Application and selection

of
mixers

1. Mixing functions
Mixing is a process for getting all ingredients blended

with each other by external forces so that a small unit

volume of the batch possesses the same composition
and characteristics as the entire mixture.
Mixing is an important link for ensuring compound
feed quality and improving feeding performance.
Meanwhile, the production rate of a mixer determines
the scale of a feed mill. Therefore, the mixer is one of
the most important machineries in feed industry.

2. The process steps that need mixing

There are two process steps that need mixing operation in a feed mill:
1. Premixing: It is to mix all micro-components needed for animal
growth such as added vitamins, minerals, medicines, etc. with a
carrier preliminarily before being added to the main mixture so as to
shorten the mixing retention of the complete compound feed, which is
predicated on the homogeneous distribution of micro-components. A
premixer is usually adopted for this purpose.
2. Final step mixing: All feed ingredients are weighed according to the
required proportions and fed into the mixer to be made into the
complete compound feed products needed for animal growth.

3. Mixing process
There are three main mixing modes on the basis of

different external forces: diffusion mixing, convection

mixing and shearing mixing. Additionally, there are
also the impacting mixing that is resulted by the
dispersion of each single ingredient particle impacting
with the mixer walls and the crushing mixing because
of the deformation and rubbing or kneading of material
particles.

4. Classification of mixers
In light of the weighing method of a proportioner,

mixers can be divided into the batch mixer and

continuous mixer.
On the basis of layout, mixers can be divided into
vertical mixers and horizontal mixers.
According rotor structure, mixers can be classified
as ribbon mixers and paddle mixers.
In accordance with the structure and working
principle, mixers can be divided into rotary drum
mixers and fixed trough mixers.

Batch Mixers
5. Twin-shaft paddle mixer

The twin-shaft
paddle mixer
consists of a
machine casing, an
outlet and its
sealing, an outlet
control mechanism,
rotors, a main drive,
an geared motor
and its base, an
pipe line for oil
addition, and a
safety guard shield,
etc.

Large access door:

convenient for inspection
and cleaning

The fastening conditions of the

connecting joints must be checked
frequently for protecting against
looseness, which will result in
material leakage due to that the
discharge gate can not be closed
tightly.

Shaft-end packing seal: When a new machine has

been used for 2 3 months, or when material
leakage has been found, the packing gland needs to
be contracted for once so as to compensate the wornout of the packing. As soon as the clearance between
the packing gland and seat disappears, the packing
should be renewed.

This point was found easy to be

damaged because of higher stress,
now it has been improved.

5.1 Structure

The twin-shaft paddle

mixer consists of a
machine casing, an
outlet and its sealing,
an outlet control
mechanism, rotors, a
main drive, an geared
motor and its base, an
pipe line for oil addition,
and a safety guard
shield, etc.

Twin-shaft paddle mixer

1. motor 2. chain drive 3.paddle 4. inlet 5. liquid nozzle
6. sight hole
7. machine body
8. packing gland
9. discharge valve
10. agitating shaft

5.2 Sketch of material movement trace

The material
movement traces
show that
tumbling and
flowing
movements of the
materials coexist,
so the mixing
efficiency is very
good.
I. Sketch of movement traces

II. Sketch of mixing area

5.3 Duplicate-rocking-bar mechanism for

controlling the discharge gate
The position indicated by the solid line is the status for gate closing, and
that indicated by the dot dash line is the status for gate opening.
When the gate is closed , the
parts of 3,5,6,7 must be on a
line.

When the gate is

opened, these parts
can not be on a line.

1. limit switch 2. rocking bar 3. connecting rod 4. universal driving shaft

5. duplicate rocking bar
6. left nut 7. nut
8. joint
9. cylinder

5.4 Selection principle

The twin-shaft paddle mixer features short mixing retention, gentle mixing
action and high mixing homogeneity. The mixing retention for dry
materials is about 45 s; mixing homogeneity can reach CV 5%; and
filling coefficient is as high as 0.4 1.
The mixer is a highly efficient machine, suitable for a wide range of materials,
into which multiple liquids can be added, featuring very good mixing
effects, but residue rate is comparatively higher.
In case more liquid is to be added, the discharge gate must be cleaned
frequently to avoiding stock built-up by the gate, otherwise the gate can
not be closed tightly resulting in material leakage.

5.5 Main data for selecting Series SLHSJ mixers

Capacity
(Kg/batch)

SLHSJ10A

10

5000

55

11340

SLHSJ8A

4000

45

8800

SLHSJ7A

3500

45

8650

SLHSJ4W

2000

30

6720

SLHSJ3A

1500

22

5600

SLHSJ2A

1000

18.5

5180

SLHSJ1A

500

11

2420

SLHSJ0.5A

0.5

250

5.5

1360

SLHSJ0.35A

0.35

175

1210

SLHSJ0.2A

0.2

100

2.2

720

SLHSJ0.1A

0.1

50

2.2

620

SLHSJ0.06A

0.06

25

0.75

370

Model

Time/Batch

Mixing
homogeneity
(cv)

Power
(KW)

Effective
Volume
(m3)

45S60S
(It can be
prolonged
properly
according to
different
materials.)

5%

Weight
(Kg)

6. Premix mixer
6.1 Production characteristics of premix
Compared to normal compound feed manufacturing, more
kinds of ingredients with much complicated components are
needed for the production of premix, there is a great disparity
in their amounts used, and some of them are corrosive and
toxic, so they must be proportioned
accurately, mixed
homogeneously, and packed tightly. Thats why premix should
be produced by special equipment.

6.2 Requirements for premix mixer

The mixing homogeneity must be high, which is helpful to carrying capability of

premixed ingredients;

There should be no residue inside the premix mixer after discharging, and the
machine should feature self-cleaning function, easy manual cleaning and is free of
cross contamination;

There should be no material leakage at the shaft ends of the premix mixer, and no
material attached on the rotor and the inside walls of the trough;

Special nozzles provided can apply paraffin wax by means of compressed air;

The clearance between rotor and casing should be adjustable;

The distance from the top of the rotor to the roof of the mixer casing should larger to
increase the spray area.

The mixer for common compound feed can never be used directly as a
premix mixer!

According to the requirements on premix mixer in premix production, we

have developed a special premix mixer (see the fig. ), which is an
improved model of the twin-shaft paddle mixer.

Inlet

Liquid
addition

Inlet for
accessory
ingredient
s

Right
pressure
release
vent

Top
inspectio
n door
Pressure
release
vent

Access
door
Connected to a
proportioning scale or
a dust filter

Main
shaft

Air holder
for spray

Air return
pipe

Motor
base

nozzl
e

nozzle

Full-length
discharge
gate
*The full-length
discharge gate is
also adopted in
common twinshaft paddle
mixers.

6.3 Characteristics of premix mixer

1. The packaged design of air return pipe facilitates transportation; the

air vents at two sides balance the difference between the inside
and outside pressures during feeding operation very quickly;
2. The full-length double-leaf discharge gate in the trough bottom
features quick discharging and little residue;
3. The patented technique of our unique integral air sac used for
sealing the discharge gate can make up the deformation of the gate,
featuring reliable sealing and leakage free;
4. The lifting type liquid application device results in convenient and
fast cleaning and replacement of the nozzles;
5. The rationally designed spraying piping is strong in self-cleaning
capability;
6. The large access door makes things convenient for the operator to clean
the inside;
7. All parts contacting materials are made of stainless steel.

6.4 Precautions for operating a premix mixer

Prior to operating the mixer, it is a must to regulate the

pressure release valve of the air sac before hand, check the
pressure gage, so that the pressure inside the air sac around
the discharge gate does not exceed 0.12 MPa, and during
operation frequently check the indicated value of the pressure
release valve to protest against air sac damage due to
overpressure.
When the air sac is full of air, it is not allowed to operate the
discharge gate manually so as to avoid damage.
Many characteristics of the premix mixer can also be found in a
common twin-shaft paddle mixer.

6.5 Main data for selecting Series SYHSJ premix mixers

model

SYHSJ0.5

Effective
volume
(m3)

capacity
(kg/batch)

0.5

350

SYHSJ1

700

SYHSJ2

1400

SYHSJ4

2800

mixing
retention per
batch
(s)

120~240
(can be
prolonged
properly
according to
different
materials.)

Mixing
homogeneity
(cv %)

power
(kW)

weight
(kg)

7.5

1360

11

2300

22

5200

37

6720

7. Double-cycle Paddle Mixer

(1.) main component parts

1. machine body
2. rotor
3. access door
4. discharge gate
5. chain drive mechanism
and package guard shield
6. oil adding device
7. top cover
8. motor

Double-cycle Paddle Mixer

oil adding
device

inlet

air current
balancing hole

Top
cover
Large
access
door

Split type
machine
body

Geared motor
and guard
shield

Patented
rotor
Air sac for
sealing
discharge gate

Rotor
gland

Lower
head

The patented
new double-cycle
rotor, ensuring a
mixing retention
of 4560 s, and

Adjustable
gap

the mixing
homogeneity of CV

5% (can be up
to 3%) on the
basis of a mixing
ratio of 1:100000.

2nd-cycle small
paddle

1st-cycle large
paddle

Main
shaft

Rotor
Fast flow
zone

Slow flow
zone

Full-length discharge gate and its sealing air sac

Four air sacs are
used for sealing the
discharge gate. They
can make up the
deformation of gate
and ensure airtight
without any material
leakage, the inflation
pressure inside the
air sac being
0.08MPa~0.12MPa.
The full-length
discharge gate
results in reduced
residue.

Air sac

compresse
d air intake

Lifting type oil adding device

Compressed
air intaking

Liquid
intaking

Atomizing spray ejector

Compressed
air ejector

Liquid
ejector

Compressed
air ejector

7. Double-cycle Paddle Mixer

(1) Machine characteristics
1.The novel patented double-cycle rotor ensures a mixing retention of 45
60 s and the mixing homogeneity of CV 5% (can be up to 3%) on the
basis of a mixing ratio of 1:100000;
2.The discharge gate is as long as the mixer tough, ensuring complete
exhaustion of the materials
3.The gap between the paddle and the inside wall of the casing is adjustable;
4.The residue ratio is less than 0.05%0.15%which effectively protect
product from cross contamination;
5. The large access door makes it easy to clean the mixing chamber and to
renew the paddles;
6. The discharge gate is sealed by formed rubber air-sacs so as to ensure
the air-tightness of the gate. During opening and closing the gate, there is
no friction between the gate and the sac, thus extending the service life of
the sealer;
7. The atomized spray injectors or nozzles used in the oil addition device
greatly improve the atomizing effect.

(2) Application range

Series SJHS double-cycle paddle mixers are widely
used for mixing powdery, granular, flaky, lumping
and miscellaneously shaped or sticky materials in
feed, grain, food, chemical, pharmaceutical and farm
chemical industries, etc. They can also be used for
drying and cooling operations of various materials.
Series SJHS double-cycle paddle mixers are made of
anti-corrosive materials, so they can also be used
for premix production.

(3) Data for selecting Series SJHS Mixers

Mixing
homogeneity
(CV %)

mixing
retention
per batch
(s)

model

Effective
volume
(m3)

Capacity
(kg/batch)

SJHS0.2

0.2

100

SJHS0.5

0.5

250

SJHS1

500

SJHS2

1000

SJHS4

2000

3745

SJHS6

3000

55

power
(kW)
34

5 (up to2~3)

45-60
(can be
prolonged
properly
according to
different
materials)

5.57.5
1115
18.522

Note: Models with higher power are used for the application cases with higher liquid addition amount.

9. Operation and maintenance of mixers

(1) Operation and maintenance

Prior to production operation the mixer should be put into idle running to see if
it runs smoothly and stably without any abnormal vibration, and discharging
mechanism should also be checked for normal working.
Before operation, start up the geared motor firstly, then start feeding after the
rotor gets into normal running.
The level of the stock bed inside the mixing chamber can be neither lower than
the axis of the main shaft nor higher than the top of the rotor.
Additives can only be added when half batch of the main ingredients have
already been fed in the machine, and oil spraying should not be started until
all the main ingredients have fed in, and after the oil application is finished the
ingredients can not be discharged until they have been mixed for a proper
while.
When stopping the machine, no oil residue is allowed inside the oil adding pipe
so as to avoid pipe blocking due to oil solidification.
No metal impurities can be contained in the ingredients so as to protest the
paddles from damage.
The operation of the geared motor, cylinder and other accessory elements
should coincide with regulations in the operation manual.

10. Operation and maintenance of mixers (continued)

(2) Maintenance

The discharge mechanism must be kept running freely and clean.

The lubricate in all bearings should be renewed periodically. And the
lubricate should be sodium-base grease.
The driving chain should be properly oiled and rinsed periodically.
Name of the reducer grease: molybdenum sulfide-2 or ZL-2 lithium
base grease.
When the machine has run for 500 hours after the first lubricating, the
grease should be renewed. Then during the continuous operation of
the machine, the grease should be renewed once every half a year
( based on a 8-h working system). If the working time is longer, the
grease renewing intervals needs to be properly shortened.

11. Mixer performance evaluation

It is neither possible nor necessary to mix all the

ingredients into an absolutely homogeneous state.

Thus there should be unified standard to judge the
mixer performance, that is the coefficient of variation
of mixing homogeneity (i.e. CV value). The lower is CV
value, the better the mixing effect will be. In light of
Chinese standard, the CV value for a common mixer is
7%, and that for a premix mixer is 5%.

The determination of mixing homogeneity

CV value can be calculated by means of the

following formula:
CV=S/X 100%
In which,
S - standard deviation of the content of the detected
ingredient in each sample of mixture;
X - average value of the content of the detected
ingredient in each sample of mixture

3.3 Maintenance
3.1 Periodically check and clean the filter, heat the liquid

tank for periodic blow-off.

3.2 Check the solenoids frequently to see if they act freely,
and to see if the system pressure is increased.
3.3 Check the piping frequently for any leakage.
3.4 For a long-term shutdown, the system should be
cleaned to avoid blockage.

1. Liquid storage tank 2. heat insulating layer 3. geared motor

for output 4. filter 5. pneumatic ball valve 6. pilot
electromagnetic valve 7. flow meter 8. geared motor for
input 9. coupling 10. geared pump 11. manual ball valve

 The maximum adding amount per batch for this

system is 60 Kg, which is weighed by means of an

electromagnetic flow meter.

3Post coating system

The continuous liquid coater positioned after pelleting

or extrusion is suitable for spraying the liquids such as

oil, enzyme preparations, vitamins, antioxidant, amino
acids etc. It can effectively protect these nutritive
substances and medicines against heat damage.
There are models of surface coaters made in Muyang:
SYPL15A,SYPL25A

Main components of the surface coater

The coater mainly consists of the following parts:

1.differential scale
2.conveyor
3.drum part
4.liquid output pumping system
5.liquid coating pipe line and nozzles
6.automatic control unit

Technical data for liquid coater

selection
model

Capacity (t/h)

SYPL15A

SYPL25A

0.57

0.815

Motor power for drum (Kw)

2.2

Motor power for feedingkW

1.1

1.1

Motor power for liquid addition kW

2x2.2

2x2.2

4vacuum coating system

1.The limits of surface coating technology:

1) liquid adding ratio <6%

2) poor coating homogeneity

 2.The obvious superiorities of vacuum

coating technology:
1) high liquid adding ratio (35%-40%)
2) high liquid coating accuracy and homogeneity

3.Technological process

1. Vacuum pump 2. vacuum tank 3. dust filter 4. gate 5.scale 6.vacuum valve 7. feeding valve
8.vacuum mixer 9.electromagnetic valve 10. liquid scale 11.liquid tank 12.outtake valve

[ Note: 13 liquid tanks are to be bought according to requirement. ]

4. Production flow
drier

cooler

sifter

Pellet mill or
extruder
bin

Vacuum
coater
F

5. Experiment site
The experiment
of vacuum
coater in
Muyang Testing
Center

Touch screen
of the
computer
control
system

6. The schematic diagram for installing Muyang

Series SYPZ vacuum coater

7. Overall performance of Muyang Series

SYPZ vacuum coater

1.capacity2.5t/h, 5t/h, 10t/h

2.vacuum degree150mbar
3.product homogeneity after oil coating CV7%
4.weighing accuracy of batching scale0.3%
5.liquid weighing accuracy0.3%.

8. Working process of Muyang SYPZ

vacuum coater

1.feeding
2.vacuumization

3.liquid addition
4.vacuum release
5.discharging

6.working cycle

40s
1.5min
1.5min
1min
50s
5.5min

5Other equipment for liquid treatment

1liquid proportioner / mixer

Available models are SYPC100B,SYPC200 and SYPC400their

adding amount per batch are 100Kg, 200Kg and 400Kg
respectively;
Three liquids can be added simultaneously, and this number
can be increased. Experimentally, six liquids have already
been tried for simultaneous addition
Adding accuracy can be up to 0.5.

Outline drawing of the

main machine of the
liquid proportioner / mixer

3 liquid intakes

load cell

liquids
mixing
device

output pump

Weighing
drum

Mixing drum, with

an outside heat
water insulating
layer
filter

5Other equipment for liquid treatment

2water adding equipment

For adding water into a batch mixer so as to

improve conditioning effects.

SSTZ60 water adding system

foundation dimensions

1. Electromagnetic valve for water intake

2. water storage tank 3.filter 4.self-priming pump
5. pressure gauge 6. overflow valve
7. flow meter
8.electromagnetic valve for water spraying
9. power panel 10. intelligent flow controller