Morehouse-COWLES, Division of MFIC

Your single-shaft unit is running. The heavy, viscous product is not moving. The blades are boring a hole. Solution - a multi-shaft dissolver.

With three shafts, each with its own motor and distinct impeller design, the ViscoMax multi-shaft dissolver mixes/disperses high-viscosity products 50,000 to 2,000,000+ centipoise with greater product uniformity, finer batch circulation and minimal heat buildup - and often using at least 25 percent less horsepower than a single-shaft dissolver would if it could process the same formulation.

The center-shaft anchor sweep on Visco-Max wipes vessel walls in a slow sweep, pushing heavy, agglomerated materials to the high-shear impellers. A high-speed blade (or blades) on the offset central shaft disperses the product mass it receives from the anchor blade. A third shaft’s mixing tool eliminates dead spots, adds agitation to products not requiring constant high-speed dispersion, and handles heat- or shear-sensitive products.

You can completely mix a batch using the economical slow speed, and then activate the high-speed blade for final dispersion finish. The slow-speed anchor sweep doesn’t create a vortex or trap air in the product, and creates fewer ingredient-loading problems, allowing faster batch loading and reducing high-speed dispersion time, where heat buildup can occur.

Machines specifically designed for lab, pilot and large-volume production sizes are available. Use a bare minimum of ingredients on the 2-liter Visco-Max dissolver to develop your formula in the laboratory. Then transfer that recipe directly to a Visco-Max full-production machine (1 gallon to 2,000 gallons) with excellent results. Proportionate machine design gives you maximum production efficiency and economy.

Visco-Max offers a wide range of distinct impeller designs and process options to manufacture your product, including vessel size and shape, shaft speed, vacuum and temperature control, and instrumentation. More widely used impeller designs include: gate, pitched, bow, stabilizer ring, hub-mounted radial, sweep, propeller, disc-mounted radial, auger shaft, dual hi-speed, poly-peller, high-vane, high-shear and pick. Custom blades can be designed for a special requirement.

Visco-Max multi-shaft dissolvers are currently used to process latex paint mill bases, inks, sealants, adhesives, coatings, caulks, cosmetics, foods, putties, dyestuffs, resins, plastics, ceramics, grease, wood fillers, epoxies, mastics and polymers. For special needs, a unit can be designed specifically for your product.

Morehouse-COWLES also offers a full line of ram-style discharge presses for moving your high-viscosity products from the tank to the packaging area. This design uses a plate that is matched to the internal diameter of the tank, which is hydraulically pushed into the tank, evacuating even the most viscous of products through the tank discharge valve. Most are custom designed to the specific product and customer requirements.

Free lab testings can be run to verify applicability of a Visco-Max for your product. For more information, call 800-370-5452, or visit the company’s Web site at http://www.morehousecowles.com.