Chemical Engineering July 2023 - 14

Newsfront
Innovations in Mixing
Maximize Efficiency
Developments in mixing technologies permit efficient use of energy and resources and manage
challenging applications
M
ixing equipment hadn't
changed much in the
past 50 years until recently
when chemical
processors began demanding more
efficiency from their mixing operations
due to current industry challenges,
including tighter budgets,
aggressive sustainability goals and
problematic applications. As a result,
providers of mixing equipment are
finding innovative ways to maximize
efficiency and throughput and are rethinking
existing mixing technologies
for difficult applications.
" The biggest challenge chemical
plant operators face in their mixing
operations is the efficient use
of energy and resources to achieve
a reliable and good quality of mixture, "
says Raul Gonzalo, director of
operations and sales with ProSep,
Inc. (Houston; www.prosep.com).
" Many times operators are limited
to conventional mixing methods
that do not provide proper contact
between the additives and the main
process stream, resulting in poor
utilization and requiring overdosage
of the chemicals to achieve the
desired process results. Many of
the conventional static mixers on
the market use complex internal arrangements
that generate modest
mixture quality at the expense of
high pressure drop and potential accumulation
of solids and blockage
of the pipeline, resulting in recurring
shutdowns for maintenance. "
Gonzalo continues: " This causes
additional issues because efficient
use of energy and resources is crucial
for the sustainable operation of
any process or industry. If not done
efficiently, mixing operations can consume
a significant amount of energy
and resources, leading to increased
costs and environmental impact. "
Stephen J. Knauth, marketing and
technical manager with Munson Machinery
Co. (Utica, N.Y.; www.munsonmachinery.com)
agrees: " Virtually
every processor strives for a mixing
process that will achieve total uniformity
in the least amount of time
with the least degradation, waste,
cleaning time, capital cost and operational
cost. However, which mixer
of the many types available will best
achieve those requirements will depend
on wide-ranging application requirements,
including, but not limited
to, material characteristics, capacity,
heat generation, degradation, shear,
contact with seals or bearings, cycle
times, residual material, cleaning
time, energy use, footprint, capital
cost and operational cost. "
Munson Machinery
FIGURE 1. Compared to a typical blender, Munson
Machinery's rotary batch mixer blends in half the
time of a typical ribbon blender, requires half the
horsepower and consumes one-quarter to onethird
of the energy
14
Manage specific challenges
Because of the diversity of mixing
applications, providers of mixing
equipment are trying new approaches
to a variety of
mixing
technologies to help chemical proProSep
FIGURE
2. ProSep's high efficiency annular injection
mixer is suitable for injecting, dispersing and
mixing liquids into multiphase or gaseous streams,
and in some cases into liquid streams with low
viscosity
cessors manage their specific challenges.
For example, in situations
where energy usage is of increasing
importance relative to processing
costs and environmental sustainability,
Munson Machinery's rotary
batch mixer (Figure 1) blends in half
the time of a typical ribbon blender,
requires half the horsepower and
consumes one-quarter to one-third
of the energy, the company says.
But in instances where the energy
and shear imparted by a ribbon
blender may be necessary to break
down agglomerates and combine
solids with high volumes of liquids,
higher energy use may be unavoidable,
so the company's variable intensity
mixer or its cylindrical plow
blender, both of which impart energy
and shear, may be a suitable
choice relative to power consumption
and other processing variables.
ProSep's Gonzalo acknowledges
that for many processors, there is an
important distinction between mixing
and mixing efficiently. " Mixing efficiently
refers to the ability to achieve a
good quality mixture with an optimum
use of energy and our high-efficiency
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JULY 2023
http://www.munsonmachinery.com http://www.munsonmachinery.com http://www.prosep.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering July 2023

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