In operations of powder-liquid mixing, the conventional feeding method of manually opening the lid, pouring powders directly from a bag to the inlet lies a number of hidden costs: powders may float away during feeding, causing wastage; powders are not properly wetted before mixing, causing occurrence of agglomerates; powder dusts spread around working spaces, some might be hazardous and causing health issues.

In response to these problems, SGN engaged on developing a technology to realize full-automatic powder-liquid mixing within an enclosed system.

SGN’s advanced powder-liquid mixers, GLC2000 and GBI2000, both support inline operation, using negative pressure to suction materials to replace manual pouring, using instant pre-wetting and high-shear dispersion to replace conventional stirring. These equipment enables high-quality powder-liquid mixing in automatic conditions.

Pain Points in Powder-Liquid Mixing

In traditional powder-liquid mixing processes, there are three recurring problems that are difficult to resolve:

1. During manual pouring-feeding, inevitably there is a proportion of light powders that floats into the air, resulting in losses of materials, risks of pollution, and potential health issues.

2. As powders are poured into liquid medium, it is much more likely to form fish-eye shaped agglomerates on the surface of liquid, which are hard to break in further processes, causing degradation on final product quality.

3. The quantity of manual feeding each time is not standardized and not controllable, operations rely on the operator’s experiences; the product ratio and weight of each batch are inconsistent.

Targeted Solutions to the Problems

SGN’s powder-liquid mixing equipment features a fully enclosed operational environment, in order to resolve these aforementioned problems effectively.

1. Dustless Feeding, Automatic Material Introduction via Negative Pressure

Powder and liquid are stored in separated spaces in advance, and they have individual inlets to enter the main body; materials are weighted before feeding to ensure accuracy. As operation begins, the working chamber generates negative pressure to suction material, which does not cause pollution.

2. Instant Wetting, Preventing Agglomeration From the Beginning

The moment when powders are drawn to working chamber, they come in contact with the rapidly flowing liquid medium, so all powders are wetted (coated by liquid) instantly, eliminating any chances for solid agglomeration to form.

3. Multi-Stage High-Shear Dispersion, Achieving Uniformity in One Run

Wetted materials then enter working chamber consisting of multiple stages of rotor-stator structure with high-precision teeth. Under joint forces of shearing, collision, and liquid turbulence, powders are evenly dispersed into liquid. With only one run through the mixer, a smooth, stable, uniform mixture can be obtained.

The entire process can be operated continuously inline, without needing a transfer tank; it does not take a long time to process. The final product has high quality, accurate powder-liquid ratio, and there is no differences in each batch of product.

Applicable Fields of Our Equipment

New Energies: lithium-ion battery anode & cathode material, electric-conductive carbon, carbon nanotube slurry, etc.

Fine Chemicals: industrial coating, carbon black paste, pigment, dye, resin, etc.

Pharmaceutics: APIs, medical adjuvent, ointment, oral solution, etc.

Foods: milk powder, pectin, xanthan gum, food additive, etc.

Cosmetics and Household Chemicals: skin cream, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.