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Products of the plant protection and fertilizer industry

Plant protection and fertilizers are central tools of modern agriculture. They protect plants from pests, diseases, and competing vegetation while providing them with targeted nutrients. The development and production of these products are subject to high requirements for active ingredient stability, dosing accuracy, and process safety. Production involves numerous process steps - from the synthesis of active ingredients to their drying and formulation to the final blending. The products often change their physical state: from liquid or pasty intermediates to dry powders or granules. Accordingly, the demands for flexible and reliable process technology are high.

Typical products and terms in the plant protection and fertilizer industry:

- Plant protection products (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides)

- Active ingredient powders and formulations

- Suspension powders and concentrates

- Granules and ready-mixes

- Special and micronutrient fertilizers

- Active ingredient carriers and additive mixtures

Requirements for mixing, drying, and formulating

The requirements for mixing and drying processes are high. Active ingredients and formulations differ greatly in their physical properties and often react sensitively to mechanical or thermal stress. At the same time, they must be processed homogeneously, reproducibly, and without loss of quality.

 

In many processes, the product properties change significantly during processing. Suspensions are thickened, pasty intermediates are dried, and finally processed into free-flowing powders or granules. Controlled process control, gentle heat transfer, and complete emptying of the equipment are crucial for product quality, process safety, and cost-effectiveness.

amixon® solutions for plant protection and fertilizers

amixon® develops and builds mixers, dryers, and reactors that are specifically suitable for applications where homogeneity, product protection, and safe process control are the focus. The systems are designed to process different consistencies in one system - from liquid and pasty to dry.

 

Typical process engineering tasks in crop protection and fertilizer production:

- Mixing and homogenizing complex formulations

- Gentle drying of active ingredients

- Process control with changing rheological conditions

- Safe and complete emptying of the equipment

- Reproducible batch quality with high safety requirements

amixon® process machines at a glance

amixon® Vacuum dryer (VMT) 
The type VMT combines mixing, drying, and reacting in one apparatus. By using vacuum, solvents and other liquid residues can be gently removed at moderate product temperatures. The three-dimensional product movement supports uniform heat and mass transfer throughout the process - from the moist intermediate product to the dry end powder.

amixon® conical vertical dryer / reactor (AMT) 
The AMT reactor is designed for demanding drying and reaction processes. Heatable walls, mixing tools, and floor surfaces ensure very efficient and uniform heat transfer, allowing even moist or pasty products to be reliably and gently dried. The conical bottom additionally supports good residual emptying, reducing product losses and facilitating product changes.

amixon® KoneSlid® precision mixer KS
The KS mixer was developed for the precise mixing of small amounts of active ingredients and additives. Its special design allows for rapid emptying, preventing demixing during discharge. This ensures the homogeneity of the mixture is maintained until further processing.

amixon® vertical twin-shaft mixer (HM)
The HM mixer stands for short mixing times with high homogeneity. Two coaxially rotating mixing shafts ensure intensive but product-friendly mixing and are suitable for batch mixtures with different bulk densities and particle sizes.

Technical center and process development

In the amixon® Technical Center, mixing and mixing-drying processes can be investigated practically with original raw materials. Mixing quality, drying behavior, emptying, and cleanability can be evaluated and specifically designed for industrial use. This creates early security for later plant and process design.

Plant protection and fertilizers place high demands on precision, product protection, and process control. Their production requires process technology that works flexibly, reliably, and reproducibly - from active ingredient synthesis to final formulation. amixon® develops and builds the appropriate industrial mixers, vacuum mix dryers, and reactors. Talk to us about your processes, formulations, and production goals. amixon® - Process technology for plant protection and fertilizers.

Blog

Mixing-drying reactor for the synthesis of plant protection active ingredients
amixon® manufactures high-performance vacuum mixing dryers and synthesis reactors. These can process/dry chemicals of different consistencies. (POWDERY, SOLID, LIQUID, PASTY).

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Production of Pesticides (Part 1)
For reasons of longer shelf life and lower transport volume, plant protection products are often offered in powder form. amixon® has developed vacuum mix dryers that dry particularly quickly and gently. The powdered active ingredient concentrate is usually free-flowing, crystalline and low in dust.

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Plant protection products (Part 2)
Today's crop protection products are highly effective and environmentally friendly. Synthesis reactors from amixon GmbH have valuable features in terms of increased efficiency and operational reliability. This makes them very valuable for the plant.

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KoneSlid® mixer for the formulation of active ingredients using the example of pesticides
Homogenizing large volume flows with amixon® mixers: Modern crop protection chemicals are the results of many successive synthesis stages. In the mixer, the final preparation takes place before the powders are packaged. Then wet cleaning takes place. The claim is 0 contamination!

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No room for error: amixon® mixing systems for battery materials
Battery materials place the highest demands on mixing and drying. This article shows where the process engineering challenges lie – and how amixon® solves them.

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FAQ

Robust scale-up in fertiliser granulation means the systematic transfer of a granulation process from laboratory or pilot scale into production so that particle size distribution and product quality remain reproducible.

amixon® scales ring-layer granulation with the RMG 10, whose mixing chamber is particularly round and machined by cutting. The mixing tools glide across the mixing chamber at a defined clearance. In addition, amixon® ensures precise dosing of the solid and liquid components.

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The production and processing of fertilisers and crop protection products frequently generates ignitable dusts, aerosols and flammable solvent vapours. Explosion protection concepts follow the ATEX directives 2014/34/EU and 1999/92/EG, the relevant standards such as EN 1127-1, and the applicable national regulations.

amixon® designs the mixing chamber for ATEX Zone 20 across all series – the highest dust explosion requirement. The apparatus is built as a closed, dust-tight system with OmgaSeal® doors, on request gas-tight, pressure-resistant and vacuum-tight down to 5 mbar absolute; inerting is possible, and the low-speed operating mode from 0.8 m/s minimises ignition sources by design.

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Handling dusty, potentially explosive powders – for example in NPK blends, fertilisers containing ammonium nitrate or micronutrient-based formulations – requires an integrated, multi-stage safety concept.

amixon® designs the mixing chamber for ATEX Zone 20 across all series – the highest requirement for dust explosion protection. The apparatus is built as a closed, dust-tight system with OmgaSeal® doors. On request, the apparatus is designed to be pressure-resistant or explosion-pressure-shock-resistant. Inerting is possible, and the low-speed operating mode from 0.8 m/s minimises ignition hazards.

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