Stainless steel tank equipment, including sanitary mixing tanks with agitators, can streamline your processing operations and help you to thrive on less budget. Do you need an agitator for your business? Let’s talk about it.
The Purpose of Agitation
Agitation is defined as the process of moving, mixing, and stirring solid and fluid materials. The best way to maintain material movement is with commercial agitation equipment that:
Helps in moving products and materials from one phase to the next
Helps to maintain consistent temperatures during heating and cooling
Prevents mixtures from sticking to the tank wall
Various tank agitation systems can offer different levels of agitation based on the motor’s horsepower, speeds, power and torque. All agitators include a motor, gearbox, or shafted blade – or a combination of these elements – that performs the agitation.
There are 4 Common Agitator Types
90% of agitators are top-entry models, which can manage mixtures with various viscosity and gravity levels. The remaining three common types of agitators comprise the other 10% and include:
Bottom-Entry Agitators: Utilized for in-tank, high-shear liquid or powder/liquid blending
Side-Entry Agitators: Utilized at dairy farms and facilities that keep significant volumes of liquids on site. Rather than continuously agitating in a vigorous manner, the tanks simply keep the product moving in order to facilitate cooling and temperature control in refrigerated liquids.
Bottom-Entry Mag Drive Agitators: Provide proper agitation and operational versatility for a broad spectrum of processing applications. Often used in fermentation, hydrogenation, and other complex reactions.
Each kind of agitator utilizes a unique impeller that offers different mechanical capabilities. The right option for any manufacturing facility depends on the application, the materials involved, and any industry-specific rules and regulations. Each agitator also comes in multiple sub-varieties.
3 Factors to Consider
Because there are so many different types of agitators on the market, determining and planning for the use cases and requirements for your facility can help in selecting the right hygienic mixing system. Here are three considerations to keep in mind: Mixing the Product: Agitators can facilitate several types of mixing motions available, including:
Scraping: Scrape the bottom and sides of the tank to prevent the product from sticking to the walls and becoming stagnant. Scraping guarantees that all of the tank contents are processed and not wasted – no matter how sticky. Not only does this result in a more consistent end product for the consumer, but scraping also mitigates the opportunity for freezing or burning during the cooling and warming processes.
Sweeping: Sweep motions are typically faster than scraping and work to move materials away from the wall of the tank to uniformly agitate the contents. Sweepers are typically used for less viscous fluids, such as dairy products. Low-viscosity materials generally use a bottom sweep, while thicker compounds will utilize a side sweep.
High viscosity mixing: Highly viscous substances require slow agitation with a heavier unit – and either scraping or sweeping agitation may be an appropriate fit.If your application needs only to move rather than be mixed, propeller agitators are likely appropriate. They maintain a constant state of motion within the compounds to avoid separating and settling. They also facilitate both cooling and heating processes by guaranteeing an even temperature throughout the mixture.Shearing-based agitation, utilized in homogenization, is a more rapid mode of agitation. The blades quickly slice through the product to ensure an even mixture, making it perfect for complex products like sauces that require consistent, evenly dispersed ingredients.
Purchasing a Refabricated Stainless Steel Tank Agitator
Zwirner Equipment Company refabricates and reconfigures quality stainless steel tanks and agitators for a diverse range of industries. If you need assistance in locating quality used manufacturing equipment, call our professional team today.
