CHANGE CAN MIXER

 These mixers are called change can mixers because they are provided with an arrangement for lifting the
agitator head mixing element out of the mixing vessel once mixing is completed, thus enabling movement
of the mixing vessel.

 Change can mixers are configured vertically, with a vertical cylindrical vessel and a
bottom dished end

 Some change can mixers have mixing vessels that can be lifted and lowered
while keeping the agitator head stationary

 Removal of the mixing vessel provides the following advantages:

 Material can be weighed accurately.

 It is easier to clean the mixing vessel, resulting in less batch-to-batch contamination.

 The packing glands and seals do not come in contact with the material, thus eliminating
product contamination.

 Multiple cans can be used to enhance productivity without downtime during material
charging and discharging.

 Change can mixers may be provided with one or more mixing blades.

 Because of the vertical configuration, these mixers can be operated at as little as 10%
of their designed working capacity.

 Discharge of highly viscous materials from the mixing vessel can be achieved by
locating the vessel on a separate hydraulically operated automatic discharge system.

KNEADER (MIX INTO UNIFORM MASS) MIXER

• The sigma blade mixer is a commonly used mixer for high viscosity materials. • One of the most
popular used for mixing and kneading of high viscosity materials. • It belongs to the family of double
arm kneader mixers.

Principal: The mechanism of mixing is shearing.

• The inter meshing of sigma shaped blades creates high shear and kneading actions. • The mixing
action is a combination of bulk movement, shearing, stretching, folding, dividing, and recombining as
the material is pulled and squeezed against blades, saddle, and side walls.

CONSTRUCTION: The design is mostly based on the curvature and concavity of the kneading blades.

It consists of double trough shaped stationary bowl. • Two sigma shaped blades are fitted horizontally in
each trough of the bowl. • These are connected to a fixed speed drive. • The mixer is loaded from the
top and unloaded by tilting the entire bowl by means of a rack and pinion drive. • It consist of saddle
shaped container made of either Mild Steel or Stainless Steel 304 or 316 with jacket of covering two side
for heating or cooling application & dust free cover to get Vacuum if desired or normal cover. • The
mixing elements (Blades) are of Sigma type Steel casted and duly finished two in number which contra
rotate inward fitted at close or specified clearance with the container to give thorough and uniform
mixing. • There is a Gland pusher of Gun Metal Bush which ensure minimal friction and extend the life of
mixing elements (Blades) Shaft. • The complete Mixer is Mounted on Steel Fabricated stand of suitable
strength to withstand the vibration and give noise free performance.

WORKING: Different powders are introduced from the top of the trough. The body is covered because
considerable dust may be involved during dry blending and granulating solution may evaporate during
wet granulation. The kneading blades first squash the mass flat and then roll it on itself and squash
once again. It tears the mass apart, and shear it in between the moving blades and the stationary
surface walls. Through the fixed speed drive, the sigma blades are allowed to rotate. The blade move
at different speeds. The effectiveness of mixing depends upon the kneader blade design, sometimes
they are made very rugged, and of different shapes. The edges of the blades may be more serrated to
give higher shredding action.

ADVANTAGES •Sigma blade mixer creates a minimum dead space during mixing •Ideal for mixing,
kneading, of highly viscous mass, sticky & dough like products

DISADVANTAGES •Sigma blade mixer works at a fixed speed •Extruding •These mixers and their
variants (double arm kneader mixer extruders) are capable of handling material with viscosities as high
as 10 million centipoises. •The power consumption in double arm kneader mixer is very high compared
to other types of mixers and can range from 45 to 75 kW/m3 of mix material.

Applications of the Sigma Mixer: •Adhesives •Biscuit dough •Chewing gum •Crayon and pencil lead
•Explosives
Ribbon mixer

PRINCIPAL: convection and diffusion.

Convection mixing occurs when the solids are turned over along the horizontal
axis of the agitator assembly. In the ribbon blender diffusion occurs when the
particles in front of the ribbon are moved in one direction while nearby partials
are not moved or lag behind.

CONSTRUCTION; A ribbon blender consists of a U-shaped

horizontal trough containing a double helical ribbon
agitator that rotates within. The agitator’s shaft is
positioned in the centre of the trough and has welded
spokes on which the helical ribbons (also known as
spirals) are welded. Since the ribbon agitator consists
of a set of inner and outer helical ribbons, it is referred
to as a “double" helical ribbon agitator. The gap
between the ribbon’s outer edge and the internal wall
of the container ranges from 3 to 6 mm depending on
the application. Ribbon blenders are generally
powered by 10 HP to 15 HP motor for 1000 kg of
product mass to be blended. The ribbon agitator is
designed to operate at a speed of approximately 100
metres / minute, depending on the application and
the size of the equipment.
Working: The outer ribbons of the agitator move the material from the ends to the center
while the inner ribbons move the material from the center to ends. Radial movement is achieved
because of the rotational motion of the ribbons. The difference in the peripheral speeds of the
outer and inner ribbons results in axial movement of the material along the horizontal axis of
the blender. As a result of the radial and the counter-current axial movement, homogenous
blending is achieved in short time. Blending is achieved within 15 to 20 minutes of start-up
with a 90 to 95 percent or better homogeneity. The particle size and its bulk density have the
strongest influence on the mixing efficiency of the ribbon blender. Ingredients with similar
particle size and bulk densities tend to mix faster as compared to ingredients with variation in
these attributes. After blending, the material is discharged from a discharge valve located at the
bottom of the trough. The discharge valves can be slide-gate, butterfly, flush bottom, spherical
, etc…… The operation of the valves can be manual or pneumatically actuated. In a ribbon
blender the material is discharged by rotation of the ribbon agitator. Working It is difficult to
achieve 100% discharge in the ribbon blender. Also, higher clearances between the external
periphery of the outer ribbon and the container can result in unmixed spots at the trough
bottom and can lead to discharge problems.
Applications Ribbon blenders can be designed to operate in both batch and continuous modes. Batch
type blenders can be built up to capacities of 50 m3 . The ribbon blender’s versatility for blending
solids combined with it ability to perform heating, cooling, coating, and other processes make it a very
popular blender.

Applications The following are the applications of the Ribbon Blender: 1) Blending large volumes of
dry solids. 2) Dry powder to wet phase mixing. 3) Mixing of bulk drugs, chemicals, and cosmetic
powders. 4) Dry Blending of capsule formulations. 5) Lubrication of dry granules in large quantity. 6)
Heating, cooling, and drying of materials. 7) Coating solid particles with small amounts of liquids to
produce formulations.

PUG MILL

Pug mills use dual counter-rotating shafts with affixed pitched

paddles to create a kneading and folding over motion inside of the
mixer. The counter-rotating motion lifts material up through the
center and then back down the sides, creating an intimate mixture
of materials.
Additionally, a spray system may be mounted to the mixer when
binder or liquid additives are needed. Agglomeration, or the actual
formation of granules, is accomplished through 1) the addition of
water or binder to the material while suspended, 2) the kneading
motion that occurs between the paddles, and 3) the pulling action
along the trough walls.
Pug mills are able to process both a liquid and solid feed, and are
deal for heavy-duty material processing. Additionally, pug mills can
be used as a stand-alone agglomeration device, or they can be
used as part of a disc pelletizer or agglomeration drum setup.