Article
Specifying Blenders and Multi-Agitator Mixers: A New Perspective
January 22, 2004
Since the first time a resin was blended with a pigment, UV inhibitor, lubricant or viscosity modifier, mixers have been essential tools in plastics processing. But they have usually played a small supporting role far from the spotlight. In an intermediate process step - pre-mixing resin, re-grind and pigment prior to molding or extrusion, for example - speed and accuracy were not considered critical. The process was uncomplicated. The mixers and blenders used were unsophisticated, and they didn't get much attention. After all, the primary equipment farther down the line was doing the real work. That was where dramatic gains in throughput and end-product quality were most clearly available.
Today, the attitude toward mixers and blenders prevailing in most segments of the plastics industry has been reversed - and our goals for mixer/blender specification have become much more ambitious.
