| Important
tasks in the water
production are the
gas-liquid applications.
For example, aeration
to remove iron or
subsequent carbonation
with CO2. Important
in these processes
is to achieve optimum
mass transfer through
intimate contact
between gaseous
and liquid phase.
Higher shear forces
generate small bubbles
and mass transfer
is therefore quick.
Adding colors, syrup
or flavors to water
is another application
where static mixers
are installed.
Excellent blending
abilities at low
pressure drops are
the major advantages
in such applications.
Often drinks are
deaerated before
the carbonization
stage. Stripping
of oxygen with nitrogen
is a well known
process which takes
place in tanks normally.
This exchange takes
place in the interfacial
area of the gas
bubbles. As static
mixers provide a
bigger area and
always renew the
exchange layer,
the process is much
faster and a lot
of expensive N2
can be saved.
|
SMV®
mixer for
gas-liquid
applications |
|
In a SMV®
mixer, gas
bubbles
are evenly
spread over
the cross
section
with a narrow
bubble size
distribution |
Fruit
juice
Typical duties for
static mixers in
the processing of
fruit juices are
blending different
juice concentrates,
restitution of evaporated
and condensed aromatic
substances after
concentration, admixing
of sugar solution
to mother liquor
or lowering pH of
vegetable juice
by adding citric
acid.
Re-dilution
of fruit concentrates
demands low temperatures
and pressures in
order to preserve
color and flavor
of the juice.
Dillution of concentrate
by adding water
to the required
content can easily
be done by relying
upon static mixers.
Effective dilution
without heating
up, low pressure
drop and excellent
cleaning abilities
are only a few advantages
of static mixers
in these applications.
|
|
|
Using
static mixers
saves additives
due to fast
and effective
mixing |
Coffee
The two main applications
are admixing of
aromatic substances
to coffee extract
and dispersing inert
gases prior to the
spray dryer.
Sulzer
gas mixers are also
able to equalize
the temperature
profile in the roasting
gas stream.
Burning
can be avoided and
coffee is uniformly
dried.
Another
application is mixing
different dried
coffee blends together.
Adding the different
additives on the
top, they fall through
a mixer by gravity
and are continuously
mixed by guiding
vanes.
A
static mixer is
highly efficient
and provides an
excellent homogeneity
even with small
additive amounts.
The mixing takes
only a few seconds
so that production
time is very short.
|
|
|
SMF
DN80 mixer
for blending
coffee or
milk powder.
|
Beer
Beer aeration is
a major task in
a brewery. Although
sinter candles are
widely spread in
this industry, static
mixers have important
advantages.
The mass transfer
is for both systems
about the same but
mixers create less
foaming at about
the same flotation,
air consumption
is lower and they
are perfectly CIP
cleanable.
A
pay back time estimation
made by users came
to only about ½
year.
CO2
provides a fresh
taste and acts as
a preservative to
beer.
Experiences
with many plants
have shown that
reaching the required
CO2 content
is easy to fulfill
when using static
mixers shortly upstream
of the filling machine.
Owing
to large transfer
area created by
static mixers, the
residence time can
dramatically be
reduced from the
one typically encountered
in gasification
tanks.
Other
applications are
mixing beer batches
with different alcohol
contents or adding
invert sugar to
weak beer to bring
it up to required
strength.
|
|
|
CompaXTM
mixer to
standardize
beer or
other drinks
|
Wine
A possible use of
static mixers is
the admixing of
casein solution
to flocculate phenols
or impregnating
wine with CO2 to
make it sparkling.
Another
possibility is the
aging of wine with
air. SMVTM
mixers are used
to contact air with
wine in a gentle
way.
|
.gif){kind=spacer}
