Rotor-Stator High Shear Mixer
Advantages:
The high shear mixer uses a high-speed rotor/stator generator to apply intense mechanical and hydraulic shear. The blades of the rotor run at peripheral speeds of 15 to 30 m/s within a fixed stator. As the blades rotate past each opening in the stator, they shear particles and droplets, expelling material at high velocity into the surrounding mass. As fast as material is expelled, more is drawn from beneath into the high shear zone of the rotor/stator, promoting continuous flow and fast droplet/particle size reduction.
Applications:
This mixer’s intense shear works well to reduce droplet/particle size for homogenization, dissolution, solubilization, emulsification, grinding, and dispersion. Operating alone, the high shear mixer is most suitable for mixing materials with a maximum viscosity of 10,000 cps. Used in tandem with the anchor, it can handle viscosities up to approximately 200,000 cps.
In applications that require the rapid induction of powders, the rotor/stator mixer includes a solid/liquid injection manifold. With a specially modified rotor/stator design that generates a strong vacuum, the system draws solids through a feed tube and injects them directly into the high shear zone. Even hard-to-disperse solids such as fumed silica are dispersed instantly.
Interchangeable stators enable precise high shear agitator specification.
The specification of a batch rotor/stator generator is always a matter of balancing shear and flow. This is true whether it is a stand-alone mixer or a component of a multi-agitator mixer. Given a fixed energy input, larger holes in the stator permit greater flow, but apply less shear than smaller holes.The Disintegration Head with large round holes works best for general purpose mixing. It generates vigorous flow, and rapidly reduces the size of large particles.
The Slotted Head provides the most popular combination of high shear and efficient flow rate. It is ideal for emulsions and medium-viscosity materials.
The Fine Screen Head provides the highest shear possible − at the expense of a slower flow rate. It is most suitable for low-viscosity emulsions and fine.