The European Centre for Dispersion Technologies (Europäisches Zentrum für Dispersionstechnologien - EZD) in Selb, founded in 2014 as well as an institution of the Würzburg Kunststoffzentrum SKZ, is Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH first customer to purchase the new UMIX line.
EZD decided to opt for the machine as they were confident with the rock-solid structure, in line with that of “Werner & Pfleiderer", which is based on over a century’s worth of experience in the construction of universal mixers as well as on the know-how of the manufacturer in the field of batch mixing which is of great value for the control system ADVISE® CS used for the UMIX machines. Going forward other rotor geometries as the sigma blade for this type of machine will also be available.
The ADVISE® CS control offers a variety of possibilities for laboratory mixers, which is otherwise only known from larger, production sized machines. Thanks to the graphical user interface and the sophisticated arrangement of the displays and data entry screens, the user is able to get to grips with the operation of the machine. Information screens can also be accessed quickly and intuitively, thanks to the 19" touch screen.
In addition to the "standard operating mode", which mainly comprises the control of the mixer drive (On / Off / speed), individual mixing steps can be defined and linked to a mixing cycle with ADVISE® CS. For each step, the most important parameters such as mixing time, wing speed and if necessary the control of a temperature control unit or vacuum pump are specified. So in brief, any recipes developed on laboratory mixers can be transferred to production sized machines without much effort at all.
Besides the automatic numbering of steps, the function of each mixing step is displayed. In addition to the mixing time, process parameters such as the temperature of the compound can be selected as a condition for handoff to the next process step: This may be a manual intervention, e.g. the "addition" of another component of the mixture. Up to 20 mixing steps can be combined into a cycle and stored.
During operating the machine, key process parameters (such as rotor speed, power consumption of the drive, temperature of the compound, temperature of the temperature medium) are displayed numerically and graphically. All recorded process parameters are stored in the controller itself or on a network and are available for evaluation or for comparison with other mixing cycles in Excel format. For adaption to the process, the data acquisition can be configured individually.
The head of the EZD, Dr.-Ing. Felipe Wolff-Fabris, is convinced that this combination of robust, proven technology with the possibilities of modern control will be a valuable aid at the work of his institution.
The series "UMIX" includes laboratory mixers with useful volumes from 0.25 to 8 liters and production mixers up to a useful volume of 4,300 liters. The machines are used in the manufacture of various products of medium to high viscosity, for example Silicones, glues and adhesives, paints, pigments and ceramics, as well as chewing gum and chocolate. Depending on the application the machines they are equipped with removable or tiltable trays, with bottom discharge valves or discharge screws. The machine control systems are modular in design and range from simple basic control of ADVISE® CS through to complete process control systems of which includes quality monitoring with the involvement of all components involved in the process as material weighing and -supply and further processing of the final compound.
