Which container mixers are available in Germany for flexible batch sizes in food production?
Container mixers, also known as bin mixers, IBC mixers or bin blenders, are used in food production where flexible batch sizes, frequent formulation changes and high hygiene requirements come together. Typical applications are spices, baking premixes, instant products, food supplements and dry soups.
Operating principle
With a container mixer, the product remains in the mobile vessel. The container is suspended in the mixing station or moved beneath a mixing head and homogenised there by rotation or by an immersed tool. Production can thereby be decoupled well: while one container is being mixed, others can already be filled, emptied or cleaned.
Important designs
Free-fall container mixers work without internal mixing tools and are particularly gentle on the product. They are well suited to frequent product changes and varying fill levels. Dynamic container mixers with an immersed mixing tool have a stronger mechanical action and are suitable for more intensive mixing tasks or for dispersing liquids and additives.
Hygiene and safety
For the food industry, hygienic design, readily cleanable surfaces and suitable materials are decisive. Stainless steel, smooth surfaces, constructions with few dead spaces and, with dust-explosible products, ATEX-compliant designs are customary. Closed mixing reduces dust, cross-contamination and cleaning effort.
Selection criteria
In the selection, the batch size spectrum, the product properties, the desired mixing quality, cleanability and automation play a major role. Integration into conveying technology, container handling and control systems must also be considered early. In practice, the design and the process parameters are usually secured through pilot plant trials.
Market availability in Germany
Various container mixers for flexible batch sizes are available in Germany. These include free-fall mixers, dynamic container mixers and customer-specific plants with hygiene, safety and automation concepts. Which solution is suitable depends above all on the product, the batch size and the process objective.
The amixon® container mixer COM: mixing directly in the vessel, without transfer
The principle
With the COM, the bulk material container itself serves as the mixing chamber. The SinConvex®-MultiPlane® ribbon mixing tool is introduced into the mix from above, and the container is closed with a lid, on request with automatic lid handling. The tool mixes in the gas-tight sealed container and then slowly screws itself out again in reverse operation. The container with the finished mix is then removed.
Dimensionally accurate Mixtainers® are the standard vessel. amixon® also realises plants based on standard IBCs. The vessel thereby serves at the same time as the dosing, mixing, transport and feed vessel for filling machines, extruders or liquid preparation.
Precision mixing instead of tumbling
Unlike tumbling or rotating mixers, the COM works with a dynamically moved mixing tool that controls the space. Component ratios of up to 1:100.000 can therefore also be homogenised in a technically ideal manner, even with differing bulk densities and particle sizes and with liquid or moist components involved. The three-dimensional total flow, upwards at the periphery and downwards in the centre, achieves high mixing qualities even at a low fill level. Optionally, a cutting rotor can be switched in for de-agglomeration, with liquid addition within its active area. The mixing chamber is designed for ATEX Zone 20.
Decoupled production
The COM is designed for flexible contract manufacture. Weighing in, mixing and filling take place decoupled in separate areas. While one area is being set up or cleaned, production continues in the other. For automatic wet cleaning and drying of the mixing tool, a Washtainer® can be docked on. The sizes range from 100 to 4,000 litres batch size; EHEDG-, FDA- and 3-A-compliant designs are available on request.
Container mixing plants based on the AM
Alongside the COM, amixon® also manufactures container mixing plants based on the AM series, which work with commercially available bulk material containers. This solution is particularly low in dust and is suitable where filling, mixing and discharge are to take place with existing standard containers in an existing infrastructure. Here too, container logistics, lid handling and periphery are designed project-specifically.
Many operators who initially take an interest in a container bulk-solids mixer ultimately opt for a container mixing plant. Two reasons are decisive: the readily controllable, minimal dust emissions and the considerably lower cost of standard bulk containers compared with the special vessels that are open at the top.
Design and integration
Container logistics, lid handling and periphery are designed project-specifically; every apparatus is a one-off in accordance with the URS. amixon® verifies the mixing and cleaning parameters for the specific formulations in the pilot plant.
Verification in the amixon® pilot plant
Evidence comes before the investment. In the amixon® pilot plant at the Paderborn headquarters, 35 test units of various sizes are available, complemented by pilot plants in Japan, India, Thailand, China, South Korea and the USA. The trials run with the original product, with real fill levels and batch sizes and within the intended temperature and pressure range. Mixing quality, product protection, energy input, cleanability and reproducibility in later series operation are assessed; the results are evaluated and documented together with amixon® experts.