Add Liquid to Dry Powder Mixes During IBC Blending

As consumer demands are continually changing, manufacturers must have flexible and efficient production processes to stay ahead of their competition.

Until now, if a powder blend required liquid addition, it was necessary to use a Fixed Mixer, which can be difficult and time-consuming to clean between recipe changeovers, leading to large amounts of downtime.

Add liquids during powder blending

Invented and developed by Matcon, our innovative Liquid Addition System (patent pending) expands the range of the IBC tumble blender and is well suited to industries that need the flexibility to add liquids into a wide range of powder recipe mixes in a contained and efficient manner.

The system works by automatically injecting one controlled liquid ‘shot’ per rotation directly into the powder mix enclosed in the Matcon Intermediate Bulk Container during its blending cycle, without any need for manual intervention or to open the blending vessel. This ensures the even dispersion of liquids to your powder recipe during the mixing process whilst preventing lumps from forming.

Designed for manufacturers that need to deliver additions of liquids to a dry powder blend, the system has two options:

• Low Volume Liquid Addition with a range of 1- 10 litres
• High Volume Liquid Addition, delivering a range of 5-150 litres.

This flexible and hygienic liquid addition system reduces manual handling requirements within the process and improves containment, further enhancing the benefits of IBC Blending.

Liquid addition for powder blending - without the lumps

As the blender turns the IBC the liquid is injected on every rotation with the high shear intensifier ensuring that it is all fully integrated & mixed. The system consists of a free-standing pillar supporting a reciprocating pump and weight monitoring system, onto which a liquid tank (two size options available) is mounted. These connect to the IBC via the Matcon Liquid Additions Intensifier using tri-clamped hoses and a rotary coupling.

To minimize the downtime for cleaning, operators can swap out parts without the need for additional tooling, keeping the blender in production, further improving the efficiency and throughput of a production facility. The system also includes CIP flushing for neutral oils or cleaning fluids.

Reduce manual handling and contamination risk

Matcon's Liquid Addition is a flexible and hygienic system that enables batch-based blending, reducing manual handling, and improving containment levels. This functionality ensures that manufacturers across a range of industries can further enhance their IBC Tumble Blending process.

Key advantages of Liquid Addition:

• Rapid integration of liquid into a powder blend through high-shear mixing.
• Injection directly into powder mass at Intensifier blade tip, while tumble blending via rotary union.
• Remove the need for two-stage blending.
• Maintain high containment levels as liquids are injected during blending.
• Controlled liquid 'shot' for accurate dispersion.
• Pre-program recipes for ease of use.
• Change-out parts are easily cleaned ‘offline’ keeping the blender in production.
• Loss-in-weight monitoring on the liquid tank.
• No loss of liquid on vessel walls.

A comparison of features for Low and High Volume Liquid Addition

IBC Tumble Blending - learn more

To find out more about our developments in IBC Tumble Blending technology and how to expand the capabilities of your powder processing, please download the brochure via the link below.