Mixing Performance of a Curved-Ribbon Impeller during Blending of Food Powders

The performance of a horizontal segmented curved-ribbon impeller was evaluated in terms of mixing time and power consumption during blending of two cohesive food powders, namely normal corn starch and icing sugar. Power consumption data were correlated with bulk density and friction coefficient of the powders, impeller volume and length as well as load ratio and rotational speed by a defined relationship. Also, a dimensionless correlation between the power number and the effective cohesion number was obtained. A single generalized dimensionless power curve representing power data is provided that is able to predict the energy required for the agitation process of cohesive food powders in this particular mixer, and also may serve as an engineering tool in process design of solids mixing.