The new EL1nano is the smallest mixer in the company history of Eirich. With a usable volume of up to 100 ml, the machine can be used for many research and development tasks, particularly for high-end applications.
With a usable volume of up to 100 ml, the machine can be used for many research and development tasks, particularly for high-end applications.
Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich GmbH & Co KG
The mixer is designed for tests with small quantities of material, but at the same time it offers the same full range of functions and features of the manufacturer's larger products, including mixing, granulating, agglomerating, dispersing, preparation of suspensions, coating, and more. According to the manufacturer, it is easily possible to scale up to larger laboratory mixers and machines for research factories, pilot lines and even large-scale production.
Compact mixer for small quantities of products
In recent years, according to Eirich, more and more customers have approached the company with a request for an even smaller size of mixer to help them with development work involving expensive raw materials. They were looking for a mixer that could respond better to the often small volume requirements of downstream production steps and product sample sizes – one that would therefore create less waste material in the process. At the same time, they were also on the search for a solution that could be easily upscaled to larger mixers. Today, fundamental research and development work at this scale often depends on laboratory machines or entirely manual, user-specific methods such as the use of a pestle and mortar, but of course the operating principles behind these methods are not available at a larger scale. As a result, research results generated under these circumstances normally cannot be translated to the next development stage, or this is only possible with great difficulty. The EL1nano is designed to provide a solution to help customers meet these requirements by ensuring that the basic idea of combining minimal material quantities with scale-up capabilities is present right from the first phase in the development process – both in research institutions and in customers’ laboratories.
Particularly when it comes to developing new materials, for example for storage devices for electric energy such as lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, technical ceramics, or in powder metallurgy, the raw materials are often very expensive or only available in limited quantities through internal material synthesis. The mixer makes it possible to conduct test series with small quantities of raw materials – without having to make any compromises in terms of the quality of the mixing results. “It is definitely not a workable solution to use a larger mixer and fill it below the minimum fill level stated by the manufacturer. As a good rule of thumb, high-quality mixing results require the mixing pan to be filled to at least 30 percent, better to around 50 percent,” explains Stefan Gerl, Head of Process Engineering at Eirich. “With the EL1 unit, this meant that a minimum of 300 ml needed to be processed in the past, whereas this has now been reduced to just around 30 ml on the EL1nano, which corresponds to around two tablespoons full.”
Broad range of potential applications
The mixer is based on the Eirich mixing principle: The rotating mixing pan, a variable-speed rotor tool, and a fixed, two-part wall scraper combine to deliver optimum mixing results. In addition, the mixer also offers an adjustable tilt angle of 0°, 10°, 20°, and 30°. To increase flexibility and ensure that this new system offers the all-decisive scale-up capability for a wide range of different applications, EL1nano can be operated using interchangeable mixing tools that have the same geometry as the corresponding tools on larger mixers. The compact frame of the machine enables easy installation and allows it to be used in glove boxes, which makes for safe operation when working with toxic, potentially explosive, or reactive raw materials. The control system is implemented via an intuitive touchscreen interface that allows the mixing tool speed to be freely adjusted and its direction of rotation to be reversed. The integrated timer function assists with precise monitoring of the mixing time. A USB interface is provided for data exchange so that operational data can be exported. EL1nano is aimed at numerous industries, including in the areas of battery technology, the chemical industry, technical and medical ceramics, as well as the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry – particularly in areas where valuable raw materials are used.
