Conair Group said cascade mixing technology used in its TrueWeight continuous blender provides a homogenous blend even when additives must be dosed in very small quantities, such as extrusion applications that need a highly accurate blend of ingredients that can be dissimilar.
The new blenders can be configured to handle up to six different components in throughput ranges up to 3,000 pounds an hour.
Ingredient hoppers and dispensing augers can be sized to deliver any amount up to the maximum, or just a quarter of a pound. Metering accuracy is within half a percent of the set point, depending on the material, Conair said.
“What makes this gravimetric continuous blender different from batch blenders is that all ingredients are dispensed simultaneously at the desired rate,” said Alan Landers, product manager. “Different materials flow together out of the blender and into the extruder or a holding bin.”
Batch blenders dispense ingredients one at a time into a mixing chamber, where they are combined by mechanical agitation. But the cascade method of mixing is better for materials with different particle sizes and bulk densities, according to Conair, based in Cranberry Township, Pa., near Pittsburgh.
Two standard configurations are available: a stand-mounted unit that dispenses blender material into a holding bin, or a machine-mounted version.
In other product news, Conair Group's FLX materials-handling control system is now available in a larger configuration that can serve up to 64 loaders and 20 vacuum conveying pumps — double that of the original FLX.
The FLX system is designed to be affordable and easy to install and expand. A processor could start with an FLX system to manage just eight loaders and two pumps, then increase capacity in increments when necessary. It can include functions such as multisource/multidestination loading, purging, ratio loading, ratio loading with purge, reverse conveying for regrind recovery, loader fill sensing, output sharing between FLX control panels and Ethernet communications.
Tel. 724-584-5500.
