Why Multi-shaft Mixers Are the Most Efficient for Complex Industrial Mixing

And when it comes to manufacturing complex formulations (e.g. high-viscosity adhesives, advanced coatings and battery pastes), conventional mixing doesn’t cut it. To create a perfect homogenised, de-aerated, agglomerate free product you need something more advanced. At Shanghai Rumi Electromechanical Technology Co., Ltd., we’re tackling these head-on with our multi-shaft mixers, which are designed to be one of the most efficient on the market as they include several mixing actions in a single system.

Combining Multiple Mixing Actions in One Vessel

As its name suggests, the primary operational characteristic of multiple-shaft mixers is to utilize two or more shafts and a variety of mixing elements within one mixer. A common Rumi multi-shaft arrangement could include as slow speed anchor stirrer with a high-speed disperser. The anchor stirrer scrapes the entire wall and bottom surface of tanks, ensuring that no amorphous material remains on the vessel walls. While doing so, the high-speed disperser provides a significant amount of shear to quickly process solids and agglomerates. This synergy results in the elimination of a multi-step, multi-machine operation with only one vessel, resulting in significantly shorter processing times and less energy usage.

Optimized for Challenging Physical Properties

Many of these complex materials are non-Newtonian, thixotropic or extremely high viscosity and present difficulties for single shaft mixers. Only the multi-shaft principle is able to cope with these high loads. The slow-speed stirrer takes care of the main mass of viscous batter; and the high-speed shaft supplies enough shear to thin out, disperse additions alike. This is important to many of the markets we work with including adhesives and sealants where a smooth finish without lumps are necessary. In addition, this design is very effective for vacuum de-aeration because the anchor stirrer keeps presenting fresh material surfaces to vacuum: thus, driving off the entrapped air that makes mass denser and more reliable.

A Cornerstone of Integrated Production Lines

It is not only the mixing container in which Rumi's multi-shaft mixers are high-performance machines. Since we are a system designer for entire systems, we have designed these mixers to be the central point of an automatic production line. The fact that mixer can perform the entire mixing cycle of powder addition and wetting, to dispersion, reaction and de-aeration ensures minimal product handling. The integration of all these skills, along with our extensive services in engineering design and project management, allows us to establish an efficient, flexible and repeatable manufacturing process. With the ability to decrease cycle times, eliminate production steps and reduce energy consumption, multi-shaft mixers are an answer for many of today’s mixing challenges.