Structuring of Batch Mixer Loading to Improve Mixing Time and Mixture Quality of Solids

A simple yet informative model was built to estimate the influence of the initial distribution of dissimilar particulate solids to be mixed on the mixing time and mixture quality, and a way was searched to reduce the negative influence of segregation on the mixing process. The influence of segregation is particularly strong when it is necessary to mix a small amount of a key component with a large amount of a basic one. It is shown that the mixing time and mixture quality can be noticeably improved by introducing a premixing stage that consists in loading the key component in layers distributed over the basic component. A possible technical solution for such loading is also proposed. Experimental tests of such lab-scale vibration mixer proved its efficiency.