Re: Mixing 10 Powders
A few years ago I did some work in a small food plant which mixed spices in about the quantities you describe.
They had what looked like a stainless steel concrete drum mixer similar to a hardware store variety. It had a lid to keep the dust in while mixing.
If you do not need stainless steel for your material, buy a concrete mixer & tumble sand inside until all the paint is gone & the inside is smooth.
Or find a used food equipment dealer. You would be amazed sometimes at what these guys have in stock. ■
Mixing 10 Powders
Thanks - I had actually seen a small concrete mixer and wondered how that would work - I wondered if the powder would layer between the blade and the drum so I appreciate your knowledge. I would not have thought to tumble sand to remove the paint! Thanks again. I think I'll contact some used food equipment dealers.
Dan ■
Re: Mixing 10 Powders
Some ideas to consider based upon my experience mixing fine powders:
1. Mix the finest powder or the powder with the highest moisture content with the largest particle size powder. This loosely defined term, "wet out" often causes the finer or highest moisture powder to effectively bond semi-permanently to the largest powder particles. Add remaining powders. As you suggested, multi-stage mixing can be an effective solution.
2. Test mixes to determine the optimum mixer speed, oftentimes not too fast (segregation) or too slow (poor mix or too long of cycle time). Once you determine optimum, always load and mix each powder in the same order and for the same time.
3. Without knowing each input herb powders particle size or the size of each herbs larger form, it is sometimes advantageous to ratio the formula and mill the ingredients to a fine powder together. You may then bag the final product under the collector discharge. Co-milling can result in very good mixing of the powders and a "leaner" production cycle. ■
Re: Mixing 10 Powders
You may contact me to further discuss if you desire.
Kind regards,
Kevin Layton
Principal
Powder Engineering Group, LLC.
›œ›œ›œ›œ›œ›œ›œ›œ›œ›œ›
Tele: 419.450.4404
Fax: 614.987.5781
Skype: kevinlayton
klayton@insight.rr.com
1470 Royal Gold Drive
Columbus, Ohio, 43240 USA ■
Re: Mixing 10 Powders
The powder may stick where the drum and lifters meet, but you are doing small batches and scraping out the drum shouldn't be a big deal.
If the lifters in the drum are not seal welded to the shell you may get powder trapped between which will not qualify as food grade equipment. If you are looking at used food equipment you will likely end up with sealwelded & polished stainless steel which will be food grade and less likely to have material stick.
As Kevin mentioned, speed is critical to whether you are mixing or making dust. Lifter size also has a big effect. Trial & error or seeing a similar application is the only way to get it right. ■
Mixing 10 Powders
Thanks JD - I appreciate that. This is an interesting topic in and of itself and I'm thankful for the education.
The powder may stick where the drum and lifters meet, but you are doing small batches and scraping out the drum shouldn't be a big deal.
If the lifters in the drum are not seal welded to the shell you may get powder trapped between which will not qualify as food grade equipment. If you are looking at used food equipment you will likely end up with sealwelded & polished stainless steel which will be food grade and less likely to have material stick.
As Kevin mentioned, speed is critical to whether you are mixing or making dust. Lifter size also has a big effect. Trial & error or seeing a similar application is the only way to get it right. ■
Re: Mixing 10 Powders
Dear Dan ,
This is Mary From NeuMek (Shanghai) Corporation . You could go to website:
http://www.neumek.com/ .
From this site ,maybe you could find mixer to mixer your materials ■
Re: Mixing 10 Powders
Dear Dan
We have small laboratory mixers available for your application.
Have a look to our website:
http://ava-huep.com/en/the-ava-deliv...ratory-mixers/
We would be pleased to receive your inquiry.
You can contact us in Germany or our colleagues in the USA at www.ava-americas.com
Kind regards
Guido Gutmann
AVA-Huep GmbH
g.gutmann@ava-huep.de ■
Mixing 10 powders
I mix 10 different herbs where each herb has been ground into a powder. This is done with 1 lb per herb.
This is not a big operation. What is the best method for getting the best mix without the use of sophisticated, expensive equipment. Currently I drop all 10, 1 lb bags into a large container and shake like hell. I do this for a several minutes then open the container and stir with a large slotted spoon trying to make sure I move all the material and then back to SLH.
Is this method ok? Is there something I can do to ensure a better mix? Like mix the first two lbs and then add in 1 lb at a time? Is there some piece of inexpensive equipment I could buy on a used market that would do better?
Thanks,
Dan ■