Tote blender

To visualize this effect, in Fig. 8 is shown the dispersive mixing of 8000 identical but colored grains loaded side by side, here in a tote blender. With each... 

The ensuing discussion will revolve around experiments run in 14, 56, and 300 L tote blenders using two mixtures a free-flowing binary 50 50 w/w% mixture of 400 ttm sand particles and a cohesive mixtme of 3% micronized acetaminophen ( 30 ttm) in a 50 50 w/w% matrix of PH102 Avicel and Fast-Flo lactose. All experiments were run at 60% of blender capacity at a rotation rate of 10 rpm. In raw form the acetaminophen was extremely cohesive and agglomerates (up to 0(1 cm) in diameter) formed in the bulk mixtme. The effect of blender scale on the breakup of these agglomerates is an important consideration for scale-up of tumbling blenders. 

Figure 15-25 Axial variance decrease for top/bottom- and left/right-loaded experiments in a 56 L tote blender with (a) a cohesive mixture and (h) a free-flowing mixture.

Figure 15-26 Radial mixing rates for top/bottom-loaded (a) cohesive and (b) free-flowing systems in tote blenders of 14, 56, and 300 L capacity.

Figure 15-28 Evolution of the mean of all retrieved samples taken from 14, 56, and 300 L tote blenders. Larger blenders come closer to the actual mean value of 3%.

Sudah O, Coffin-Beach D, Muzzio FJ. Quantitative characterization of mixing of free-fiowing granular materials in Tote(Bin)-blenders. Powder Technol 2001, to appear. 

Fig. 6 Three common tumbler designs (A) double-cone, (B) V-blender, and (C) tote, or bin blender.

Fig. 8 Dispersive mixing is slow across the symmetry plane of a blender, here a tote design. After 10 revolutions, a front view reveals clear evidence of the initial left-right distribution of identical but colored spheres in this particle-dynamic simulation.

Osama, S.S. Coffin-Beach, D. Muzzio, F.J. Quantitative characterization of mixing of free-flowing granular material in tote (bin)-blenders. 2002,126, 191-200. 

The flowability of the final blend is especially critical during storage and discharge from an IBC. The IBC may be a bin (tote) or even a drum that is used to store and transfer the final blend from the blender to the press. When a drum is used, an attachment such as a conical hoppef may be attached to the cone to mate the drum to downstream equipment with a smaller inlet (e.g., press hopper). In both cases, the IBC consists of two primary sections (Fig. 1) ... 

Sudah, O Anatia, P, Coffin-Beach, D, et al. Mixing of cohesive pharmaceutical formulations in Tote (bin) blenders. Drug Dev Ind Pharm 2002 28(8) 90S-1. ... 

Figure 15-19 Three common tumbler designs (a) double cone, (b) V, and (c) tote or bin blenders. Video clips of these mixers are provided on the Visual Mixing CD affixed to the back cover of the book.

---