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Ribbon Blender
How it Works
Benefits of Choosing a ROSS Ribbon Blender
What does a ROSS Ribbon Blender do?
The batch-style ROSS Ribbon Blender is a proven workhorse in bulk solids processing. From seasonings and beverage mixes to pharmaceutical, chemical, plastic, and agricultural powders or granules, the wide range of applications that are efficiently and economically processed in a ROSS Ribbon Blender makes it a popular and versatile choice in various industries. This blender can heat, cool, or dry materials under vacuum. It can also coat solid particles with small amounts of liquid. In addition, it can mix wet applications such as soups, batters, slurries and certain pastes.
How does a ROSS Ribbon Blender work?
Ribbon Blenders consist of a U-shaped horizontal trough and a solid agitator shaft mounted with spokes that support outer and inner helical blades called ribbons. Powered by a gearmotor drive, the agitator rotates and produces a peripheral speed of up to approximately 300 fpm. The ribbons move material radially -- the outer ribbons move the ingredients in toward the blender’s center, and the inner ribbons move ingredients out toward the blender wall. The difference in the outer and inner ribbons’ speeds moves material laterally or axially (along the blender’s horizontal axis), in opposite directions. The radial and two-way axial mixing actions promote small-scale random motion (diffusion), large-scale random motion (convection), and shear resulting from particle-to-agitator, particle-to-wall, and particle-to-particle collisions.
Features at a Glance
Why Choose a ROSS Ribbon Blender
Design – ROSS Ribbon Blenders are fabricated from thick, high quality stainless steel wetted parts, in sizes ranging from ½ to 1000 cubic feet working capacity. The agitator is driven by a compact one-piece motor reducer (gearmotor) which offers greater efficiency and performance compared to belt- and chain-driven designs. Various optional features are available including custom ports on the cover, heating/cooling jacket, vacuum capability, interchangeable paddle agitator, high speed choppers, sanitary finishes, all-stainless steel construction, spray nozzles for liquid additions, pressure feed vessels, pneumatically-operated covers and valves, explosion-proof motors and controls.
Safety – All ROSS Ribbon Blenders come standard with OSHA-compliant safety shaft guards (no external moving parts); NEMA 12 safety limit switches preventing operation of the agitator when cover is open; an FDA-compliant silicone cover gasket and a dust-tight knife gate discharge valve to minimize dusting. Clamps securing the cover to the trough may be supplied to further reduce dust and fume migration. Customizable safety grating, bag dump stations, automated valves and various other operator-friendly options are offered.
Ease of Use – ROSS Ribbon Blenders utilize a gearmotor which works well with a variable frequency drive and able to accommodate frequent start/stop cycles while providing enhanced speed control, overload protection and adjustable starting torques. Maintenance is simple; operators do not need to periodically align and adjust belts or couplings. Optional PLC recipe controls enhance batch-to-batch consistency, enable data logging and can be configured for remote access from a smart device.
Customizability – Special materials of construction including Hastelloy C-276, abrasive-resistant carbon steel and other alloys can be supplied for demanding applications. Heavier duty, higher horsepower options are offered to meet high density blending requirements. Air-purged mechanical seals, end wall scrapers, high-performance sanitary valves, load cell systems and other upgrades are available. ROSS Ribbon Blenders can be designed for vacuum operation up to 29.5”Hg as well as positive internal pressure.
Specifications
Technical Data
- 1/2 through 1000 cubic feet capacity
- Stainless steel wetted parts
- Ribbon agitator for center discharge
- Designed for atmospheric operation
- 80 grit finish on interior and exterior stainless steel surfaces
- Two piece covers from 10 to 1000 cu. ft. for charging of raw materials with neoprene gaskets
- Safety limit switches to prevent operation when covers are raised
- Stuffing boxes with easily disassembled split housing
- Teflon braided packing
- Manually operated knife gate discharge valve
- All exterior non-stainless surfaces are painted with a white two-part epoxy coating
- Single speed drive
- 230/460 volt, 60 Hz, three phase, TEFC motors (see options for starters and controls)
- Blender is mounted on supports providing a discharge clearance of 36"
- Blender suitable for 50 lbs. per cu. ft.
Model 42N Ribbon Blender Specifications
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Additional Resources
Guard against product migration in your Ribbon Blender.
This bulletin presents some tips for efficiently containing powders in a Ribbon Blender to ensure operator safety, prevent cross-contamination and promote easier clean-up.
Direct drive ribbon blenders offer better operating efficiency and performance compared to belt-driven designs.
Traditional belt-driven ribbon blenders are prone to slippage and suffer from subsequent losses in efficiency and production. Direct drive ribbon blenders equipped with gearmotors are more reliable, delivering better performance and requiring less maintenance. Because gearmotors are designed to work well with inverters, users benefit from electronic speed control, soft-start capabilities and overload protection.
What to look for in a sanitary ribbon blender
Subtle differences in ribbon blender design and construction can significantly impact mixing performance and reliability. Especially in sanitary applications, certain blender features must not be overlooked in the specification process.
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How to Select a Ribbon Blender
When it comes to powders and bulk solids, there are very few that a ribbon blender can't blend. This versatile and highly scalable mixing device "“ available from half a cu ft to over 1000 cu ft "“ is used extensively across many industries for blending dry powders, granules, pellets, flakes, and other solid forms. From spice blends, drink mixes, and multivitamins to cosmetic powders, polymer blends, chemical additives, fertilizers, and ceramic powders, just to name a few, the range of products that can be batched in a ribbon blender is wide and varied.
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Four Ways to Optimize your Blenders efficiency
The batch ribbon blender's versatility for mixing solids " and for combining mixing with heating,cooling, coating, and other processes " makes it a real workhorse in bulk solids processing applications.