Tag Archives: Homogenizer

CLM Laboratory Homogenizer

Laboratory equipment, despite its apparent simplicity, plays a crucial role in industrial processes.

To understand this, recall the whole process of designing machines and mechanisms for the production of consumer products, from the beginning. In the first stage a prototype of the equipment is produced, which is then subjected to all kinds of tests, simulating the situations that may arise during industrial operation.

Homogenizers are used for a homogeneous distribution of one substance in another. They are used in such industries as food, chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. In the food industry homogenizers determine the consistency, structure, color, and finally, the palatability of the product. Pharmaceutical and chemical industries also cannot do without homogenizers, because homogenizers affect the speed of reactions in the preparation of suspensions and emulsions.

Laboratory homogenizers are used in the same areas as the industrial ones, but they work with small amounts of substances. As noted above, they are necessary for simulation of industrial production, formulation of new recipes, as well as research.

GlobeCore manufactures a CLM laboratory homogenizer (colloid mill) with the processing capacity up to 1.8 m3 / hour. Unlike its “big brothers”, a laboratory version of the CLM has a compact design (720/700/1330 mm). Depending on the characteristics of the future use of the device it can be made of chemically resistant stainless steel, black metal or stainless steel.

The operating principle of laboratory homogenizers GlobeCore is based on the centrifugal force and the high relative velocity between the rotor and the stator, achieving homogeneity of semi-liquid materials.

CLM  homogenizers’ great advantage is that they can also disperse the processed products in the process of homogenization.

Choosing a Homogenizer

Choosing a Homogenizer. The modern market economy demands that production costs must be reduces as much as possible without degrading the quality of the product.

In this context, the most promising direction is saving on resources and energy. One way of achieving this is to replace the existing equipment with new, power efficient system and to develop more efficient production technologies.

Choosing a Homogenizer. The above motivates businesses to perfect their technology processes and equipment. One of the examples of this approach is to improve certain processes and using colloid mill homogenizers, which are successfully used in the food industry in production of mayonnaise, milk, juice with pulp and various mixed foods. Hence the interest of many businesses in homogenizers and the question of which product to choose. The essence of the process is mixing of various components (liquids or powders). The quality of the resulting product is controlled by uniformity and texture.

Colloid mill homogenizers show a range of advantages compared to other types of devices.

The advantages are as follows:

  • ability to combine the processes of homogenization and dispersion of the product;
  • a heating or cooling jacket allows to control process temperature;
  • high degree of homogenization (particle size as small as 1 micron);
  • easy retrofitting of the mill into existing production lines;
  • ability to adjust pulverization and pumping depending on the properties of the processed materials.

Therefore, colloid mill homogenizers are the most efficient type of equipment for intensive hydromechanical and mass exchange processes.

Bentonitic Oil Homogenizer

Bentonitic Oil Homogenizer. Homogenization (mechanical treatment) is the main stage of bentonitic oil production.

Homogenization evenly distributes the thickening agent in the oil, increasing its effect, making the oil’s texture more uniform and improving the oil’s appearance. Besides, homogenization breaks the condensation structure and creates coagulated thixotropic structure, improving mechanical and colloidal stability along with other parameters.

Rotational, valve and slotted devices are operating at low and high pressures respectively are mostly used for oil homogenization. These are usually used in the final stage of oil production for a one time homogenization. At the same time, multiple homogenization is performed in continuous processes at each production stage. In this case, the product circulates at a relatively low pressure difference in slot valve homogenizers, installed directly on the process pipeline. Three-roller grinder mills, colloid mills and high pressure homogenizers (slot valve) are mostly used for mechanical treatment of oil. Although these machines operate on different principles, the main method of mechanical treatment is the gradual passage of oil through a narrow slot (0.3 – 0.5 mm) between friction surfaces.

A 50 kg per hour three-roller grinding machine consists of parallel and horizontal china, basalt or metal rollers with smooth surface. The rollers with adjustable gap rotate at different speed: 38, 16 and 6.5 RPM (the latter also oscillates laterally). The different rotation speed, facilitated by the different gears, makes the oil coming from the process pipeline, pass between the rollers. The homogenization occurs due to pulverization of solid particles in the gaps between the rollers, their grinding due to the different rotation speeds and grinding in the gap due to vibration of the third roller.

The colloid mill is designed to make highly stable colloid solutions. The mill is based on wet grinding principle, since the cones of the rotor and the stator have a wider gap at the inlet and more narrow gap at the outlet. The complex micro-profile of the rotor surface ensures fine grinding.

In a high pressure homogenizer, particles are pulverized by passing the material through a narrow slot at pressure up to 20 MPa. Speed and turbulence of the flow sharply increase in the gap, shear forces act on the particles, and cavitation occurs due to the pressure drop. Homogenizer main parts are the bushing and the valve, between which the oil passes.

Homogenizer vs Colloid Mill

Chemical, food, construction and many other industries cannot do without the preparation of different suspensions, emulsions and colloid solutions.  They include lubricating oil emulsions, fuel emulsions, polymer modified bitumen as well as a wide range of food fat emulsions.  Additionally, many kinds of gels, creams, and pastes are included in this list, so the list is virtually endless.

To obtain high quality homogeneous multi-component mixtures and colloid solutions, the production facilities use special blending units that consist of a dispenser.  The dispenser is used for superfine grinding of solid and liquid components.  If the  production method requires a grinding down of the liquid fraction and evenly distributing it in a liquid basis, (dispersed  medium) or requires preparing the suspension with a small amount of a solid phase, they routinely use a homogenizer.

The emulsion’s segregation  resistance  must be determined, first of all, by the  size of the dispersed phase.  For example, in a stable water-fat emulsion, the droplet size should be no more than 5 microns which can be produced by a modern centrifugal (rotary) homogenizer.  A rotary homogenizer is used  to reduce the droplet size of the emulsion to between 1 and 2 microns, also known as the so called secondary homogenization.

Many years ago, valve homogenizers were widely used and accepted as standard within industry.  Now the preference is given  to  the centrifugal (rotary) homogenizers due to the following benefits:

(1) Reduction of the processed materials down to 1 micron; (2) compact size of the equipment; (3) low power consumption; (4) simple design; and (5) high degree of reliability.

Depending on the model, the homogenozer’s rotor speed varies from 2,000 to 18,000 rpm.  The intensive vortexing and micro cavitation processes ensure the homogenization and stability of the mixture.  If the technological process or recipe requires the production of a suspension with a large content of a solid phase (up to 40%) or a high stable emulsion, or a fine suspension, then solid and liquid  substances are mixed in a colloid mill (dispergator).

A colloid mill allows not only for the intensive blending of particles and droplets in a suspension or thick emulsion, but also for grinding solid fractions of the suspension (emulsion droplets) down to the size of between 1 and 2 microns producing high-quality suspensions and emulsions.

In terms of design, colloid mills resemble rotary (centrifugal) homogenizers.  The wet method is the basis for the grinding of solids in a colloid mill.  The main working body of a colloid mill, as well as a homogenizer, is constituted by a pair of drives.  One of the drives serves as a stator and another as a rotor.

The linear velocity of the rotating drive surface can work up 125 m/s.  This high speed provides the intensive turbulent processes in the intradiscal space that contributes to the effective grinding of the dispersed phase.  It ensures even distribution in the processed and dispersed medium.

The practice has shown that modern twenty first century colloid mills  can provide the highest degree of dispersion and emulsification that meets the  requirements of the majority of industrial technological processes.