Powder Mixer Reduces Mixing Time by 50%

In the baking ingredients industry, safety and efficiency can be major concerns, particularly for those who use large mixing tanks.

These large mixing tanks cause product to be wasted and pose a major concern for workers who have to transport heavy bags of ingredients up a ladder in order to reach the top of the tank. A US baking ingredient processor faced these challenges while producing their lime slurry, a mixture containing calcium hydroxide and water. The mixture is used to preserve bakery items such as bread and pastries. To create the mixture, the processor combined calcium hydroxide and Satsol, a liquid base, in a 700 gallon mixing tank with an agitator. This method was time consuming and caused the calcium particles to agglomerate on the sides and blades of the mixing equipment, which led to inconsistent product output and slow blending times. The baking ingredient processor wanted to find a better solution that would be able to mix the slurry more efficiently.

Through a local equipment supplier, the baking ingredient company learned about Fristam’s Powder Mixer technology. The Fristam Powder Mixer provides quick, high-performance mixing of wet and dry ingredients into a fluid stream. When the processor learned about the benefits of Fristam’s Powder Mixer, they were intrigued and wanted to compare the results of the Powder Mixer versus their mixing tank system. After running four tests, the processor found that Fristam’s Powder Mixer was able to produce a slurry with consistent viscosity and reduce the mixing time from 14 to 7 minutes per 600 pound batch, doubling what their old system produced.

Another benefit of the Fristam Powder Mixer is its safe and ergonomic design. Instead of workers carrying heavy bags of calcium hydroxide up a ladder, the processor is now able to constantly supply the calcium hydroxide to the floor-level Powder Mixer from a bulk bag unloading system. This means workers no longer have to risk their safety, and the production process no longer wastes time unloading bags of powder manually.

Overall, the processor is very pleased with the Powder Mixer. Along with cutting the production time in half, the processor is confident that the Powder Mixer will also save time by eliminating the need for manually unloading the calcium hydroxide bags. Automating the system using the Powder Mixer and bulk bag unloader also provides the processor with peace of mind, knowing that their new process provides a priceless improvement on safety.