MACHINERY | MIXERS
Right: Kreyenborg’s Universal Quick Mixers can be used as standalone or connected units
the advantage that mixing times can be reduced by around 50%, the company says. This system is suitable for feeding using pressure- conveying systems when the two mixers, equipped with tangential inlets, act as cyclone separators. A filter module was installed downstream of the silos in the customised system to collect the conveyed dust. Homogenised material is discharged via two discharge screws into the big-bag filling stations. For the emptying of residue, and to facilitate cleaning of the system, the discharge screws can be rotated counter-clockwise. Italian machinery maker Plas Mec has been supplying powder mixing machinery for 55 years, during which it says it has built and delivered thousands of mixers and accessories all over the world. The company says one of its distinguishing features is its flexibility in designing, building and installing solutions for specific customer needs. Plas Mec systems are based on several core
pieces of equipment, including the company’s TRM high speed mixer and HEC high efficiency cooler mixer. These can be combined in the Combimix HC design, where versions range from 200/800 to 2,500/8,500 l capacity. Systems can be equipped with numerous accessories related to the type of production and the needs of the customer. The TRR container mixer is said to be a good
alternative to conventional turbomixers for produc- tion duties requiring a high degree of versatility and needing a wide range of different recipes to be mixed with the same machine. Such applica- tions include processing masterbatch, pigments, technical polymer compounds, and also powder coatings. The turbomixer is available in a High Power version for applications where high intensity mixing is required and there is the need for asignificant temperature increase of the mixture.
Right: Plas Mec’s TRR mixer is said to provide an alternative to a turbomixer where high versatility is required
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Changing markets Plas Mec says several improvements have been introduced in recent years to improve performance and ease of use. “The market has changed completely in the last few years. It has become much more demanding and selective, and this is due to several factors: the evolution of the automation processes, the demand for productivity and efficiency, workplace safety, regulatory con- straints, and competition. These are all aspects that have led to a transforma-
COMPOUNDING WORLD | November 2022
IMAGE: KREYENBORG
tion in the approach by the manufacturer and user of the plants,” according to the company. “Plas Mec has continued to keep pace with the
needs of the customer and the market,” the company claims. “Today, the hardest challenge is the difficulty in finding components on the market, especially electronic ones and this requires a great flexibility which Plas Mec can handle in a better way, since it has kept in-house the design of the automation.” UK-based solids handling equipment specialist Ajax Equipment’s vertical screw mixer combines a mass flow hopper design with high-rate vertical screw technology to provide efficient batch mixing and blending in plants with limited space. These Ajax mixers have a smaller footprint than horizontal batch blenders, with powder flow property testing used to establish design parameters. According to Ajax, its vertical screw mixer combines mass flow (determined from powder shear tests) and an inbuilt vertical screw (which effectively promotes high recirculation rates and fulsome flow pattern) to exploit gravity and minimise power consumption while providing efficient mixing. The company has supplied multiple 5.5-m3
vertical screw
mixers for blending a plastics compound in an ATEX Zone 22 (dust) rated working area, with the interior of the blenders designated as Zone 21 (dust). The design used special discharge features to utilise the central screw’s rotation to provide dis- charge to two alternative discharge ports, each of which were required to totally empty the contents within five minutes. Twin
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: PLAS MEC
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