Sanitary Food & Pharmaceutical Service Static Mixers

StaMixCo fabricates a wide variety of Medium & High Performance static mixing elements in metal and plastic construction which are used extensively in the food, pharmaceutical, medical, biotechnology and related life science industries.

Metal materials of construction are normally 316L S/S for processing typical fluids or Hastelloy C-276 (or PTFE Teflon®) when operating in highly acidic environments. Metal units are sanitary polished throughout for Clean-in-Place (CIP) and Clean-Out-Of-Place (COOP) operating requirements. Plastic materials of construction are normally Polypropylene or PTFE Teflon®. Sizes range from 1.7 mm (0.067”) diameter to many feet in diameter. Many of our sanitary static mixing units are standard stock items with shipment next day after purchase order to a maximum of 8-weeks for highly specialized custom fabricated equipment

Comparison of Medium & High Performance Static Mixing Elements

The Medium Performance static mixing elements have a characteristic feature of an open geometric structure with minimal intrusion upon the process fluids and exhibit low shear rates and low resistance to flow. . These Medium Performance designs however require long lengths to create a reasonable degree of mixing as shown in Figure #1. They are the most popular design for simple to moderate difficulty applications due to their low pressure drop and open geometric structure. They contain highly polished surfaces suitable for Clean-in-Place (CIP) operations.

The High Performance static mixing elements have the characteristic feature of inclined plates (Model GX™) or corrugated plates (Model GV™) which create a very high degree of mixing in a short length as shown in Figure #2: Their process performance is excellent, however they exhibit high pressure drops which often necessitates use of larger diameter mixers to minimize the impact of pressure drop. They also have a tendency to foul due to the high surface area per unit volume of their geometric structures and where the many crossing and pinch-points of the structure will cause fibrous materials and deformable solids to hang-up and foul the static mixer. They are suitable for Clean-out-of-Place (COOP) service where Clean-in-Place (CIP) use should be limited to processing clean fluids with no large suspended solids.

As with most process equipment, each design has its advantages and disadvantages where the choice of which design to install is highly dependent on the operating environment and process goals.

Figure #1: Medium Performance Type HT Helical static mixing elements create a reasonable quality mix in a long length at low pressure drop

Figure #1: Medium Performance Model HT™ Helical static mixing elements create a reasonable quality mix in a long length at low pressure drop

Figure #2: High Performance Type GX mixing elements create a homogeneous mix in a short length.

Figure #2: High Performance Model GX™ mixing elements create a homogeneous mix in a short length.

Medium Performance Static Mixing Elements

The Medium Performance static mixing elements have a characteristic feature of an open geometric structure with minimal intrusion upon the process fluids, exhibit a low shear rate and low resistance to flow and are difficult to foul/plug. They however require long lengths to create a reasonable degree of mixing as shown in Figure #1:

Figure #3: The Model HT-50™ Sanitary Helical Static Mixer is supplied in 316L S/S sanitary polish finish throughout for use with Clean-in-Place (CIP) requirements in the food, pharmaceutical and life science related industries. Complete units with housings and spargers may be purchased or mixing element assemblies only for retrofit into customers’ existing piping. Units are standard stock items in sanitary tubing sizes of 1/2" – 6” diameter with shipment next day after purchase order.

Figure #4: Model HT-40 Plastic Helical Static Mixing Element Assembly

Figure #4: Model HT-40™ Helical static mixing element assemblies are available in plastic construction in sizes as small as 1.7 mm (0.067) to 4” diameter in Polypropylene, Kynar and PTFE Teflon® construction. They are available as mixing element assemblies only for installation into standard plastic and metal tubing housings or custom housings supplied by StaMixCo or the customer. In some sizes, the mixing element assemblies are available in Class 6 Polypropylene construction. Most sizes are standard stock items with shipment next day after purchase order.

Figure #5: The Model LT Lift Tab static mixing unit

Figure #5: The Model LT™ Non-Clogging static mixing unit is available in various housing configurations and length of middle finger depending on the size of solids than must mix and pass through the static mixing unit without fouling. If you can gravity feed or pump material to the unit, the Model LT™ static mixer will mix the materials and not foul or plug. Units are available in diameters of 2” and larger in 316L S/S construction with Ferrule and process industry flanged connections and with standard and polished finish with Clean-In-Place (CIP) use capabilities. Units are custom fabricated due to the many design degrees of freedom and housing options with delivery normally 6-weeks after purchase order.

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High Performance Static Mixing Elements

The High Performance static mixing elements have the characteristic feature of Inclined Plates (Model GX™) or Corrugated Plates (Model GV™) which create a very high degree of mixing in a short length as shown in Figure #2: Their process performance is excellent, however they exhibit high pressure drops which often necessitates use of larger diameter mixers to minimize the impact of pressure drop.

Figure #6: Type GX static mixing elements

Figure #6: Model GX™ static mixing elements are available in sizes as small as 3.75 mm (0.148”) diameter and in much larger sizes. Polished units are 1-1/2” diameter and larger for use in CIP operations when processing clean fluids or in COOP operations when process fluids with small size solids present. Units in 316L S/S with standard surface finish are stock items where polished units are custom fabricated with 6-weeks shipment after purchase.

Figure #7: Type GX Injection Molded mixing elements

Figure #7: Model GXP™ injection molded mixing elements with OD=9.3 mm (0.366”) in Polypropylene and 50% Glass-Filled Nylon Construction. The Polypropylene mixing elements are available in Class 6 Polypropylene construction when required.

Figure #8: Type GX plastic mixing elements

Figure #8: Model GX™ plastic mixing elements are available in sizes 1” diameter and larger in PTFE construction. Shown in photograph is a 2” diameter GX™ static mixer with 3-mixing element in PTFE Teflon® construction.

Figure #9: Type GV static mixer with 3-mixing elements

Figure #9: Model GV™ static mixer with 3-mixing elements, 5-corrugated mixing plates across its diameter and a 45° corrugation angle relative to the pipe axis.

Figure #10: Model GV™ static mixer in 2” sanitary polished construction for use as a gas-liquid contactor to enhance mass transfer to dissolve gas into the liquid.