Which services do manufacturers in Germany offer for pilot-plant tests, piloting and scale-up support?
Pilot plant trials, piloting and scale-up support
For mixing technology and powder processes, manufacturers in Germany offer a continuous service package from the pilot plant through to production. The aim is to secure mixing quality, product protection and process stability before investment and to transfer them safely to industrial scale. In the pilot plant, powders, formulations and mixing processes are tested under practical conditions. This includes feasibility studies as to whether the mixing process works technically with specific powders, parameter studies on fill level, mixing time, circumferential speed, liquid addition and temperature, as well as material characterisation covering flow behaviour, densities, particle sizes, cohesion and hygroscopicity. In addition, comparative trials are conducted with different mixer types and mixing tool geometries, analyses of mixing quality, dust formation, residual discharge and cleanability are prepared, and sample batches are provided for quality tests, customer approvals or downstream processes.
The pilot phase transfers the mixing concepts defined in the pilot plant to a larger scale. Manufacturers operate pilot mixers and granulators over real campaigns with formulation changes, plan trials for the robust determination of fill level, mixing time and liquid input, and conduct long-term trials on wear, abrasion, deposit formation and cleaning cycles. At the same time, dosing, automation, control and explosion protection functions are tested and process data on stability, reject rates, cycle times and media consumption are recorded. In the transition to production scale, manufacturers support the scale-up of mixing and powder lines through the design of mixers, granulators and mixer-dryers according to fill level, circumferential speed and similarity characteristics, as well as through flow and bulk solids analysis to avoid dead zones and segregation. They take on the engineering of complete powder lines with mixers, silos, dosing units, conveying technology, filters and dryers, devise ATEX, explosion protection and hygiene concepts, and support commissioning with performance verifications of mixing quality as well as optimisation of formulation changes and cleaning sequences.
The amixon® pilot plant: trials, scale-up and process optimisation with the original product
At its headquarters in Paderborn, amixon® operates a pilot plant with 35 test units of various sizes. This makes it possible to reproduce mixing, granulation, drying and reaction processes under practical conditions from laboratory scale to pilot scale – even where product quantities are limited. Even under these conditions, robust statements for the later production scale are possible. In addition, pilot plants in Japan, India, Thailand, China, South Korea and the USA are available, so that trials can be carried out regionally and close to the market worldwide.
In the pilot plant, mixing processes such as mixing, homogenising, granulating, agglomerating, moistening and coating as well as drying and reaction processes are investigated. The trials run with the original product, within the intended temperature and pressure range, at real fill levels and batch sizes. Mixing quality, product protection, energy input, cleanability and reproducibility in later series operation are assessed – always with a view to technical safety and economy.
The trials are planned, carried out, evaluated and documented together with amixon® experts. The aim is to define the optimum apparatus and the appropriate process parameters for every application – including formulation development and process optimisation. The result is a robust basis for decision-making: the process parameters are confirmed under real conditions, product quality and economy are secured and technical as well as economic risks are markedly reduced before the investment.
The amixon® test mixers can mix batches of up to 3 m³. This ensures that the granulometry and structure of the bulk materials at pilot plant scale already correspond to the behaviour at production scale – irrespective of how large the later batch mixer is designed to be. Trial and production mixers work with the same mixing principle: SinConvex® mixing tools, mixing quality independent of fill level and a size range in 100-litre increments up to 50,000 litres, complemented by Gyraton® silo mixers up to 100 m³. The settings determined in the pilot plant are thereby transferred directly to the target machine. Even after commissioning, amixon® supports product changes and scale-up with process engineering advice, product development and process optimisation.
Manufacture in Paderborn forms the quality foundation of amixon®. Development and production take place exclusively at the Paderborn works with a high degree of in-house manufacture and components from Germany. As a certified welding specialist with European, Japanese, Korean and American qualifications, amixon® designs every apparatus as a one-off on the basis of the operator's URS. Quality control remains entirely in-house without gaps; every specification is demonstrable down to component level. This manufacturing autonomy also secures long-term supply – every component can still be reproduced decades later.
Across the entire life cycle, amixon® stands at the operator's side as a service partner. Regular inspections and preventive maintenance secure availability; on request, predictive maintenance concepts are offered. Selected wear parts are supplied together with the initial delivery, and spare parts are held at the Paderborn site as well as at service bases in Japan and the USA. A lifetime spare parts service is thereby guaranteed, even where original suppliers are no longer on the market. Many amixon® machines have been in daily use for more than 30 years; through modernisation and retrofitting they remain at the latest state of the art.