How to choose a planetary centrifugal mixer（3）?
The importance of planetary mixers as key mixing equipment is self-evident in today's industrial production and various laboratory applications. The planetary centrifugal mixers on the market are mainly divided into two types: contact type and non-contact type.
Contact:
Shell: Mostly made of metal materials, such as stainless steel or carbon steel. This material endows the equipment with good strength and stability, ensuring safe operation even during high-speed operation and under strong centrifugal forces and vibrations generated by large loads. Moreover, the metal casing is easy to clean and maintain, which to some extent meets hygiene requirements.
However, its disadvantages are also quite obvious. The high cost of metal materials increases the overall cost of the equipment, and the heavy weight is extremely inconvenient to move and install, requiring the use of professional equipment and personnel, undoubtedly increasing the cost of use and operational difficulty.
Mixing components: High strength wear-resistant materials such as high nickel alloys, cast iron, stainless steel, etc. are usually selected. These materials have excellent wear resistance and strong corrosion resistance. Under the dual effects of planetary motion and centrifugal force, they can effectively stir the materials for a long time and will not produce impurities mixed into the materials due to their own wear, effectively ensuring the quality and purity of the materials.
But these materials are expensive, which significantly increases the manufacturing cost of the mixing blade, thereby pushing up the total price of the equipment. For users with limited budgets, the procurement threshold is high. Moreover, its processing difficulty is high, and the precision requirements for processing equipment and technology are strict. Otherwise, the performance and service life of the stirring blade will be greatly reduced.
Container: Generally made of stainless steel material, its excellent corrosion resistance makes it easy to clean and disinfect, fully meeting the strict hygiene standards of industries such as food and medicine. The surface of stainless steel containers is smooth and seamless, making it less prone to residual materials and bacterial growth, providing reliable assurance for product quality and safety.
However, stainless steel has good thermal conductivity, and when stirring temperature sensitive materials, it may affect the performance of the materials, and corresponding insulation measures must be taken. In addition, its surface is easily scratched and corroded, and daily protection and regular maintenance are indispensable.
Hygiene standards: Specific hygiene regulations and certification requirements can be established in specific fields, and strict cleaning and disinfection procedures effectively prevent microbial growth and safeguard food safety. In the pharmaceutical production industry, strict adherence to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) ensures that there are no dead corners on the equipment surface, making it easy to thoroughly clean and disinfect, and avoiding contamination of drugs.
But precisely because of the extremely high requirements for hygiene standards, the cleaning and disinfection procedures are complex and cumbersome, consuming a lot of time and labor costs. Once operational errors or incomplete cleaning occur, it is easy to cause product quality problems.
Non-contact:
Shell: Usually made of engineering plastic or metal material. Engineering plastics have good insulation and corrosion resistance, are lightweight, and can reduce noise and vibration during equipment operation. They are easy to process and can meet the personalized needs of different users; Metal materials are suitable for industrial production scenarios that require higher equipment performance.
Mixing components: Non contact mixing is used, with more flexible material selection, such as magnetic materials, ceramics, etc. Magnetic materials are stirred by magnetic force, which is wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant, without the risk of mechanical wear and impurities mixing in; Ceramic materials have excellent chemical stability, wear resistance, and high temperature resistance, which can ensure material purity and are suitable for industries such as electronic materials and biologics.
Container: mostly made of materials such as glass, ceramic, or plastic. Glass and ceramic containers have excellent chemical stability and corrosion resistance, do not react chemically with materials, are easy to clean and disinfect, and glass containers also have high transparency, making it easy to observe the mixing process; Plastic containers are lightweight, low-cost, and not easily broken. Some food grade plastics can meet hygiene standards and can be used for mixing food and medicine.
Hygiene standards: In laboratory applications, it can effectively prevent cross contamination of samples, ensure the accuracy of experimental results, and the chemical stability and low adsorption of its material will not interfere with experimental samples. Strict cleaning and disinfection measures before and after use ensure that it meets hygiene requirements. In special industries such as electronic materials and biologics, materials have special properties such as low impurity release and sterility. With strict environmental control and cleaning and disinfection procedures, the quality and safety of products are ensured.
But if plastic containers are used, high-quality materials that meet food hygiene standards must be selected, otherwise there may be a risk of leaching and affecting material quality.
SMIDA's non-contact planetary centrifugal mixer adopts an alloy shell for waterproof and anti-corrosion treatment, and the mixing components are made of stainless steel. The mixing container is mostly made of PP or other high-performance materials.
After reading it, do you know how to choose? If you have any questions, please feel free to consult SMIDA.
