Semi-Continuous Mixing Assembly for Liquid Personal Care
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional batch processing systems for producing liquid personal care compositions face challenges in efficiently meeting consumer demand, as they result in high changeover times and waste due to the difficulty in cleaning equipment and accommodating different compositions, leading to inefficiencies and increased production costs.
Innovation Solution
A semi-continuous process is employed, utilizing a main feed tube with injection tubes and an orifice to mix base compositions with pre-manufactured modules, allowing for precise dosing and blending at low energy levels, minimizing waste and changeover time, and ensuring homogeneous mixtures while being resistant to microbial growth.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If batch processing systems are used with large fixed-size mixing tanks, then viscosity can be measured and adjusted, but changeover time increases significantly due to cleaning requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the feed delivery into multiple separate feed lines, each dedicated to specific ingredients. This segmentation allows individual lines to be cleaned or switched without affecting the entire system, reducing changeover time while maintaining viscosity control through precise dosing of each component stream.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses variable speed feed pumps that can dynamically adjust flow rates to maintain consistent viscosity across different batch sizes. The dynamic control of pump speeds allows the system to adapt to changing production requirements without requiring complete system reconfiguration or extensive cleaning.
2Adaptability or versatility
If batch processing with pigging operations is performed, then equipment can be cleaned for different compositions, but production capacity decreases due to washout time
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary flushing of feed lines with compatible solvents or water during the batching process itself, rather than requiring separate washout operations. This preliminary action prepares the lines for the next composition change without stopping production, maintaining versatility while preserving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system recovers and reuses flushing fluids and leftover ingredients from changeover operations. By capturing and reprocessing these materials, the system reduces waste and minimizes the volume of material that requires disposal during composition changes, thereby maintaining higher production capacity.
3Reliability
If pigging operations are conducted during changeover, then contamination is avoided, but significant quantities of unused components are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements recovery systems that capture unused ingredients during pigging and changeover operations. These recovered materials are filtered, stored, and reused in subsequent batches, eliminating waste while maintaining contamination prevention through controlled recovery processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediary collection vessels and filtering systems between the pigging operation and the waste disposal path. These intermediaries allow for the separation and recovery of valuable ingredients from the flushing stream, preventing direct waste while ensuring contamination-free recovery through controlled intermediary processing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The semi-continuous process reduces changeover time and waste, enhances production efficiency, and maintains product quality by achieving homogeneous mixing with lower energy consumption, thus optimizing production to match consumer demand and reducing costs.
Implementation Method 1
The combination of the injection tubes and the geometry of the orifice are used to dose the base of the composition and mix with the base a series of pre-manufactured isotropic liquid, liquid/liquid emulsion, or solid/slurry modules at a single point to generate a homogeneous mixture.
Data Source
AI summary
A mixing assembly for use in a semi-continuous process for producing liquid personal care compositions, such as shampoos, includes a main feed tube carrying a base of the composition to be produced, a plurality of injection tubes in selective fluid communication with the main feed tube, and an orifice provided in a wall at an end of the main feed tube downstream of the plurality of injection tubes. The wall in which the orifice is provided includes a curved (e.g., semispherical) entry surface on an upstream or inlet side of an orifice, and a curved (e.g., semi-elliptical) exit surface on a downstream or outlet side of the orifice. The orifice may have a rectangular or elliptical shape. By maintaining symmetry of the injection tubes with respect to the orifice, and leveraging delay between introduction of dosed modules and increased viscosity, effective mixing may be achieved with minimal energy.