Function and Purpose

• Granulation Process: In the production of catalysts, granulation is often necessary to transform fine catalyst powders or other precursor materials into granules with specific sizes and shapes. This helps improve the physical properties of the catalyst, such as its flowability, which is crucial for its proper use in industrial chemical processes like in reactors. The intensive lab mixer plays a key role in facilitating the agglomeration and shaping of these materials into granules.
• Mixing and Binding: It not only mixes the catalyst components thoroughly but also helps in evenly distributing any binders or additives that are added to hold the granules together. For example, if a polymeric binder is used to give the catalyst granules more mechanical strength, the mixer ensures that the binder coats the catalyst particles uniformly.

Working Principle

• Intense Shearing and Kneading: These mixers typically operate by subjecting the materials to intense shearing forces and kneading actions. Rotating blades or impellers within the mixer work at high speeds to break up agglomerates of the starting materials and then recombine them in a more organized way to form granules. The high-intensity mixing promotes better contact between the particles and the binder, enhancing the granulation efficiency.
• Controlled Environment: Many intensive lab mixers for this purpose have features to control parameters like temperature and humidity. For instance, in some cases where the binder has specific temperature-dependent properties for optimal performance, the mixer can maintain a constant temperature during the granulation process to ensure consistent quality of the catalyst granules.

Advantages

• Precision: In a laboratory context, it allows for precise control over the granulation process. Scientists can adjust parameters such as mixing speed, mixing time, and the amount of binder added to obtain catalyst granules with very specific characteristics, which is essential for research and development purposes when testing different catalyst formulations.
• Small Batch Processing: Ideal for handling small quantities of catalyst materials. This is beneficial when working with precious or rare catalyst components or when initially developing new catalyst products where only a limited amount of sample is available for experimentation.
• Reproducibility: Enables the production of consistent batches of catalyst granules. Researchers can repeat the granulation process with the same settings and obtain similar results, which is crucial for accurate scientific studies and for scaling up the production process in the future if the catalyst proves to be effective.

Examples of Applications

• Research and Development in Petrochemical Industry: When developing new catalysts for processes like fluid catalytic cracking in oil refineries, researchers use these lab mixers to granulate different formulations of catalysts containing various metal oxides and zeolites to test their performance in converting heavy hydrocarbons into lighter, more valuable products.
• Pharmaceutical Catalyst Production: In the synthesis of certain pharmaceutical intermediates where catalysts are needed, the granulation of catalysts in the lab using these mixers helps in creating catalysts with the right physical properties to be used in small-scale reaction setups for drug development and production.