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A static mixer is a tube-shaped device used to mix fluids, made of materials such as stainless steel, Teflon or polypropylene. It consists of a housing tube and baffles made from plastic or metal alloys. Mixing fluids need not be reactive and sometimes the process results in a simple blend or compound. There are different types of static mixers, including helical, paddle, and wafer styles, used for various applications.
The static mixer is a tube-shaped device that is used to mix fluids, such as two liquids; two gases; or mixing a gas into a liquid by dispersing the gas in an immiscible liquid, a liquid incapable of forming a solution. A static mixer can be made with materials such as stainless steel, Teflon or polypropylene, among others. The device itself consists of a few parts, including a housing tube that can be cylindrical or square in shape and baffles made from plastic or metal alloys. This housing tube contains all of the components within the mixer and can vary in diameter, ranging from 0.23 inches (6 mm) to 19.7 feet (6 m). Baffles are the mixing components and come in a variety of shapes.
Most often, the fluids mixed in a static mixer are either two liquids or a gas and a liquid. Mixing fluids need not be reactive and sometimes the process results in a simple blend or compound. One type of mixer, called a helical static mixer, has baffles that are helically shaped and cut into sections where a slight rotational modification allows the fluid to mix. This is called flow splitting and allows the layering to exponentially increase the mixing of fluids. A helical static mixer is often used for mixing and applying adhesive materials for a variety of fields and disciplines.
This mixer works well with viscous liquids which react and form another viscous liquid or a solid product. An example of this type of product would be synthetic resins, which can be dispensed and delivered to certain locations where they will cure to a cured condition. Hardware stores sell these types of mixers for home applications and are often disposable and have packages of acrylic and epoxy adhesive materials. These types of mixers can also be found in a dental office, where they are used to mix sealants that are placed in the patient’s mouth for the production of bridge molds and cements. This type of static mixer can also be used in large-scale industrial applications, such as repairing an automobile body or waterproofing a boat.
Besides these types, there are also static mixers with paddle designs, mainly used for low to medium viscosity applications. The baffles of the mixer also spin, which increases the amount of mixing. Another type of static mixer is the wafer style, in which light viscosity chemicals are mixed in high velocity streams of water.
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