Factors To Consider For Successful Mixing Trials

By Christine Banaszek, Application Engineer

Laboratory testing is an integral part of equipment procurement. In the case of mixing and blender equipment, two or more fundamentally different devices may present to be viable solutions to a particular process and the only way of determining the best technology is by performing lab tests. This hands-on approach works best when the main variables – raw materials, temperature, pressure, batch size, etc. – are simulated as close as possible to the actual process.

Mixing trials can be performed at your plant using trial rental equipment or at the mixer manufacturer’s laboratory. Trial renting to test on your production floor or R&D lab is advantageous in that you can perform virtually unlimited mixing trials under normalized process conditions. Testing at the manufacturer’s laboratory presents the benefit of evaluating multiple equipment designs and of utilizing the expertise of mixing engineers who can make valuable suggestions based on their observations of your product’s behavior during and after mixing.

This article examines several guidelines to help you conduct successful mixing trials.