Mixing is a common operation in the chemical process industries (CPI).  It is a critical factor in the success of many processes.  The cost of poor insufficient mixing costs this industry lower yields, difficulties in process development, and lost opportunities to commercialize products.  With an improvement in mixing technologies, it can mean better products, reduce the generation of unwanted byproducts, smaller equipment, and reduce energy requirements.  The technology that makes this possible is static mixers.

Static Mixer Details

A static mixer is a motionless mixer.  It is a condensed package so that it fits within a broad range of equipment.  It provides an energy-efficient solution in mixing fluids to produce a homogeneous output.  The process stream flow provides all the energy required to complete the mixing.  With no motors, no moving parts, and no auxiliary power needed to eliminate maintenance and downtime with in the process.

How Static Mixers Work

The most common mixing apparatus is the agitated tank, which is used to accomplish a diverse array of process objectives.  The agitators use rotating impellers to produce flow in the material to be mixed.  On the other hand, static mixers consist of stationary elements that are placed in a conduit to obstruct and direct the flow that is driven by another device, usually a pump.  These stationary elements induce motion in the flowing fluid that is a function of element design and varies according to flow regime and process objectives.

When is Static Mixer the Best Choice?

Static mixers are perfect for continuous processes.  The advantages of static mixers outweigh the stirred tanks.  Static mixers have a residence time in the order of minutes versus the tanks that can take hours if not days.  For products that degrade over time, long residence times should be avoided. Making static mixers higher in demand.

Additionally, the blending of material throughout a large stirred tank often requires minutes. Thus, making it difficult to achieve good performance when rapid mixing is a requirement.  This is the case when fast competitive reactions are being carried out.  Static mixers can achieve blending within seconds and provide better performance.

In stirred tanks, it imparts energy to the agitated material via rotating impellers. They typically occupy a small fraction of the vessel volume.  This creates a broad dissipation rate in the impeller zone, being orders of magnitude higher than the lowest energy dissipation rates.  Whereas static mixers occupy a significant portion of the conduit volume and provide a significantly more uniform energy dissipation rate.

One Step Further

Komax took the static mixer and created an even more efficient model for countless applications in a broad range of industries.  The Triple Action Static Mixer provides the highest level of mixing.  With its simple three-step design procedure shown below allows the rapid choice of line size, number of mixing elements, and pressure drop.  It includes three distinct types of mixing two-by-two divisions, cross current mixing, and counter-rotating vortices and back-mixing.