Adhesion

In the bulk materials industry, the terms adhesion and cohesion describe the behaviour of particles.

Adhesion refers to the forces of attraction between different materials. In the case of powders, adhesion influences how strongly the particles adhere to the surface of a mixer. High adhesion forces can lead to deposits in mixers. These deposits are sources of contamination and affect the purity of the mixed batch.

Cohesion describes the forces of attraction between similar particles. In the case of powders, cohesion determines how strongly the particles adhere to each other. High cohesive forces can occur when bulk materials are moistened. These affect the flowability of powders. This is how powders can clump. amixon mixers have liquid addition systems that make moist powders flow better.

On the other hand, cohesion is also deliberately created in powders. For example, when agglomerating or tableting powders. amixon supplies ring layer mixers for this purpose.

The flow properties of powders are influenced by factors such as moisture, particle size distribution, electrical charge, temperature, cohesion and adhesion.

An amixon mixer can improve the flow properties by designing the mixing process to be particularly gentle. Sometimes even the smallest amounts of a flow aid help. These envelop the powder particles, reduce the interparticular forces and make the powder free-flowing.

amixon mixers can efficiently mix, refine, agglomerate, dry or chemically modify powdered goods.

With the SinConvex^® and ComDisc^® technologies, powder mixers can be emptied ‘without residue’.