Mixing

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• The fundamental objective of mixing is to increase the
homogeneity of material in bulk
• In process technology, however, mixing or agitation
may be used to achieve additional effects such as
– Enhancing heat and mass transfer,
– Accelerating reactions,
– Changing the texture etc.
• Very often, mixing occurs simultaneously with size
reduction, as is the case in foaming, homogenizing and
emulsification.

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• The basic mechanism in mixing consists in moving
parts of the material in relation to each other
• It is useful to discuss separately the mixing (blending)
of liquids and the mixing of solids
• In liquid–liquid and liquid–gas mixing, the collision
between the moving domains results in interchange of
momentum or kinetic energy
– The scientific discipline most relevant to liquid mixing is
therefore fluid mechanics
– In contrast, the mixing of particulate solids such as powders
is governed by the laws of solid physics and statistics
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Mixing of Fluids (blending)
Types of blenders
• The simplest mixer for fluids is the paddle mixer
consisting of one and sometimes two pairs of flat
blades mounted on a shaft

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• For mixing liquids in hemispherical kettles and vessels
with a bowl-shaped bottom, anchor mixers that
conform the shape of the vessel walls are used.

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• Paddle and anchor mixers are usually operated at low
speed (tens of revolutions per minute)
• Anchor mixers are frequently used in jacketed cooking
kettles and are often equipped with wipers that scrape
the product off the heated surface to prevent scorching.

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• In turbine mixers, the impeller consists of a larger number
(four or more) of flat or curved blades, mounted on a
(usually vertical) shaft
• The turbine may be open, semi-closed (closed by a plate on
one side) or shrouded (closed on both sides with a central
opening or ‘eye’ for circulation)
• Turbine mixers are usually operated at high speed
(hundreds of revolutions per minute (rpm).
• They exert considerable shear on the fluid and are there-
fore suitable in applications involving mass transfer (e.g.
oxygen transfer in fermentors) or phase dispersion (e.g.
emulsification and homogenization)
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Open type Shrouded type

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• Propeller mixers are primarily used to blend low
viscosity liquids
• The shaft is usually coupled directly to the motor
• Rotation speed is high, hundreds to thousands rpm

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Flow patterns in fluid mixing

• Consider a vertical cylindrical vessel equipped with a

centrally mounted mixer of any of the types described
above, in rotation. The movement imparted to a volume
element of the fluid can be characterized by three
velocity components

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• A radial velocity vr pushing the liquid towards the
walls of the vessel
• An axial velocity va acting in the vertical direction, up
or down
• A tangential velocity vt, tending to move the liquid in a
circular motion on a horizontal plane.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj7RBm-VsAI

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• The axial and radial velocities move fluid portions with
respect to one another and thus cause mixing
• The tangential velocity simply tends to rotate the fluid,
creates vortexes and has no significant mixing effect
• The following actions may be taken in order to
improve the mixing by reducing the rotational
movement of the fluid:
1. Attaching baffles on the walls of the mixing vessel
2. Positioning the mixer shaft off center
3. Installing two sets of impellers, turning in opposite
directions.
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• Paddle mixers induce primarily radial flow with little
movement in the axial direction
• The mixing action is therefore concentrated near the
horizontal plane of rotation and is not propagated to the
rest of the liquid bulk in the vessel
• In tall vessels, it may be necessary to mount several
impellers at different heights on the same shaft

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• Turbine mixers act, to a certain degree, as centrifugal
pumps. They induce radial and axial flow
• In the case of propeller mixers, the predominant flow
pattern is axial flow

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Energy input in fluid mixing

• The quality of mixing depends on the effective energy

input by unit mass or unit volume of fluid
• The relationship between mixing power and the type,
dimensions and operation conditions of the mixer is
expressed with the help of several correlations
• Most commonly, the mixing power correlations
comprise the following dimensionless group

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The coefficient K and the exponents m, n are
determined experimentally and depend on the
type of mixer
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Kneading
• Intensive mixing operations applied to dough and
paste-like products

• Mixers used for this type of applications are

characterized by their ability to deliver high rotational
momentum

• Despite the relatively low rotational speed, the energy

input per unit mass of product is considerable

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• Mechanical energy transferred to the material is finally
converted to heat, it is often necessary to provide
kneading machines with cooling jackets to prevent
overheating

• Because of the considerable shear induced by the

operation, kneading often results in extensive changes in
structure at molecular level
– Kneading action is necessary for the ‘development’ of the
gluten proteins in wheat dough
– Plasticization of butter and margarine is also a kneading
operation
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Types of kneading mixers
• Planetary mixer

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Types of kneading mixers
• Horizontal dough mixer

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Types of kneading mixers
• Sigma-blade mixers

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In-flow mixing
• Liquid, gases or particulate solids flowing through piping or
equipment may be mixed without mechanical mixers, simply
by using turbulence

• By inserting into the flow channel specially shaped elements,

regular flow patterns may be distorted. This kind of mixing is
also known as ‘passive mixing’
• Devices causing acceleration of the fluid, such as Venturi tubes
and other kinds of restrictions may be used for in-flow mixing.
• In-flow passive mixers are particularly useful in continuous
processes. They are not very efficient for heavy mixing duty,
such as mixing very viscous liquids.
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Mixing of Particulate Solids
• Mixing powders is more difficult than blending liquids,
mainly because of the tendency of powders to segregate

• Powder mixtures consist of particles of different size,

shape and density. Different particles move differently
under the action of mixing forces. Thus, movement in a
powder bulk may promote, at the same time, mixing and
segregation (demixing)

• Segregation is more serious in free-flowing powders than

in cohesive ones.
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Quality of mixing, the concept of ‘mixedness’

• The importance of good mixing of powder mixtures in

food processing cannot be overemphasized
• Uneven distribution of a vitamin in a powder product
intended for infant feeding can have disastrous
consequences.
• Imperfect mixing of salt and leavening agent in self-
rising flour would cause serious customer
dissatisfaction

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Equipment for mixing particulate solids
• Diffusive (passive) mixers:
– Homogeneity is achieved as a result of the random motion of
the particles when the particle is in flow under the effect of
gravity or vibration, without mechanical agitation
– The mechanism is assimilated to ‘diffusion’, in reference to
the random movement of molecules.
– There is almost no shear
– These mixers are particularly suitable for particulates that
require gentle mixing, such as fragile agglomerates, but they
do not perform well with cohesive powders.

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• Convective (active) mixers:
– Mixing is achieved by mechanical agitation
– Parts of the bulk material are ‘conveyed’ with respect to each
other by the action of impellers or turbulent gas flow
– Shearing occurs and may be considerable

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• In practice, most powder mixers function by a
combination of both mechanisms
• In addition to mixing, powder mixers may perform
other functions in powder processing technology. Some
of these additional functions are:
– Particle coating
– Agglomeration
– Admixture of liquids (such as fat into a dry soup mixture)
– Drying
– Size reduction, change of particle shape

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Drum blender

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Tumbler mixers

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Paddle mixer

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Trough mixers
• Ribbon mixer

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