The evolution of the dual asymmetric SpeedMixer has been successful because it is an ideal size laboratory unit providing flexibility and demonstrating unrivalled benefits for mixing and grinding
Other advantages include using the unit to mix directly into syringes or cartridges.
In many cases, the mixing is complete in a few seconds however; the mixing time is most likely to between five seconds to five minutes.
The dual asymmetric DAC 150 FV-K works by spinning a high speed-mixing arm at speeds up to 3500rpm in one direction while the basket rotates in the opposite direction (thus, the name - dual asymmetric centrifuge).
This combination of forces in different planes enables fast mixing, and yet the precision construction of each machine gives it a balance that allows amazingly quiet operation.
With this instrument, the typical mixing time for fully dispersing a colour paste in a silicone sealant is less than ten seconds; for mixing fumed silica or precipitated chalk silicone formulations 8-14 seconds will normally suffice.
These are both operations that would otherwise require 3 hours or more of mixing time, and they can only be done in quantities of one litre or greater.
Mixing never incorporates air and additional mixing time removes air from the blend, yielding a finished product when the mixing process is done.
Fluids of widely differing viscosities can be blended quickly.
This technology is so diverse and lends itself to mixing one and two-part silicones, epoxies, polyurethanes, polysulphides, acrylics and a wide range of other materials.
There are certainly a great number of products not included in this list that can benefit from the use of the SpeedMixer technology.
With disposable cups, syringes and cartridges there is no worry about contamination in colour master batches, pharmaceutical products, or other sensitive materials.
The smaller laboratory size machines offer a maximum mixing batch weight of 100grams, (150g total, including the mixing cup, lid, and holder).
The design of the SpeedMixer is such that the cups are used with holders that have weights designed to maintain the balance of the machine.
Mixing weights can be as little as 0.1gram in the laboratory model but can reach 3000g in the larger machines.
One would be hard pushed not to think of a use for these machines, the imagination has created applications for lab screening of development formulations and formulation components.
Quality Assurance and control testing with the larger machines offering small volume production.
The incredible speed of mixing / grinding allows a complete sealant, coating, plastisol, or adhesive batch to be made in less than five minutes.
The bottleneck now becomes the weighing operation, not the mixing/grinding.
This makes every SpeedMixer user a better compounder, since it allows the mixing of many iterations that would otherwise go untested due to time constraints.
The SpeedMixer DAC 150 FV-K has proven itself extremely useful for tests involving cure rates, colours, and appearance, as well as the measurement of basic physical properties.
This permits the screening of numerous formulations before the next phase of development scale-up.
The operator has to think a little differently to conventional mixing techniques but once the phenomenon has been mastered and the understanding of the rheology versus time and speed, the quantity and size of vessel to carry out the mixing can be easily determined.
Hand mixing and stirring ingredients with blades using conventional techniques whether it is food, pharmaceutical, paints or dyes, it is time to wave au revoir and see the bigger picture.
