Food Processing Equipment Award-Honors

Motionless Continuous Mixer

Converts Multi-Component Input into Uniform Blend for Food and Beverage Sanitary Applications

Honors have been awarded to Komax Systems, Inc. Food Equipment Division for development of an energy-efficient, zero-maintenance motionless mixer that handles food products ranging from “solid” materials such as margarine and tomato paste, to viscous liquids like syrups to light fluids similar to soft drinks.  Liquids and solids may also be combined in highly consistent fashion.  One judge characterized the simply designed Sanitary Mixer as a “very ingenious way of blending continuously on an online basis.”

The Sanitary Mixer is a fixed arrangement of geometric shapes (mixing elements) enclosed in a pipe spool.  Manufactured of 316L stainless steel, the mixer has a series of interlocking left-and right-handed mixing elements.  Under turbulent flow (powered by the proportioning pumps in the tube or pipeline system), these elements produce elliptical vortices, which rotate in opposite directions.  In turn, these vortices produce a backmixing effect that evenly disperses all material.  

Besides the advantages of energy efficiency *process stream flow provides all the energy required), and no moving parts, the mixer offers these other benefits: continuous in-line mixing, predictable blending, dispersing and reaction time, uniform temperature and velocity profiles from center line to outside wall, low capital cost, long service life, easy installation, easy removal of mixing elements, for cleaning (or can be cleaned-in-place).  

The Sanitary Mixer is currently being used in such mixing applications as:  controlling net brix value of tomato paste and brine; blending orange juice concentrate and water; cooking food products with heat-exchanger configuration; homogenizing oil and vinegar for salad dressing; heating food product flow directly with steam; mixing ice cream and flavoring; adding colorant to yogurt.

More information on the motionless, continuous Sanitary Mixer  is available from Komax Systems, Inc.