MIXING & BLENDING
SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT For Challenging Applications Bepex International s mixing and blending equipment has been serving industries around the world for decades. Bepex combines the extensive application experience and the product line trade names of industry innovators Strong-Scott, Rietz and K-G. We are proud of our strong history of manufacturing dependable equipment for applications ranging from pharmaceutical to food to heavy-duty chemical. The Bepex product line includes both continuous and batch, high and low shear, and long or short residence time options. Drawing from years of experience and hundreds of applications, Bepex engineers can design a system that best fits your needs. Equipment Selection Chart Ribbon Blender Turbulizer Extrud-O-Mix Hydramix Description of Equipment Single rotor with double ribbon agitator Single rotor, high speed, variable intensity paddle mixer Low Pressure, single screw mixing extruder Double intermeshing rotors, self-cleaning Residence Time Minutes to hours 2 to 30 seconds 15 seconds to 5 minutes Minutes to hours Mixing Intensity (Shear) Medium Medium to High Medium Low Continuous / Batch Both Continuous Continuous Continuous Agglomeration Capabilities Some agglomeration may occur Can be used for either agglomeration or deagglomeration Can be used to form pellets of various lengths Some agglomeration may occur Types of Mixing: Liquid / Liquid Solid / Liquid Solid / Solid Only if one melts Capacity 2 to 1500 ft 3 2 to 500 ft 3 /hour 5 to 15,000 ft 3 /hour 5 to 100 ft 3 /hour Comments ly for dry or flowable wet products. High capacity; minimum work space. Capable of high-energy input. Controlled continuous mixing through intermediate orifice plates. Gentle mixing. Good for sticky products. 2
TURBULIZER High-Capacity, Compact Design The Turbulizer mixer offers versatility unmatched by conventional mixing equipment. The Turbulizer is a continuous high-shear paddle mixer. Elements allow adjustment of angle and housing clearance. This feature, in combination with high paddle tip speeds, provides flexibility for control of residence time and the mix intensity or shear imparted on materials. Residence time can be manipulated, but it remains very short, in the range of 2-30 seconds. This results in a high-production capacity machine that requires minimal floor space and head room. The thin peripheral layer of material in the mixer also promotes excellent indirect heat transfer efficiency in jacketed models. With its high degree of flexibility and control over processing conditions, the Turbulizer mixer has seen service in a wide range of applications, including: dry powder mixing, hydrating hard to wet powders, slurry mixing, coating, sterilization, crystallization, granulating, homogenizing, coating, and de-lumping and finishing. PRODUCT FEATURES Flush interior, gasketed access door. Heavy-duty rotor statically and dynamically balanced for your specific application. Outboard mounted anti-friction pillow block bearings. Flanged tangential transition for product inlet and discharge. Base frame that integrates mixer housing and drive components. Belt drive, includes all couplings and guards. TYPICAL OPTIONS Wide variety of construction materials, including: stainless, exotic metals and abrasion-resistant alloys. Material finishes ranging from industrial to dairy-grade polishes. Clamshell style split housing on roller track for ease of access. Sanitary connections for liquid addition nozzles with flush plug inserts. ASME Code design jacket for steam or liquid media. 3
HYDRAMIX Hydration Without Particle Degradation The Hydramix is the newest addition to the Bepex mixing line. The self-cleaning design features close tolerances between the mixing paddles and the vessel walls to reduce material buildup. This reduces maintenance requirements and downtime, resulting in increased productivity. The Hydramix consists of twin intermeshing paddle rotors operating at different speeds in a covered trough. While powder is continuously introduced, liquid is injected through nozzles positioned specifically to match the mixing or reaction requirements. The unit is jacketed and the rotors can be heated to promote reactions or to prevent sticking. The Hydramix is capable of high-production rates, while offering residence times in excess of 60 minutes. Mixing speed and paddle angle can be adjusted separately to vary the amount of mixing energy imparted to the material independent of conveyance requirements. Ultra-low rotor speeds result in low-shear operation to provide excellent mixing while preventing particle damage even during long residence times. PRODUCT FEATURES Slow speed, gentle handling of all particle shapes with minimal degradation. Twin rotors that fully intermesh, provide excellent mixing while keeping the surfaces clean of build up. Liquid injection nozzles can be located near the feed inlet, or anywhere along the length of the unit for staged addition. Optional jacket for heating or cooling applications. Twin rotors can also be heated or cooled to provide additional heat transfer area. Fully intermeshing rotor design reduces buildup. TYPICAL APPLICATIONS Hydration of phosphates Fertilizers Hydration of soda ash Pesticides Blending of feed supplements 4
EXTRUD-O-MIX Mixing and Extrusion in One Unit The Extrud-O-Mix offers a unique approach that eliminates typical boundaries between mixing / blending and agglomeration equipment. The Extrud-O-Mix is an efficient low-pressure mixing and forming extruder, primarily designed for combining dry powders with liquid streams to produce a paste or dough suitable for extrusion. The Extrud-O-Mix design is quite simple in comparison to high-pressure or twin-screw extruders. The cantilevered shaft design isolates bearings from the process. A single horizontal shaft carries rows of hammers or flights arranged in a spiral pattern. Stationary anvils attached to the housing are inserted between the rotating hammers. The amount of shear or mix intensity can be increased by replacing stationary anvils with internal orifice plates. Specially designed orifice plates can be used to manipulate the functionality of the final product. With its ability to efficiently process paste like materials, the Extrud-O-Mix is effective in wet cake conditioning or feeding. The product discharged from the Extrud-O-Mix also lends itself well to spheronization followed by drying. PRODUCT FEATURES Clamshell style split housing design offers ease of cleaning. Heavy-duty rotor with hard facing on hammer leading edges for increased life. Outboard mounted anti-friction pillow block bearings promote product cleanliness. Base frame to integrate drive and housing. Application specific end orifice plate and holder design. TYPICAL OPTIONS Material finishes ranging from industrial to pharmaceutical grade polishes. ASME Code design and construction heat transfer surfaces. Drilled rotor with rotary joint for additional heat transfer. Shaft mounted or separately driven cutoff knives with discharge guard. Model EM-2 for lab use. 5
RIBBON BLENDER Workhorse of the Product Line One of the main stays in our wide range of mixing and blending equipment is the Bepex Ribbon Blender. While primarily designed for use with dry materials, gas and liquid streams can also be introduced. A wide variety of configurations, for either batch or continuous mixing, are available with sizes ranging from lab scale to large production capacity. Application specific rotor mixing element design allows shorter batch cycle times due to increased mixing efficiency. Efficient mixing also provides good heat transfer through ASME Code designed jackets for heating or cooling applications. Mixing vessels can be standard U-shape or cylindrical depending on internal pressure or vacuum requirements. PRODUCT FEATURES Seamless vessel construction with radiused corners prevent material buildup, gasketed end plates are eliminated. Heavy-duty tubular shaft rotors with easily removable stub shaft connections. Rotors have through-welded flighting support pins. Outboard mounted anti-friction pillow block bearings result in increased life. Chain and sprocket, shaft-mounted torque arm or direct drive options. TYPICAL OPTIONS ASME Code design and construction for internal pressure up to 200 psig or full vacuum. Heating or cooling via stayed steam or stayed and baffled jacket for liquid flow. Hinged access covers with safety grating. Split seal housings for inserts or gas purged mechanical seals. Manual or automated discharge gates. Adjustable overflow weir plates for continuous operation. Liquid addition systems. Batching systems with load cells. High shear mixing intensifiers. 6
SYSTEM DESIGN Not Only Machines, But Process Solutions Raw Material Binder Solution Along with a full range of mixing equipment, Bepex offers complete process systems. As a result, you get single-source responsibility and a completely integrated processing system. Turbulizer Gravimetric Feeder Drawing on the experience gained from numerous installations, Bepex engineers accurately select the best equipment for your application, and fully assist you at each step of the process. Our proven skills in dealing with problems similar to yours can help you produce the most desirable product at the lowest practical cost. Extrud-O-Mix Fluid Bed Bepex Pilot Test Lab Equipped with a world-renowned test facility, Bepex is ready to work with you every step of the way in customizing the processing system to meet your exact product and process requirements. Along with mixing equipment and systems, the Bepex test center offers agglomeration, size reduction and drying equipment. Bepex has the ability to set up full process systems in our pilot plant to test the process from start to finish. Whether you need new equipment, or a completely different processing method, we ll run feasibility tests before you commit any capital. Information gained from testing allows you to choose the most cost effective means of solving your process problems. If the results are encouraging, you have the option of using the test center to produce small quantities of your product for field testing and market evaluations. 7
Other Bepex Services: PROCESS DEVELOPMENT Using our state-of-the-art pilot plants, we can work with you to develop the necessary process steps to deliver a product that meets your final specifications. We start with bench-scale analysis and move to small processing systems. CUSTOM PROCESSING We will work with you to deliver the necessary quantities of materials to allow you to conduct market studies or to meet your customers' requirements. ENGINEERING SERVICES We can take the data generated from our pilot plant and determine the optimum process to meet your final goals. Our engineers will work with you to establish process flows, equipment specifications and system layouts. PROCESS OPTIMIZATION Skilled process engineers will visit your facility and make an in-depth study of your solids processing system. In conjunction with our application and processing engineers, we will make recommendations for achieving maximum performance from your system. MECHANICAL FIELD SERVICE Our field service engineers will work with your personnel to bring your equipment up to original factory specifications. Bepex International LLC 333 Taft Street NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 Tel: 612-331-4370 Fax: 612-627-1444 e-mail: info@bepex.com www.bepex.com Combining the resources of: Some equipment may be shown without guards for illustrative purposes. Guards are supplied and must be in place for safe operation. 2006 Bepex MIX/BLEND0506