Viscous Mixing
The production of viscous products often places a multitude of different requirements on the mixing system: mixing tasks such as blending, heat transfer or suspending solids have to be covered in a wide range of different viscosities and adaptable shear rates. The modular system with the EKATO PARAVISC has proven to be an all-rounder for such applications with viscosities from 1 up to 1,000,000 mPas. In addition, the EKATO PARAVISC can be combined with baffles, wall scrapers or independently driven additional mixers (coaxial or with excentric two-shaft systems) if necessary – based on this wide spectrum of possibilities also an ideal solution for multi-purpose units.

Oxidation reactors for high gas flow rates
For economic reasons, gassing reactors for bulk chemicals are being operated with ever higher gas flow rates with an increase of vessel size at the same time. Conventional gassing systems such as sparg rings cannot keep up with these higher gas flow rates; traditional reactors become flooded. A new device for feeding gas is not arranged underneath the impeller but in the high-energy outflow area. This enables high oxygen transfer rates as impeller flooding does not occur even in extreme situations.

Agitators for World Scale Plants
The reactor dimensions mentioned above lead into uncharted territories with respect to design. Reactors for continuous operation with volumes from 1,000 m3 upwards, with production rates of more than 1 m tons per year and vessel and power inputs of 2,500 kW or torques above 500,000 Nm reflects the technical state-of-the-art.
A design that is operationally safe is only possible if the agitator with the vessel and internals is taken into consideration simultaneously. All components are subject to a finite element and modal analysis while taking into account the dynamic loads.

Draft tube technology for industrial crystallization processes
Consistent product quality is the main goal using crystallizers in continuous operation. In most cases large particles with a narrow particle size distribution should be achieved. Draft tube technology crystallizers (DTB) are ideally suited for such applications and are specifically designed by EKATO to fulfill the requirements with low attrition impellers. In this way the power input can be effectively converted into a high suspension performance and a higher product quality is achieved. Based on experimental evaluations and CFD studies concerning the draft tube, different design parameters – e.g. minimizing pressure losses and increasing the energy efficiency – are tried out and adapted. In this way it has been possible to significantly increase the efficiency of the EKATO draft tube system.

Erosion protection
Erosive agitator wear can be encountered in many ways. Coatings that are harder than the abrasive material is one practicable way. The challenge here is the chemical resistance of the coating under the given operating conditions and a secure adhesion to the metallic surface. A new approach to this problem is the shape of the impeller blades. A blade form that offers optimal flow efficiency can hinder backflow which is often the cause of fast, progressive impact erosion. This optimization, however, must not jeopardize the mixing efficiency. In this way the lifetime can be markedly increased with less maintenance costs.

Biological ore leaching (bioleaching)
Today minerals are extracted using hydrometallurgical processes in autoclaves with high pressures and temperatures. A new process uses microorganisms that can work under extremely acidic conditions. This specifically developed impeller can maintain a concentrated ore suspension during continuous operation even under gassed conditions. In this way a gentle treatment of the microorganisms is guaranteed at the same time. This new process using biological leaching is not possible without an efficient mixing technology. The very expensive high-pressure autoclaves can be replaced with open tanks. This lowers the investment and operating costs.