density between 1.3 and 1.6 tons/M3, and vis- cosities ranging from 3000 to 6000 CP. Maximum batch weight is 6.4 tons, with a typical cycle time of 30 minutes. All contact parts are fabricated from 304 stainless steel. The unit is free standing, consisting of a semi-omega trough with flat ends on which are mounted outboard bearings carrying an interrupted double helix agitator; adjustable packed glands seal the agita- tor as it passes through the ends. Located on the side of the trough are two hinged cleaning/inspection doors with quick release clamps and code key safety interlock bolts. Discharge is pro- vided by a pneumatically operated NDP outlet valve.
In a separate application, but in a similar industry, cementitious flooring manufacturer F Ball produces flooring adhesives, levelling products and grouts. The company has recently developed a new factory, with the focus on providing efficient production with
Disintegrators designed to handle tough materials
erived from aromatic polyamide fibre, meta and para-aramide fibres are widely used in friction materials, where their strength, heat resistance, flame resistance, chemical stability and radiation resistance properties add valuable features and benefits to the final manufactured product. However, the tough, fibrous and corrosive nature of these materials can pose production problems for volume processors. In order to make the size reduction, dispersion and mixing of these materials easy and more efficient, Hosokawa
D
Micron has developed a range of equipment and continuous system solutions. The systems are based on the Hosokawa Rietz Angle Disintegrator and Hosokawa Rietz Vertical Disintegrator, and have been developed in conjunction with cus- tomers to handle feed material, which is typically in 12 – 15mm flake form and is suspended within an aqueous chemical carrier, typically in the range 5 – 10% w/w solids. Because of the corrosive nature of the chemical and the erosive, fibrous toughness of the solids, Duplex construction materials are predominantly used for all wet parts. The internal serrated tooth reduction screens, where the highest erosion and corrosion resistance is required, are manufactured using Hastelloy.
The Hosokawa Rietz Angle Disintegrator offers intense grinding and pro- cessing of wet and dry products and can automatically separate and reject non friable material through the secondary discharge. The ground product is typically <2mm:nil with the maximum percentage in the range 0.25mm – 1.0mm and a maximum of 8% of fines below 0.15mm. Minimum machine vibration and low temperature rise during operation means the disintegrator offers low energy consumption. Hosokawa Micron T: 01928 755100
www.hosokawa.co.uk Enter 216
Process & Control SEPTEMBER 2012
The helical blade mixer has doubled the size of batch production at Instarmac
low energy usage. In order to meet such requirements, JR Boone has supplied a Horizontal Delta Blade mixer which is said to achieve a high throughput, with a short mixing cycle.
The process comprises weigh hop- pers that feed the mixer, discharging via a ‘bomb’ door to an underhopper that feeds a packaging and palletisation line beneath. This process requires a short mixing cycle to achieve a batch time of under two minutes for a 2 tonne mix. The plant is designed to produce up to 30 tonnes of blended material per hour. At any time there may be up to six batches within the process. With this amount of material, mixing speed and efficiency is paramount, thoroughly blending the additives throughout the bulk materials before the bomb door opens and the mixed material is deposited to the underhopper. A key objective of the plant was to have as small an environmental impact as possible, and that meant minimising the energy used - for example, the use of gravity fed rather than mechanically conveyed processes. This energy effi- ciency also extends to the mixer. The Delta Blade is a plough type mixer, designed to produce higher levels of shear with lower power consmption than more conventional type mixers. This means batches are mixed quickly, thoroughly and homogenously using minimum energy, reducing the carbon footprint of the new installation.
JR Boone T: 01260 272894
www.jrboone.com
Enter 217 9
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36