Machinery and Equipment Used in the Coatings Industry

Bags, Bulk

Bulk bags, also known as flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs), big bags, or super sacks, are large, woven bags used to transport and store dry, flowable materials. They are often used in manufacturing facilities to supply large amounts of solids, such as powders and chemicals. Bulk bags can hold up to 4,000 pounds of material, depending on the design, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including four-panel, U-shaped, or baffle designs. 

Bulk bags are made of flexible fabric and have flexible walls, unlike rigid intermediate bulk containers (RIBCs). They are strong, fully recyclable, and equipped with handles to make them easy to lift and transport. Bulk bags can be filled and emptied through an open top, spout, or duffel-style opening, and can be loaded and transported on pallets or by lifting them from the loops. (Source: Google AI Overview)

Containers/Cans, Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is an excellent choice for the storage of paints and coatings, as it is compatible with many of the chemicals used in the industry. These containers can also withstand temperature variations and mechanical stress. Stainless steel containers are one of the acceptable packaging methods for hazardous and corrosive liquids transport, while they also serve a dual role as efficient warehouse storage.

For the storage or transportation of hazardous chemicals and other such materials, 316 steel offers strong anti-corrosive properties. This is particularly the case with acids. For irregularly sized vessel or storage containers, 316L can be welded safely and maintain its creep strength (Sources: https://sharpsvillecontainer.com/blog/types-of-stainless-steel/; https://cornerstonestainlesscontainers.com)

Dispersers

Mixing and blending are critical processes in the manufacturing or processing of materials. Dispersers are specifically designed to disperse and break down particles, such as solids or liquids, into smaller particles and distribute them evenly throughout a liquid medium. There are several types of dispersers that are used in different applications, depending on the type of material being dispersed and the desired dispersion quality. The most common types of dispersers include:

· High-Speed Dispersers: These are the most commonly used dispersers and are designed to handle a wide range of viscosities and particle sizes. They typically have a vertical shaft and a single impeller that creates a strong vortex and high-shear forces.

· Multi-Shaft Dispersers: These are similar to high-speed dispersers, but they have multiple impellers on a single shaft or multiple shafts. They are used for more complex or viscous formulations that require more intensive mixing.

· Bead Mills: These dispersers use small glass or ceramic beads instead of blades to create high-shear forces and break apart particles. They are often used for fine particle size reduction and high-quality dispersion of pigments or other materials.

· Ultrasonic Dispersers: These use high-frequency sound waves to create cavitation bubbles that break apart particles. They are used for delicate or heat-sensitive materials that may be damaged by traditional dispersing methods. (Source: https://www.industrialmixers.com/dispersers)

Glossmeters

A glossmeter is an instrument used to measure specular reflection gloss of a surface. Gloss is determined by projecting a beam of light at a fixed intensity and angle onto a surface and measuring the amount of reflected light at an equal but opposite angle. Many international technical standards are available that define the method of use and specifications for different types of glossmeters used on various types of materials, including paint, ceramics, paper, metals and plastics. Many industries use glossmeters in their quality control to measure the gloss of products to ensure consistency in their manufacturing processes. The automotive industry is a major user of glossmeters, with applications extending from the factory floor to the repair shop. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossmeter)

Mills, Horizontal

Horizontal mills are machines that can mill a variety of materials, including those with high viscosities, thixotropy, moisture, and air sensitivity. They can be used as standalone units, integrated with other processes, or installed in series with different media sizes. These mills are well suited to wet grinding and can produce fine and ultra-fine dispersions. 

Horizonal mills are made up of a horizontal tubular grinding chamber with an agitator shaft and disks in the center. The disks transfer energy to the fluid in the mill, which shears the product against the media's surface. Horizontal designs can use smaller media and require less energy than conventional disc mill designs. They can also process low to extremely high viscosity slurries efficiently. (Source: Google AI Overview, and www.cmcmilling.com)

Mixers

Mixers are machines that blend, emulsify, homogenize or otherwise mix material into a single substance. Mixers thoroughly combine virtually any solid or liquid that is necessary to form a final product. Mixer selection is based on a number of factors, including viscosity profile, shear requirement, order of addition and throughput. Types of mixers include high-speed dispersers, high-shear mixers, ultra-high-shear mixers, multi-shaft mixers and planetary mixers. Understanding their differences is an important step in choosing the right mixer for your process. (Sources: Thomas Publishing Company website, https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/process-equipment/types-of-mixers/; and High-Speed Mixers for Coatings and Inks, by Charles Ross & Son Company, Paint & Coatings Industry, February 2015)

Mixers; High-Shear Batch

High-shear batch mixers are ideal for reducing the size of agglomerates and droplets in fine dispersions and emulsions to create scalable, highly repeatable products. High-shear mixers have a high-speed rotor that forces the mixture outward against a stator to generate shear. These mixers mix, rotate, and agitate the batch. In addition to combining the mixture, high-shear forces also ensure the materials are evenly distributed within the batch. In a batch high-shear mixer, the components to be mixed (whether immiscible liquids or powder in liquid) are fed from the top into a mixing tank containing the mixer on a rotating shaft at the bottom of the tank. A batch high-shear mixer can process a given volume of material approximately twice as fast as an inline rotor-stator mixer of the same power rating; such mixers continue to be used where faster processing by volume is the major requirement, and space is not limited. (Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-shear_mixer and https://www.highlandequip.com/blog/factors-that-determine-high-shear-vs-low-shear-mixing)

Mixers; Double-Planetary

Double planetary mixers are ideal for low-shear processing of viscous materials. These mixers are robust machines capable of handling materials as high as 8 million cP*. The gentle and thorough folding action imparted by the orbiting blades carefully mixes minor or trace ingredients into a viscous batch that would otherwise break apart from excessive shear. Double planetary mixers are also widely used in applications where the solids being dispersed are sensitive to shear, as in the case of high-viscosity composites filled with hollow microspheres, which require gentle and thorough mixing to reduce fractures. The relatively short cycle times achieved in double planetary mixers also help minimize wear on product-contact surfaces when processing abrasive materials. (Source: https://www.mixers.com/products/planetary-mixers/double-planetary-mixer/)

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