PERSONAL CARE & COSMETICS

About Scott Turbon Mixer

For nearly four decades, Scott Turbon Mixer has designed and manufactured
high-performance, high shear mixers, and turnkey mixing systems for use in the
food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical process industries.

Whether your challenge is formulation development, process scale-up, or

full-scale manufacturing, Scott Turbon Mixer offers a full range of mixing
technologies and solutions to meet these challenges.

Scott Turbon Mixer is part of the Hayward Gordon Group.

Pumps Mixers HydroMix

Working with Carbomers
B E ST P R AC T I C E S
Top Entry Side Entry Portable Mixers

High Shear Batch Mixers Inline Mixers Mixing Systems

Scott Turbon Mixer — 800.285.8512 — www.scottmixer.com

 Type B Dispersion Head
The type “B” head is specifically
designed for the wetting and
dispersion of powders. The head
features a large diameter, toothed

Maximum Yield, Minimum Effort shear plate in combination with

upper and lower pumping elements.

In-Tank Batch Mixers

The Magic Ingredient
Carbomers are a series of polymers primarily made from acrylic acid. These
carbomers are thickening agents that aid in controlling viscosity and flow.
They are white, fluffy powders frequently used to form gels in cosmetic and
personal care products. Carbomers are in a wide variety of product types,
Best Practices:
• Surface-added Carbomers should be charged to an area of swirling/folding
action near the mixer shaft for rapid incorporation.
– A Scott Turbon TM (Top Mount) Mixer outfitted with the unique Scott Turbon B head will
rapidly drawdown and disperse the Carbomer into the liquid.

including skin, hair, nail, and makeup products, as well as dentifrices. – The high pumping rates of the Scott Turbon B head will ensure rapid processing, minimizing
the potential for over-shearing of the product.
Carbomers are all chemically similar, differing from each other in molecular – A Scott Turbon TurboVac Mixing System permits deaeration under vacuum. Deaeration of the
weight and viscosity. However, they can absorb and retain water, and these Carbomer solution should take place before the neutralization and gelling step of the batch.

polymers can swell to many times their original volume. • Carbomers can be added directly into a process line with the use of a Top Mount Bottom Mount

Carbomers deliver a wide range of functionality specially designed inline mixer.

in cosmetics and personal care products: – A Scott Turbon Vacu-Blend Mixer rapidly draws in the Carbomer from a hopper or a wand
and is immediately dispersed, lump-free, into solution.
• Thickening agents help control the consistency or stickiness, and flow of
many cosmetic products. – Once all the powder has been incorporated, recirculation through the Vacu-blend can stop,
avoiding over-processing the Carbomer.
• Help distribute and suspend insoluble solids into liquid, preventing the
– Local dust collection at the hopper can alleviate any dusting concerns.
oil and liquid parts of a solution from separating.
– Single-pass processing is possible with a Scott Turbon CDM (Continuous Dispersion Mixer)
• They can easily absorb, retain water, and expand up to 1,000 times their Mixer solution, eliminating any chance to over-process the Carbomer solution. TurboVac
original volume when suspended in water. – Significantly less air is introduced when compared to surface added Carbomers;
‘Fisheyes’ are lumps of powder • The formulations will appear richer, smoother, and creamier by adding deaeration is often not required.
with a hydrated skin, but an carbomers to shampoos, conditioners, creams, and lotions.
unhydrated dry core.
Common problems when working with Carbomers:
• Insufficient shear to reduce particle agglomerates and prevent fisheyes.
Inline Batch Mixers Inline Single Pass Mixers
• High air entrainment rates and foaming.
• Long mixing cycles to obtain uniform dispersion and complete hydration.
• Powders resist wetting and float.
• Carbomers are shear sensitive; over-processing will degrade the gelling
properties typical with these ingredients. Therefore, additional Carbomer is
required to compensate for the reduced viscosity.
• A significant amount of unhydrated material may be trapped in the filters and
wasted at the end of the batch – literally, money down the drain.
Most often added to aqueous solutions, the particles rapidly hydrate and crosslink
to form a tough outer layer leaving a dry inner core. These agglomerates are
commonly known as ‘Fisheyes.’ Vacu-Blend Inline Mixer CDM: Continuous Dispersion Mixer
 PERSONAL CARE & COSMETICS

About Scott Turbon Mixer

For nearly four decades, Scott Turbon Mixer has designed and manufactured
high-performance, high shear mixers, and turnkey mixing systems for use in the
food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical process industries.

Whether your challenge is formulation development, process scale-up, or

full-scale manufacturing, Scott Turbon Mixer offers a full range of mixing
technologies and solutions to meet these challenges.

Scott Turbon Mixer is part of the Hayward Gordon Group.

Pumps Mixers HydroMix

Working with Carbomers
B E ST P R AC T I C E S
Top Entry Side Entry Portable Mixers

High Shear Batch Mixers Inline Mixers Mixing Systems

Scott Turbon Mixer — 800.285.8512 — www.scottmixer.com