New laboratory Mixer For The Foodstuffs And Pharmaceutical Industries - Expanded R&D Center

At Powtech 2017, MTI Mischtechnik presents an all-new line of laboratory mixers developed for the pharmaceutical and foodstuffs sectors. The design corresponds to these industries' very exacting hygiene requirements; the systems can nevertheless be flexibly adapted to the special needs of diverse applications. The model shown at stand 1-254 in hall 1 was configured at the request of an industry leader who will use it for recipe development in dairy processing. A further highlight is MTI’s UT 250 vertical universal mixer having a working volume of 205 liters; this unit, too, is built to a very high standard. In addition, MTI presents the latest capacity expansion of its R&D Center that will provide further flexibility gains in developing customer-specific machine configurations and in implementing pilot production runs.

New laboratory mixer for elevated hygiene requirements
The MTI laboratory mixer premiered at this year's Powtech fulfils elevated hygiene requirements, whether in homogenising different recipe ingredients or as a friction mixer for carrying out thermal processes. The energy input is adjustable over a wide range via the machine's rotational speed and hence, the peripheral velocity of the mixing tool. Moreover, the mixture can be tempered by water via the mixer’s double jacket. Thus, the application range of the new laboratory mixer covers broadly diverse process tasks, including coating, agglomerating and vacuum drying.

The food-grade model displayed at Powtech provides a vessel volume of 10 liters at a working volume of 2 to 8 liters. The laboratory mixer’s design allows an easy scale-up to industrial operation for recipes and processes developed to volume production standard. Its outer parts and all surfaces in contact with the mixture are made of stainless steel 1.4541, with the latter industrially ground to a grit 1200 high-quality finish. At a drive capacity of 5.5 kW, the rotational speed of the individually configurable mixing tool can be variably selected between 300 rpm and 3,000 rpm adequate to circumferential speeds between 3.7 m/s and 37 m/s. For additional flexibility in the laboratory the mixer can be moved on casters. As has been standard on MTI products for many years, the new laboratory mixer features a clearly structured touch panel and a Siemens S7 control for manual and automatic operation.

Still more versatility in developing for and with customers
For a number of years, MTI – with its excellently equipped in-house R&D Center – has been on record as a particularly efficient partner in the development of tailor-made mixer technology. With its most recent expansion, the company's laboratory provides more scope, e.g., for trials on a larger production scale, as well as a dedicated area for testing under ATEX conditions plus special rooms for mixing products subject to a high contamination risk. Since October 2016, MTI's experienced team has been reinforced by process engineer René Weiffen, who brings additional expertise to the task of resolving R&D challenges for, and with, MTI's customers.

Ulrich Schär, General Manager at MTI, comments: “With the launch of the new laboratory mixer for particularly exacting hygiene requirements and the ongoing expansion of its R&D capabilities, MTI emphasises its role as a leading innovator in the mixing industry. Already, our standard line-up of machines meets the conditions for integration into Industry 4.0 environments. But we place an equally strong focus on individual developments addressing highly specific customer objectives. With our ambition not to leave any mixing problem unresolved, we have gained a strong market position among the world's leading mixer manufacturers in recent years.”