Chemical Engineering April 2020 - 22

minutes continuously. "
Sieglitz says his company's Continuous
Processor focuses continuous
mixing on a small amount of
material over a short period of time.
" By doing so, we successfully process
the same amount of material,
or more, in a similar timeframe as a
comparable batch mixer. We can do
this with a smaller motor, consuming
less energy, and with a smaller footprint,
saving production floor space.
Typically
there is
also
significantly
less waste using the continuous mixing "
(Figure 5).
In the past, processors shied away
from continuous mixing, even though
it is typically more efficient, because
batch processing provides the ability
to make ingredient changes and
adjustments to improve the final
product when something is out of
specification; whereas with continuous
processing, the recipe has to be
almost perfect because it's difficult
to go back and change things once
the process has begun, or to make
adjustments if a raw material has
variables from day to day. However,
advanced monitoring and control
technologies have made continuous
mixing more feasible.
" Thanks to improved monitoring
and controls, processors are not
as reluctant to move from batch to
continuous mixing, " says Gericke's
Medina. " During continuous mixing,
we can now monitor the feeding
and mixing online, in real time,
to improve the quality and make the
system more reliable, ensuring consistent
and correct product. " The
company's dedicated,
continuous
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22
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8/13/2018 1:30:31 PM
stresses the importance of control
in continuous mixing operations.
" Continuous mixing requires an accurate
feed stream to ensure consistent
quality product. This is accomplished
by specifying the proper
type and size powder feeders and
liquid pumps. Precise control of the
feed streams is also important. We
achieve this using loss-in-weight
technology. A simplified explanation
of this is that the individual feed
streams are accurately controlled by
monitoring and metering using load
cells with a feedback loop to the controller,
which increases or decreases
the motor speed of the pump or
feeder to ensure the feed remains
consistent, regardless of head pressure
or other external variables.
" Making consistent product is imperative
in the chemical processing
industry and continuous mixing eliminates
batch-to-batch variations that
are inherent in that process, " says
Sieglitz. " In addition, there are many
other factors that drive chemical processors
to continuous processing.
Some of these include increased
quality and safety, while others are
interested in reducing floor space,
process steps, waste, environmental
impact, labor, work in process and
cycle time. "
n
Joy LePree
APRIL 2020
http://www.gemu.com http://adlinks.chemengonline.com/76989-19 http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering April 2020
