Powders into liquid – A new solution to an old mixing problem

The Problem

The dispersion of fine powder in a liquid can be a challenging process throughout pharma, cosmetics/healthcare & food manufacturing. Example applications include:

Foods – Garlic to cold water, pectin, starch, xanthan gum, cornflour, carbon black
Pharma & Cosmetics – Carbopol, calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, sorbitol

The issue often arises where manufacturers are using inappropriate or outdated mixing technology. The issues can include:

Excessive mixing time – often measured in hours
Slow manual addition of raw materials
Floating agglomerates and “fish-eyes”
Risk of unreliable operator input with results highly dependent on operator skill
The common need to pre-heat liquid base is slow & energy-inefficient
Unstable suspensions can be prone to separation (meaning short shelf-life)
Powder adheres to support pillars and support bushes. (wear, cleaning & maintenance issues)
Difficult-to-clean systems present hygiene risks

This video demonstrates the problem…

The traditional approach

Historically, when faced with the “powder-liquid problem” manufacturers usually try two techniques:

Impeller / propeller (perhaps at high speed)
High shear mixer (rotor-stator type)

Neither of these approaches is guaranteed to resolve the powder/liquid problem and almost invariably results in lower productivity than optimum solution.

The Greaves’ solution – the High-Speed Disperser™ (HSD)

Greaves’ High-Speed Disperser™ technology has been developed specifically to tackle the problems associated with mixing lightweight, difficult-to-wet powders.

The HSD solution involves:

Creation of a deep vortex which immediately draws powder into the mixing zone allowing:
- Rapid addition of powder
- Greatly reduced surface agglomeration
High-speed, serrated disc impeller delivering:
- Rapid powder incorporation and dispersion
- Dispersion of agglomerates
- Consistent flow and downthrust