Plantary Mixers

Listing ID #5874471

As viscosities reach 500,000 cP or higher, planetary-style mixers perform better than agitators with a fixed axis of rotation. In a planetary mixer, two or more blades rotate on their own axes while orbiting on a common axis. The agitators continually advance into the batch and contact fresh product all the time. The classic double planetary mixer (DPM) is a relatively low speed device; it relies on a product’s viscosity to impart shear as two identical blades move through the batch and push materials against the vessel surfaces and between the blades. Depending on the blade configuration, a DPM can handle viscosities up to 8 million cP. Newer planetary mixer designs feature one or two stirrer blades (similar to those in a DPM) supplemented by one or two high speed disperser shafts which also revolve on their own axes while orbiting the mix vessel. These “hybrid” planetary mixers are ideal for processing viscous (~2 million cP), highly-filled applications requiring ultra-fine dispersion quality. The following section covers three planetary mixer configurations and the high viscosity applications for which they are typically used