Powder Mixer Resolves Safety Concern

While the process of mixing sugar into water may seem simple, many processors still use top entry agitators in batch tanks, which can pose a safety concern for workers.

A major US sucrose processor was using this method to mix sugar, requiring their employees to carry 47 bags of sugar up a ladder to the top of the tank. Each of the bags weighed 100 pounds. The potential for accidents and injury was too great. Overexertion and slips/falls are the #1 and #3 most common workplace injuries. The sucrose processor decided that it needed to search for a more efficient and safe method to incorporate the sugar. It needed to eliminate ladder climbing.

Searching for a safer, ground-level solution, the processor discovered the Fristam Powder Mixer. Fristam’s Powder Mixer allows for quick induction of liquid and dry ingredients into a fluid steam, in a more compact, continuous feed system. The induction funnel and table top of the Powder Mixer is waist-height, which means employees would remain on the floor and do not have to climb ladders or bend down to pour the heavy bags of sugar.

The processor chose the 40-00 model Powder Mixer, featuring a high-volume FZX Liquid Ring pump to pull in the sugar. The consistent suction of the FZX allows for the sugar to be rapidly inducted into the water at a rate of 600 pounds per minute, saving the processor an estimated 30 minutes per batch. The Powder Mixer’s low height also allows operators to work from floor level below the batch tank, eliminating safety concerns. Now, still using the same Powder Mixer 15 years later, the processor continues to be impressed and its employees continue to be safe and healthy.