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Advantages of bin blenders

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the closed-in bin blender, and what are the characteristics of the granules made? Are they consistent and easy to replicate?

A: Fred Rowley responds:

A tote blender or bin blender uses a stainless steel bin as a place to charge powders, blend or final-blend the powders and serves as a large hopper on the in-feed side of the tablet press or hard-shell encapsulator. This type of blender system uses a bin and a tote/bin blender that rotates at a fixed speed. There are no agitators, choppers or intensifier/pin bars in this system. So this system works best when blending simple or complex mixtures of free-flowing powders. It is not that effective a mixer for cohesive powders (powders that tend to stick together or attract electrical charges). For complex mixes of herbals, this system would not be our mixing system of choice.

The tote blending system also has batch limitations and the largest bins usually do not exceed 110 cubic feet. On the other hand, it would be a system of choice for a simple cohesive powder blended into a free-flowing powder base or for a cohesive powder in small quantity blended into a large batch of free-flowing powders.