Power requirement of solid mixers is influenced in a complicated manner by various factors, such as the operating conditions, the properties of the powders, the dimension of the mixers, and so on.
In the present work, the relation between the torque of the horizontal mixers and those factors has been studied.
The torque increases with increasing the charged ratio, f, the bulk density, ρ_a and the internal friction factor, μ_i of the powders, and the dimension of the mixer. On the other hand, the torque is not influenced by the rotating speed, N, in the range of 30≤N≤200r.p.m. The shear force has been found to be a dominant factor in the total power requirement of the mixer.
The power data are well correlated with the experimental conditions by the relation Pg_c=1.3μ_iρ_adf(φD₀²L)d_eN_s d_e=[πL/4{2/P₀(D₀²-(D₀-2b₀)²)+1/P_i(D_i²-(D_i-2b_i)²)}]^1/2 where D: diameter, L: length, b: width, P_{i, 0}: pitch, N_s: rotating speed, all in M. K. S. units, and suffices “0” and “i” refer to the outer and inner ribbon.