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Mixing tanks
Hi there,
So I’m interested in buying a 50L mixing tank with heating, homogenizer and propellblade to speed up the production. I got a price of USD2742.Specs:Stainless Steel 316 Three Layer Insulated Jacketed Mixing Tank,Flat Open Lid With Tri Clamp Inlet Port,Top Entry High Shear Homogenizer,Single Phase 220V/50HZ/1.5KW,Speed 2800rpm,Capacity 10-50L/H,Top Entry Scraper Agitator Single Phase 220V/50HZ/0.37KW,Speed 20rpm,Heat Element Single Phase 220V/50HZ/4KW With Temperature Control System,Mirror Polish Both Inside And Tank Surface,Inside Tank Thickness 3mm,Jacket Thickness 3mm,Insulate PU Foam 50mm,Outside Stainless Steel Shell 1.5mm,Tank Volume 50LAny thoughts? Anybody familiar with the procedure of mixing tanks before?
And what happens to the oil phase when using a single tank? Does the water and oil still need to be heated seperatly, or can we add it all into the tank at once? -
5 Replies
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The tanks sounds like it is a reasonably good deal.
For the water and oil phase you could test a single phase production method in the lab then if that works, use the single phase method for your production batches. -
I agree, that’s a good deal on the tank.
It helps me understand emulsion systems when I visualize a model of what’s going on. Bear with me, and remember that a model is just a good way of thinking about things, not actual reality.In a traditional o/w emulsion system processing, water + emulsifiers are heated up, oil + emulsifiers are heated separately, and then the oil is added to the water. Due to both physical force (mixing energy) and chemical action (emulsifiers, surface tension, etc.) the oil phase breaks up into small droplets almost immediately. Because the oil + emulsifiers were mixed and heated separately, every oil droplet is exactly the same composition as every other one.My mental model for this is here:The bumps are the emulsifier heads sticking out from the body of the droplet.Now, in a one-phase process, the oil phase ingredients are added cold to the hot water phase, one by one. They each form droplets on their own, solely from mechanical force, (except for the emulsifiers) The droplets, at least in the beginning, are not all the same composition,This is close to my mental image of what this looks like (ignoring the bottom two balls:The droplets hopefully get more uniform as mixing continues, but lab work and careful stability testing needs to be done to make sure that the batches will be stable. -
Thanks @bobzchemist for a very information reply! Your help has helped me determined how the process of manufacturing should be done.
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@Bobzchemist Have you ever thought of compiling all these words, to laymen and experts alike they are really priceless. I mean I remember once recommending a book compiled and co-authored by @Perry and the guy was really happy to own it. And I have seen a huge number of people using it quite often.
Just a thought!!!!!!
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Hello all,I am new to the forum. I have similar situation with the OP, in which I am trying to reduce my initial cost of investment in the mixing tank as I am short of capital currently.I am wondering if I could just use one mixing tank + one holding tank to make a good emulsification.1st step is to mix the water phase and then pumping the product to the holding tank2nd step is to mix the oil phase in the mixing tank again3rd step is to mix the finished oil phase with the water phase from the holding tankWhat do you guys here think about this process? Any inputs or suggestions will be much appreciated. Thank you
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