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Universalization of equipment is one of the most important and urgent tasks. It means: a single device performing various operations. The benefits of it are obvious: with the right approach, you can significantly reduce costs while maintaining the required quality of the products.

Dispersers and homogenizers are widely used in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, road construction, etc. They cover each other’s functions: a disperser grinds the particles of the substances, and a homogenizer makes the product homogeneous. Very often in literature these terms are used as synonyms, although in reality these devices are different. Although it can be said that a homogenizer is a disperser. There are devices that successfully combine the functions of homogenization and dispersion – they are colloid mills.

Colloidal grinding result in particle size that are equal to fractions of the micrometer. Almost always a colloidal grinding is wet. Depending on the kind of the crushed material, the ratio of solid and liquid phases can vary from 1: 2 to 1: 6. One of the main requirements for a dispersive medium is that it should not dissolve a dispersed phase.

The company GlobeCore produces colloidal mills of the KLM type, which obtain highly stable solutions, ultrathin suspensions, mixtures and emulsions. Thus, a colloid mill KLM can be successfully used in production  that needs a combination of both a dispersant and the homogenizer.

The factors  that affect the raw materials in KLM are:

• complex geometric reliefs of rotor surface increases turbulence that shears the product particles;
• centrifugal forces;
• high relative speed between a rotating rotor and a stationary stator;
• grinding;
• cavitation.

GlobeCore colloid mills can be successfully integrated into existing technological lines, increasing their efficiency. The quality grinding, is achieved through optimal ratio of the dispersed and dispersive phases.

High-pressure homogenizers work with a low-viscous dispersions. Such devices operate in a continuous mode.

Homogenizers of high pressure are divided into counter jet dispersers, axial nozzle systems and radial diffusers. Jet dispersers collide two or more jets at high speed. The pressure of homogenization and the flow rate of substances can be adjusted by changing the gap width (with the help of flap-valve).

In axial nozzle systems the liquid moves through a nozzle at high pressure that creates cavitation and turbulent flow conditions. These two schemes are combined joining a nozzle and valves.

The main feature of jet dispersers and axial nozzle systems is the absence of moving elements, which allows to create a higher pressure in comparison with the radial diffusers.

Homogenization under high pressure creates turbulent flow condition, cavitation and shear forces. The resulting emulsion droplet size is determined by pressure, temperature, flow rate, dispersed phase concentration,which in turn depends on the valve design of a homogenizer.

High-pressure homogenizers can be used to produce so-called nano-emulsions, with a droplet diameter 100 nm or less. At the same time, such homogenizers are not recommended for preparation of emulsions with  dispersed phase having a high viscosity. This is due to a greater diameter of the droplets.

Robot Coupe food processor is an appliance that creates homogeneous food mixtures. In fact, these processors are hand mixers for household kitchens. In a restaurant such homogenizer is irreplaceable. But if you need to produce a certain products in large quantities? Of course, you would use an industrial analogue of Robot Coupe.

Other devices that perform homogenization can be considered as substitutes. For our part, we offer your consideration a colloid mill KLM. First a colloid mill appeared at the beginning of the last century, and since then this device has found its applications in many industries: pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, road construction, food industry, etc.

Among the advantages of KLM colloid mill from GlobeCore are homogenization and dispersing the particles of the processed products. The degree of grinding is 1 μm.

KLM colloid mill achieves uniformity, fineness and homogeneity of the products due to centrifugal force and a high relative speed of the magnetic field between a rotating rotor and stationary stator. The mill uses so-called “wet grinding”. Particle reduction to the required degree is done through increased turbulence, which is created due to the complex geometric reliefs of rotor surface. Also a colloidal mill creates cavitation that enhances the impact on the processed raw materials.

For production in industrial quantities, the initial components at a set ratio of solid and liquid phases are fed into the colloid mill KLM to achieve the necessary productivity.

For the needs of the food industry, GlobeCore produces colloid mills with capacity 22 m3/h. However, it is possible to fulfill individual orders with adjustment of design and performance to solve specific problems.

The degree of grinding can vary depending on the physical and mechanical properties of the crushed material phase.

Homogenizers are widely used in various industries. Such devices are designed to obtain stable homogeneous mixtures of multiple components, thoroughly crushing the disperse phases, with the introduction of surfactants for the stability of the mixture.

The manufacturers of homogenizers supply the market with the following types of devices:

• Mechanical;
• Ultrasonic;
• High-pressure homogenizers.

GlobeCore developed KLM colloid mill homogenizers that grind the materials to a particle size of 1 micron. The important advantage of the colloid mill is non aggregation of particles due to wet grinding.

The ratio of liquid and solid phases is determined by the type of processed  materials and can vary from 1:2 to 1:6.

The KLM colloid mill are successfully used in the preparation of food emulsions and suspensions, the production of modified bitumen, bitumen emulsions, varnishes, paints, etc.

The processed material passes through the gap between the rotor and the stator. The centrifugal force rotates the particles around their axis and ruptures them. The grinding effect in the GlobeCore colloid mills is enhanced by other phenomena, such as cavitation and mashing.

In addition, there are other benefits that allow KLM colloid mill to hold a leading position in homogenization on the market:

• The variety of design of electric motors (general purpose industrial version or explosion proof), depending on the conditions of future operation;
• Adjustment of the fineness of grinding;
• Obtaining stable products with the desired performance;
• A high degree of homogenization;
• The mills are constructed from the material requested by the customer (black metal, stainless steel, chemical stainless steel, etc.).

The exact structure of a homogenizer depends on its model. In this article we will examine the overall structure of a homogenizer.

An industrial homogenizer consists of a frame, a crankshaft and connecting rod assembly, a plunger and a homogenizing and manometric head. Also, it includes lubrication and cooling systems, a safety valve and a drive motor.

The crank and connecting rod assembly is necessary to convert the rotary motion of the motor shaft into the reciprocating motion of the plungers. The crankshaft  and connecting rod assembly consists of:

• Housing;
• Crankshaft;
• Bearing caps;
• Rods with covers and liners;
• Slide blocks;
• Cylinder block
• Housing cover;
• The driven wheel.

The force-feed lubrication system consists of mesh filter, oil pump, distribution boxes, safety valve and pressure gauge.

The plunger is attached to the body of the crankshaft and connecting-rod transmission and is designed to suck the treated product from the flow line and inject it into the homogenising head.

The safety valve is set for the maximum pressure by rotation of the adjusting screw.

The steel frame is mounted on four supports. The casing protects the items from damage and also gives the desired product form.

The product is supplied by the pump to the plunger. Then it enters under pressure to the homogenising head and passes at high speed through the circular clearance, where dispersion occurs.

Many of our customers enquire about the purchase of a disperser when they already have a blender. The purpose of both devices is very similar.  Let’s consider the cases when it is better to use a blender and a homogenizer.

The main difference is that the blender stirs the raw material and the disperser mixes and evenly distributes the components achieving uniformity throughout the mixture. Theoretically, it is possible to obtain emulsion or suspension using a high speed mixer. But there is no guarantee in stability of the mixture, because it contains large particles. After a short time the mixture will inevitably separate. The disperser can provide achieve particle size of 1 micron or even less, thereby ensuring stability and longevity of the mixture.

Some confusion may also occur when choosing between a disperser and a homogenizer. As mentioned above, the main function of a disperser is grinding of substances. A homogenizer is used for mixing solid and liquid components to uniform consistent mixtures. At the same time, the term “homogenization” is also applicable in case of substances which under normal conditions are immiscible or poorly miscible with each other. A well known homogenizer a KLM colloid mill by GlobeCore, operating on the principle of “wet milling”.

In a colloid mill, the centrifugal force and high relative speed between the rotating rotor and a stationary stator turn liquid and semi-liquid materials into uniform, finely dispersed and homogeneous mixtures. The KLM unit simultaneously disperses and homogenizes the processed substances.

The equipment can be used both as an independent unit and as an integral part of a production line. The integration process is easy and simple.

Industrial mixer. Nowadays many industrial processes are based on mixing. It applies to the pharmaceutical, chemical, food industries, and metallurgy as well as agriculture and agricultural chemistry.

The variety of physical and chemical characteristics of the processed materials poses a challenge of choosing the optimal mixer from the variety of the devices available on the market.

In general, an industrial mixer must meet the following requirements:

• Uniform distribution of starting materials
• Absence of voids and clots in a mixture;
• Simple design;
• Reliable operation;
• Full compliance with health and safety regulations.

The structure of the most typical mixers consists of the following parts:

• Mixing drum;
• Loading mechanism;
• Unloading mechanism;
• Engine;
• Transfer mechanisms;
• Frame.

The mixing process takes place in the drum. The raw material is fed into the drum by the loading mechanism and the finished mixture is removed by the unloading mechanism. The transfer mechanisms provide a torque transmission from the motor shaft to the moving parts of the mixer. All parts are mounted on the frame.

The quality of the resulting mixture is influenced by:

• The relative velocity of the moving parts of the mixer and the mixture;
• The volume of the treated material;
• The duration of the mixing process.

When the mixer is chosen correctly, the mixing process achieves better results and reduces energy consumption.

However, the research to develop the new and more efficient mixers continues. Its goal is to reduce metal consumption and the cost of maintenance and increase performance efficiency. The last criteria strives to increase the amount of produced product with decreased energy consumption.

Material dispersion. Most dispersion methods are physical, based on overcoming the intermolecular forces by a physical process. Under the influence of such processes the solid matter is abraded, crushed, and split.

In industrial applications, this effect is achieved by crushers and mills of various designs.

A ball mill is a hollow rotating cylinder with steel  or ceramic balls inside. The grinding is achieved by the rotation of the cylinder, and the rolling balls crushing the processed material. The main drawback of a ball mill is that the size of the resulting particles are of a fairly wide range, from 2 to 70 microns.

A vibrating mill is a hollow cylinder with a circular oscillatory movement, where the material is rapidly crushed under the influence of a complex movement of balls.

A colloidal mill  is a device which allows to achieve smaller sizes of particles. The principle of operation of such devices is based on the impact fracturing the particles by centrifugal forces, as they pass through the gap between the rotor and the stator.

Dispersion of the resulting product is determined by the gap width and the rotational speed of the rotor: the higher the speed and the smaller the gap, the higher is the dispersion.

There are also ultrasonic dispersion methods. Ultrasonic cavitation generates shock waves that destroy the processed material. The resulting particle size depends on the frequency of the ultrasonic vibration. The effectiveness of the ultrasonic dispersion increases considerably with pre-grinding of the material.