Category Archives: Chemical Industry

Production of liquid medicines

Chemical Industry
liquid medicines

Medicine in liquid form released over the counter are obtained by mixing or dissolving the active ingredients in various solvents: ethanol, water, oils, etc. There is also an alternative method of manufacturing medicine in liquid form – extracting active ingredients from plant products.

The basic requirement for such medicine is dispersed and homogeneous distribution of the active substance in a liquid dispersion medium

The classification of liquid forms is based on the degree of grinding of the active substance and the nature of its connection with the dispersion medium. There are 4 liquid forms:

  • Emulsion;
  • Suspension;
  • True solutions;
  • Colloidal solutions.

Also available are medicines that are combinations of the above types of liquid forms. They are extracts, infusions, tinctures, etc.

The reasons for the wide use of liquid medicine

Biopharmaceutical research proved that the use of liquid medication has a more pronounced effect on the process of healing. In addition, liquids have a number of other advantages, among which:

  • Simplicity and ease of use;
  • Faster absorption;
  • Masking unpleasant taste and odor;
  • Variety of use.

Production of liquid forms of medicine

Production of liquid medicine is based on the mixing process. Mixing achieves the homogeneity of medicine distribution in the dispersing medium

The CLM colloid mill by GlobeCore disperses the chemicals in a liquid medium in a process called “wet” grinding. Also, there are other forces that enhance the impact in the colloid mills by GlobeCore; cavitation, mashing and centrifugal force between rotor and stator changing particle size.

The CLM colloid mills make highly stable and ultra-fine medicinal emulsions, suspensions and solutions, which do not separate during prolonged storage and retain their healing properties.

Colloid Mill for Chemical Industry: Paint Production

Chemical Industry, ,

Paint is a binder or a paste, dispersed in a dispersed medium.  The production of paints and varnishes includes the following stages:

1. raw material purchasing;

2. raw material processing;

(a) pre-mixing;

(b) dispersion – blending of particles to the desired consistency of the product;

(c) letdown stage; and

3. Packing.

The most complex and energy consuming stage of paint production is the blending of components and pigment dispersion in film forming agents and their solvents.

GlobeCore has developed an advanced technology that provides for grinding and dispersion, realized in the KLM colloid mill.  This unit is designed for processing and homogenizing of suspensions, emulsions and paste-like materials.  The desired degree of fineness is provided by an adjustable gap between the mill rotor and the stator.

The production of paints and varnishes with the help of colloid mills allows you to:

  • get a high degree of product homogeneity; and
  • to ensure effective production.

The required degree of the pigment’s fineness is achieved not only by high angular velocity and small gaps, but also by the friction force.  The irregular surface of a rotor and a stator creates increased turbulence which breaks downthe particles of a product.

Cavitation reactors

Chemical Industry,
CLM-4.1-colloid mill GlobeCore

Thanks to the combination of developments in acoustics, hydrodynamics and chemical kinetics, a new promising device is entering the market: the cavitation reactors, employed for processing of suspensions, emulsions and for intensification of chemical processes in solutions. These devices are can be used either separately (in laboratory test-benches) or in industrial mixing processes. In today’s market, two main types of cavitation reactors are available: the ultrasonic cavitation reactors and the hydrodynamic cavitation reactors. The latter are more popular due to simpler design, reliability and reasonable cost.

The modern cavitation reactor allows to continuously disperse (atomize a solid component), homogenize (further atomization of a fraction and increasing the uniformity of its distribution in a liquid), disintegration (breaking of complex substances into components), deagglomeration (destruction of particle agglomerates), as well as produce stable emulsions on industrial scale.

Any cavitation reactor is based on initiation of cavitation processes in the medium pumped through the reactor. Local low pressure due to the change of flow rate (hydrodynamic cavitation) or passing of a powerful sound wave (acoustic cavitation) cause intensive formation of cavities, which then collapse, generating shockwaves. In the hydrodynamic mixer, the process occurs when the liquid mix passes through specially profiled nozzles. In hydrodynamic reactos of advanced design, nozzle geometry is variable, facilitating control of the flow parameters depending of the liquid properties and the required result.

Beside geometric parameters of the cavitation reactor proper, it efficiency significantly depends on operating pressure in the reactor and the temperature of the liquid (emulsion or suspension). For instance, if the pressure of the liquid passing through the reactor is increased from 5 to 15 bar, the cavitation process is tens of times more intensive. It should be noted that the maximum intensity of the reaction process with increase of the pressure shifts towards elevated temperatures. It has been experimentally proven, that the optimal cavitation occurs when the liquid is heated to 65% of its boiling temperature at the current operating pressure.

In the process of operation, the internal surface of the mixing chamber and the nozzles of the cavitation reactor come under a significant loads, therefore, the responsible manufacturers of such devices, such as GlobeCore, use super strong materials, stable to both impact loads and abrasion. If the liquids to be processed are chemically active, the chemical stability of the reactor’s construction material is a factor.

The cavitation reactor made by GlobeCore as a part of the biodiesel production line is used to make the processed feedstock more uniform. Under the stress of cavitation shock waves, the molecular bounds of the biofeedstock are broken, and the particle size decreases to 1 – 8 micron. Processing in hydrodynamic mixer also increases the area of application of bacteria, intensifying biogas production by 30 – 50%.

The GlobeCore cavitation reactors are versatile in terms of processed media, compact and reliable, and hold a leading place in the world market in terms of price to quality ratio.

Colloid Mill for Catalyst Injection

Chemical Industry,

Catalysts are special substances that speed up chemical reactions while remaining unchanged themselves.  Unlike other reagents, catalysts remain unchanged when the process is finished.  The reaction proceeds more slowly or does not proceed at all without catalysts.  The essence of catalytic reactions can be summarized as follows: First, the catalyst reacts with original substance.  An intermediate compound undergoes changes and then divides into a product and a catalyst.  This process repeats in the cycle up to a million times.

There are homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts.  Homogeneous catalysts are in one phase with reacting substances and heterogeneous catalysts form an independent phase, being separated from the phase of reacting substances by a boundary line.

Acids and bases are often used as homogeneous catalysts and metals, such as oxides and sulfides are used as heterogeneous ones.  In biochemical reactions, enzymes act as catalysts.  For industrial purposes, homogeneous catalysts are used to obtain alcohols, nitrobenzene and other nitro compounds, such as acetic acids, aldehydes, and medicines.  The main difference between homogeneous catalysis and heterogeneous catalysts is that homogeneous catalysts require the reactions to proceed in the whole mixture.  Only in this case it is possible to reach the highest levels of catalyst’s efficiency.

In practice,  it may be troublesome to choose equipment that is able to provide an even distribution of catalyst throughout the whole reagent.  GlobeCore colloid mills meet all the requirements listed above.  GlobeCore Colloid mills are designed to obtain high-stable colloidal solutions, fine suspensions, mixtures, and emulsions.

The operational principle of colloid mills is based on centrifugal force and high relative speed between a rotor and a stationary stator that provide an even distribution of catalyst throughout the whole reagent.  As a result, the final substance becomes homogeneous that makes it possible to reach the highest level of catalyst’s efficiency.

GlobeCore produces both industrial (CLM-4, CLM-18, CLM-22) and laboratory models of colloid mills (CLM-05.3).

Colloid mills for industrial purposes are used to increase the efficiency of technological processes such as the production of medicines, acetic acid, aldehydes, alcohols, nitrobenzene, and terephthalic acid.

Laboratory models of colloid mills are used in special chemical laboratories to explore new catalysts or to find new application areas of existing ones.

Toothpaste Production

Chemical Industry,

Nowadays, we can’t even imagine our lives without toothpaste.  In general, they consist of abrasives, binding components, surfactants, aromatics, and antiseptics.  Often, such chemical elements known as ‘propyl p-hydroxybenzoate‘ are used as an antiseptic. Additionally, pastes may contain various medical and preventive additives such as chlorophyllin sodium, provitamins and vitamins, herbal infusions, salts, microcomponents, and enzymes.

The following details the toothpaste production process.  At the first stage, sodium carboxymethylcellulose solution is prepared: first it is soaked for 24 hours.  Then, such components as glycerin, perfume oil, and chalk are added to the mixture that is constantly blended.  At the final stage, the resulting mixture is supplied to a special homogeniser with a colloid mill.  It is the colloid mill that gives the toothpaste plastic like qualities.  Then, a special automatic machine fills and seals the tubes with paste which are then placed in boxes for shipment and sale.

As we can see, one of the most important stages of toothpaste production is giving it plastic properties since these qualities are of great importance.  GlоbeCоre has developed and is still producing colloid mills to obtain high-stable solutions, superfine suspensions, mixtures, emulsions, and toothpastes.  The GlobeCore colloid mills may be mounted into the existing equipment since the gap between a rotor and a stator is adjustable.  GlоbeCоre equipment has been recognized as an industry leader in more than 70 countries around the world.

Machine for bitumen emulsion production

Chemical Industry, Construction industry, Road construction industry, Solutions

What is a “bitumen emulsion”?

An emulsion a fine dispersion of minute droplets of one liquid in another in which it is not soluble or miscible. In the case of a bitumen emulsion bitumen droplets are distributed in the water. The latter contains a surfactant – an emulsifier for stabilizing the emulsion.

 

Bitumen emulsion properties

The most important property of bitumen emulsion is the rate of decay on the surface of the mineral material. This serves as an indicator for its use in a particular industry.

During a reaction between cationic bitumen emulsion and a filler decay begins almost immediately. The water is rapidly displaced from the surface of the mineral material and is then evaporated. Upon contact between bitumen emulsion and stone emulsifier decreases in volume, which decrease the stability of the emulsion and produces bitumen.

Uniform distribution over treated surfaces is possible due to the relatively low viscosity of bitumen emulsions, which saves huge volumes or bitumen.

 

Benefits of bitumen emulsion

Application of bitumen emulsion in construction instead of the traditional “hot” technology allows you to:

  • reduce energy consumption by almost half by eliminating the need for heating before use;
  • conserve bitumen by 20-30%;
  • ensure full adhesion to the base of the road;
  • combine emulsion with wet solids;
  • carry out work from early spring to late autumn;
  • achieve flexibility in conduct of operations.

In addition, the bitumen emulsion is fireproof and environmentally friendly. Its use eliminates the possibility of burns and improves the safety of the workplace.

 

Bitumen emulsion production

For production of bitumen emulsion GlobeCore company recommends to use the model type UVB-1.

This machine produces bitumen emulsions by passing a mixture of hot bitumen and water through a special dispersing device – a colloid mill (between the rotating rotor and a stationary stator).

The aqueous solution is prepared in a special container where heated water, emulsifier, acid/alkali, add other additives are mixed. The resulting solution is then thoroughly mixed.

At the customer’s request, the machine can be custom made:

  • RAMS;
  • sea container with space for an operator (mobile and stationary models);
  • container coated in leather panels (mobile and fixed version).

Model type UVB-1 can be manufactures with different production rates, allowing you to choose the right model for a small repair shop or a full asphalt plant.

What emulsions may be prepared using model UVB-1?

Model UVB- 1 is intended for all types of bitumen emulsions:

  • road works with emulsifier, viscous oil, and shale bitumen;
  • waterproofing with high viscosity oil emulsifier for waterproofing work , including Roofing and hydraulic;
  • treatment with high viscosity emulsifier and natural and synthetic rubber ( latex ) for water-emulsion paints;
  • Special purpose (greasing of precast concrete parts in the manufacturing process, metal tool cooling in the machining and fabrication process, etc.).