Henschel
Within the wet granulation technique we distinguish between two techniques, the first one being the fluid bed technique. This technique mixes the powder with the liquid particles in a stream of warm/hot air and sticks them together in order to form granules. The agglomerates become stable by drying out the liquid bridges between the individual particles thus solidifying the connection. The other technique is based on the mechanical mixing/working of powders with liquids/binders if need be, in combination with drying. Examples of this technique are the Shugi Flexomix (continuous vertical mixer), The CB-30 (continuous horizontal mixer) and the Henschell (Batch vertical mixer)
The Henschell mixer is a versatile machine that can be used in order to homogenously mix two or more powders, incorporate liquids, coat powders as well as to produce granules. This last application is what we will present here. The other applications are described in different parts of this website.
The Henschell we have available is a high intensity mixer that can intensively mix liquids or additives with a lower melting point with powders in order to create granules.
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Wet Granulation|Henschell
The Henschell is a high intensity mixer. This machine is suited to mix, disperse, coat, heat up and granulate products. For that reason you will find this machines described in different sections of this website. It is a batch mixer of about 600 litres that is designed with a jacketed wall so that it can be heated and cooled during processing. The speed of the machine can be varied so that one can exercise some influence on the amount of shear that is applied to the product.
Granulation can be achieved by adding a liquid or binder to a powder which are then mixed so intensely that the different components seamlessly stick together. In some instances wet granules are produced that require additional drying (in for example our Glatt fluid bed dryer). This combination has a large advantage in that it can be operated at a relatively small scale (300 – 600kg batches). The wet material is transferred directly to the drying bowl of the Glatt so that it can be dried.
This process can also be used in order to add powders or additives with a relatively low melting point in order to coat products. The friction in the machine while mixing melts these materials and quite effectively uses them to coat the other particles.
The typical particle size produced in this machine can vary from say 150 – 2000 micron.
A specialist application concerns the adding of liquid nitrogen to the process in order to ensure the production of granules in an environment with reduced oxygen levels (< 10%). This application can be used when the materials represent a specific explosion risk or when the product is sensitive to the exposure of oxygen.
Do you want to learn more about possible applications? Please do not hesitate to contact us.