Lindor makes light work of heavy mixing
31 May 2002
Lindor’s mixers are generally used to mix free-flowing and fragile materials, but the principles behind the company’s machines recently led it into a much heavier industry.
Lindor’s mixers are generally used to mix free-flowing and fragile materials, particularly in the food and pharmaceuticals industries. But the principles behind the company’s machines recently led it into a much heavier industry.
The company was asked to design a new mixer for a UK firm which manufactures refractory materials for electrical applications. This involves blending various grades of magnesium oxide with additives, all of which are much denser than the organic materials usually used in the mixer. The client had been using a US-made mixer, but this proved too expensive to maintain.
The Lindor blender consists of an elongated rotating drum, which is equipped with internal scoops running along its entire length. These induce a figure-of-eight blending motion inside the drum. The design has no separately moving internal parts, which simplifies maintenance.
The application required a 7000litre capacity mixer, but it would have to cope with twice its normal maximum batch weight. Lindor doubled the strength of all of the blender’s drive and support components. It also decided to shorten the mixing cycle time to increase output.
