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Plastic Agitator and Tank Options

Stainless Steel or Plastic Mix Tank Systems – Which Should You Select?

Stainless Steel or Plastic Mix Tank Systems – Which Should You Select?

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Stainless mix tanks or poly? The best choice for your application depends on many variables.

The main parameters in mixing tank or vessel selection are contents, corrosion resistance, volume, temperature, & location. Please note that these are only starting points, and that other factors may apply.

Poly mixing vessels offer advantages over steel mixing tanks, including cost, weight, rapid fabrication time compared to stainless steel, and the ability to see liquid level.

Metal tanks are more resistant to cracking and temperature effects. Still, they require more work to fabricate, including polishing the base metal and welds. For these reasons, metal tank manufacturing cost is typically higher than plastic tanks.

Some of these may be deciding reasons to choose a stainless/metal tank.

  • If you need a pressure or vacuum rating, then it’s an easy choice for a stainless steel mixing tank.
  • Specific critical heating and cooling applications also would point to a jacketed stainless process vessel.

Typical sanitary mixing vessels include mechanical polish and electropolishing with cGMP documentation packages.

Poly Mix Tank Applications

Poly tanks in PP and PVDF are USP VI-rated.

  • DI and RO ultrapure water systems
  • Biopharma mixing applications such as buffer prep, media prep, chrome slurry agitation, etc.

White Mountain Process supplies stainless and poly mixing tanks and vessels to support the industrial mixers and agitators we specialize in.

We can help with stirring – agitation as well. White Mountain Process specializes in custom-fabricated sanitary mixing impellers in many configurations. Mixer and tank polishing, passivation, and electropolishing are services offered, as well as agitator impeller repairs and retrofits.

With a focus on biopharma and sanitary mixer users, we offer all stainless sanitary polished tanks, sanitary high-viscosity blending equipment, and biotech-ready tanks and vessels. We also offer FDA and USP VI plastic tanks and plastic tank mixer packages, including stainless tank stands.

Carboy Mixtank Systems

Carboy Mixtank Systems

Biopharmaceutical Use,Air Mixers,Industrial Use,Plastic Agitator and Tank Options,Sanitary Mixers,Single Use Mixing Options,Top Entry MixersNo Comments
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Engineered Solutions with Poly CARBOY Mixing + Blending Systems from White Mountain Process…


A common problem in the biopharma industry is a lack of choices for mixing and blending in smaller vessels. You can now improve batch consistency, increase productivity, improve ergonomics for mixing in carboy containers, and eliminate non-conforming equipment documentation issues.


Southbridge, MA – White Mountain Process provides a wide range of CARBOY MIXERS + AGITATORS and CARBOY BLENDING SYSTEMS for sanitary and cGMP mixing applications. These mixer systems can be single use design, used with CIP/COP cleaning protocols, and autoclave sterilization situations. The carboy agitators and stirrers range from economical mag drive top entry blending to more sophisticated mixing arrangements with custom ports, dip tubes, vent filter, and instrumentation for a complete engineered mixing system for lab mixing, R&D, or production blending.

White Mountain Process engineers sanitary mixers to meet all biopharma clean ability standards. The carboy mixers have gold documentation packages for GMP requirements.


Carboy tanks and vessel availability:

  • HDPE polyethylene – USP VI and FDA certified materials
  • PP polypropylene – USP VI and FDA certified materials
  • PETG – USP VI and FDA certified materials
  • PC polycarbonate – USP VI and FDA certified materials
  • Mixers to fit any carboy cap including 83B cap, 38mm, 45mm, 53mm, 83mm, and 120mm cap sizes.

Carboy Mixers availability:

  • Electric variable speed mixer with USP VI vapor tight seal. Autoclave design, easy remove motor.
  • Top mount air operated agitator (pneumatically driven air motor mixer style) with all stainless steel air motor
  • Mag drive top entry poly mixer (nonmetallic mixing with top mount magnetically driven stirrer)
  • Single use carboy mixer, we mixer drive you re-use
  • COP/CIP agitation setup – easy to clean in place or via parts washer
  • Carboy CIP cleaning stations

Typical applications:

  • Resin slurry make up, using high torque carboy mixer
  • Buffer prep and salt dissolving
  • Media preparation blending
  • Mixer designs for low shear simple blending or high shear and high speed dissolving
carboy_mixer_options_14may_edit-1

Contact the specialists at White Mountain Process to discuss an engineered solution for your application.

For more information View Here


Mike Matton

mike@wmprocess.com

www.wmprocess.com


 

About White Mountain Process:

White Mountain Process is a USA based company that supplies sanitary mixing and blending equipment throughout the world. The company prides itself in offering real, experienced help to solve elaborate mixing problems with a goal of optimizing your blending process. We offer extensive engineering support and application assistance for any mixer, agitator, mechanical seal, mixing tank, or complex automated blending system.

How To Use a Carboy Mixer

How To Use a Carboy Mixer

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For those in the biopharmaceutical industry, handling the preparation of large volumes of solutions comes with its fair share of challenges. A seamless process is crucial to the quality of the end product, and that means ensuring homogeneous mixing and blending with zero contamination. A balance of sanitation and efficiency is key, especially when it comes to mass production—and the mixing and blending equipment you use plays a significant role in this process. 

 

White Mountain Process’s carboy mixers are specifically tailored to pharmaceutical and sanitary manufacturing, offering simple ways to mix, disperse and blend liquids and solids. With a diverse product lineup—including a selection of mixers and carboys in any standard volume—and customization options, we have the unique capability of catering to a wide range of industry needs.

What we offer: 

Our carboy mixers come in electric, air and magnetic drive models and all are available as single-use, clean-in-place (CIP), clean-out-of-place (COP) or autoclave. Carboys can be customized to your specifications with dip tubes, sterile vent filters, solvent filters, inlet/outlet connections, volume markers, custom tagging, private labelling and more. 

Designed with the sanitary and biopharmaceutical markets in mind, our line of carboy mixers and agitators are ideal for a range of applications like buffer preparation, media preparation, diagnostics and dissolving powders into liquids.

Carboy mixers and agitation systems are available as:
  •   Sealed carboy and mixer
  •   Mag drive carboy stirrer
  •   Single use carboy blending system
  •   Open top carboy agitator
How to use the mixer, agitator or tank

The best part of using a carboy mixer, agitator or tank is this: it doesn’t require a lengthy manual to figure out. In fact, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3: add your ingredients, turn the mixer on, and pump them out—and just like that, you’ve simplified your mixing process. We promise, there’s no catch!

 

Why you should use our carboy mixers for your mixing tank system


With the most extensive offering of carboy mixers and agitators for sanitary and biopharmaceutical purposes, we have myriad options to suit your manufacturing processes. Here are some of the features and services we offer that make our products exceptional in these industries.

Customization options
Almost everything we offer can be customized to deliver exactly the product you need. That means carboys in any standard volume, designed to your specifications. Our ability to customize the materials used offers flexibility with solutions and solvent compatibility, limiting leachables. 

Sanitary mechanical seals
Our carboy mixers feature sanitary mechanical seals for closed mix tank applications, which can limit bioburden and endotoxins.

Speed control
If your goal is precision mixing, we can help you achieve it. Our electric and air mixer motors include options for speed control, offering the ability to perform precision mixing that can be validated.

Single-use availability
In the past several years, biopharmaceutical manufacturing has seen a shift toward single-use bioprocessing equipment. White Mountain is prepared to meet that need, with all of our carboy mixers available as single-use for disposable facilities. 

Documentation options
A bonus: we make it as easy as possible for our customers to access the information they need for lab mixing by providing good manufacturing practice (GMP) documents, such as FDA, USP Plastic Class VI and Material Test Reports (MTR) on all polished stainless steel.
Sanitary Mixers for Biopharma Blending

Sanitary Mixers for Biopharma Blending

Biopharmaceutical Use,Industrial Use,Pharmaceutical Use,Plastic Agitator and Tank Options,Sanitary Mixers,Single Use Mixing Options,Stainless Steel Agitator and Tank OptionsNo Comments

The sophistication of biopharmaceuticals is enormous, but the development of innovative biopharmaceutical products is often plagued by technological and operational challenges. The manufacturing capabilities required to reliably reproduce molecules at an industrial scale are enormous. While the mixing and blending required for biopharmaceutical formulation may appear straightforward – and have been undertaken for over a century – the sanitary features of mixers can make or break their long-term utility in the operations process. An agitator used on a mixing tank (blending system) must be designed and operated to provide the process results required, and have the documentation and ability to be properly cleaned per the in house procedure or SOP (typical cleaning is via CIP and/or SIP – clean in place and/or steam in place).

Sanitation is Critical for High-Quality Biopharmaceutical Products

Sterility and cleanability on blending equipment for drug makers is of course of the utmost importance, and several aspects of sanitation and relevant outcomes must comply with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. These regulations change in response to the needs of the industry and its stakeholders and tend to get stricter over time. The technology of mixers used in the food industry may not always differ significantly from mixing technology in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. However, in the latter case, it is critical to have ultra-sanitary mixing equipment that is built specifically to meet the demands of pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. More recently, as food allergies have been on the rise, the risks associated with cross-contamination have increased the importance of sanitation in the food industry as well.

Sanitation Standards

The FDAs Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations (CGMPs) helps to ensure that biopharmaceuticals are not only high-quality products but that they are also free of contamination. Sterility is vital for any associated drug, including its quality, purity, safety, strength, efficacy, or identity. Particularly with new viruses such as Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, it shows the urgent importance of sterility in every way, shape, and form. Any processing equipment, including mixing and blending tanks and systems must be cleaned and sterilized accordingly.

Meetings Sanitation Requirements Can Be Time Consuming and Laborious

While sanitation has always been emphasized in biopharmaceutical industries, the process for sanitation has faced limitations and caused workflow bottlenecks for biopharmaceutical operations. For instance, production systems of the past have been cleaned manually, requiring time consuming and laborious processes, such as system disassembly, scrubbing, and rinsing. An added critical weakness of these systems has been the potential to introduce contamination and potentially damage the system.

Clean-in-Place Technology Helps to Ensure High-Quality and Efficient Blending

The use of clean-in-place (CIP) techniques – which is used extensively in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in the food industry – offers a modern approach to mixing and blending that enables comprehensive cleaning without the need to disassemble the different pieces and sections of the equipment. CIP technology can help to maintain clean surfaces through the spraying or recirculating of fluids. These methods often employ spray balls that spray various cleansing and sanitizing liquids at high flow rates and at high temperatures.

Not only do CIP systems remove system fouling in a highly effective way, but they are also conducive to automation. These features associated with CIP technologies have made them readily adopted by leaders in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and food production.

CIP Strategies Add Value to Biopharmaceutical Processes Like Buffer and Media Prep

The CIP approach enhances quality and efficiency wherever cleaning and sanitation is required. For frequent or high batch processes, such as buffer preparation and media preparation, CIP is particularly valuable. Not only can this strategy increase cleaning quality and efficiency, but it can help ensure that the development of these batches is repeated in a uniform way and that each product is reproducible and scalable.

Mixer and Blending Tank Designs Must be CIP and SIP friendly

Any sanitary agitator, and blending vessel should be specified and designed to allow proper cleaning and sterilizing per GMP and BPE standards. Mixing tanks are generally fabricated in USP VI PP (polypropylene) or FDA PE (Polyethylene) materials, or stainless steel 316Lss grade, with polished surfaces <20ra and post fabrication passivation and electropolishing. all materials must be traceable and proper gmp documentation part of the mixer turnover package. often times these mixing tanks will be riboflavin cip tested to assure complete coverage in the vessel, and proper cleaning of all the agitator components including the mechanical>

Takeaway: Given the critical importance of sanitation for biopharmaceutical products and the immense labor that can be involved in ensuring sanitation standards are met, those producing these products need technologies that can achieve the highest levels of sanitation while enhancing the efficiency of the sanitation process. Clean-in-place (CIP) technologies are an ideal way to meet these challenges and produce high-quality, reliable products without regularly replacing or supplementing equipment.

Mixing Tanks Designed for Process Results

Mixing Tanks Designed for Process Results

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White Mountain Process is a premier supplier of mixing tanks and blending systems. There is no one tank that fits all applications. We offer a variety of tank materials and styles, with the appropriate mixing system to give you the results desired. Pre engineered tanks with quick deliveries are available. Tanks can be customized to suit including instrumentation and automation.

Looking for the perfect blending system?
Optimize your mixing tank system with choices and perfection.

A variety of mixers are available including top entry agitation, bottom entry mixer, mag drive top and bottom entry mixing, multimotion style blenders, and single use mixers for GMP use.

Mixing Tanks Designed for Process Results

  • Plastic Mixing Tanks (Poly / Non-Metallic mixing)
  • Sanitary Mixtanks
  • Stainless steel and exotic alloy blend vessels
  • Single use mixing tank
  • Carboy mixing tank
  • Bottom and top entry slurry mix tanks
  • Extraction tanks
  • Glass reaction jacketed tanks

Contact White Mountain Process sales@wmprocess.com for consults on choosing the right mixing tank.

The Versatility of Bottom Entry Mixers

The Versatility of Bottom Entry Mixers

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Bottom entry mixers provide manufacturers in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and food processing industries with viable alternatives to top entry solutions. These mixers provide efficient mixing and blending of products, and can be custom designed to suit the specific speed, shear and agitation requirements for various applications.


The Benefits of Bottom Entry Over a Top Entry Mixer

Bottom entry mixers are ideally suited to mixing and blending applications in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries. Although generally more expensive, they offer significant benefits over a top entry mixer:

  • Low level mixing. The ability to mix to very low levels, and blend during drawdown makes bottom entry agitators perfect choice for high value product mixtures.
  • Improved process purity. These mixers do not have to contend with the possibility of contamination from particulate matter falling into the tank from overhead bearings and seals used in top entry mixers, although top entry mixers can be outfitted with a debris well to prevent this.
  • Easy installation. Very easy to install, and simple to maintain the mixer drive/gearbox since its at the bottom of the tank. Top entry mixers with long shafts need special rigging often times to install. The bottom entry mixer is easier to install than its top entry counterpart. The top entry mixer requires sturdy infrastructure to support its heavy overhead motor.
  • More efficient mixing. The design of a bottom entry mixer promotes the formation of a vortex which ensures more efficient and effective blending. It also provides uniform mixing of the batch that continues until the vessel is almost completely drained.
  • More available headroom. Top entry mixers can take up valuable room on the tank top, bottom mount mixing design eliminates that issue.
  • More efficient cleaning-in-place (CIP). Mixer design enables more efficient CIP than the cleaning process of the agitator and shaft associated with a top entry mixer.
  • Easier handling and operation. These mixers are much easier to handle and operate in tight spaces or where headspace is limited.
  • Easier access for maintenance. Their low entry point makes them more accessible for maintenance. This also reduces safety concerns which are always an issue when dismantling top entry mixers for maintenance and repair.

Applications for the Use of Bottom Entry Mixers

Bottom entry high shear mixers are especially suited for:

    • Buffer prep and Media prep
    • Dissolving of solids
    • Blending and dissolving difficult- to- wet powders and gums into liquids
    • Low shear and high shear applications
    • Filtration product hold tanks
  • Yeast propagation

Mixers can be fitted to either stainless steel or polypropylene tanks and can be designed to conform to cGMP specifications for biopharmaceutical production. Users can choose from other options including mixer speed control, a double mechanical seal, multi-motion agitation and multi-shaft mixing. These mixers can also be designed to operate in tanks under pressure or vacuum.

Types of Bottom Entry Mixers

  • Flange or Tri clamp mount with mechanical seal
  • Welded design, flush mount, with mechanical seal
  • Mag drive mixer sealless design
  • Single use bottom entry mixer with disposable bag and mixing assembly

Bottom Entry Magnetic Drive Mixers for Sanitary Applications

Traditionally, all mixers have some type of mechanical seal at the point where the impeller shaft enters the tank. These can be single or double seal arrangements in the attempt to provide a sterile barrier between the interior of the vessel and the outside environment.

The problem with mechanical seals is that they all fail sooner or later. The sanitary magnetic mixer has been developed to do away with the need for a mechanical seal. A drive unit connected to the bottom of the tank is fitted with a magnet. When the drive turns, it locks onto a magnet on the mixer impeller to make it turn. The impeller is mounted on a spindle that is welded to a mounting plate inside the tank. Because there is no breach of the tank wall in this design, there is no need for a seal and sterility is almost guaranteed.

The use of mag mixers in bioreactors is of critical importance, as seal failure can have catastrophic consequences. Other typical uses for bottom entry mag mixers are for aseptic mixing, buffer preparation mixing and media make up agitation.

These mixers can be custom designed to include mixer speed control, multi-motion agitation or multi-shaft mixing, if a combination of top and bottom entry mixing is required. They can be fitted to stainless steel or polypropylene tanks.

Waring Blender for Biopharma Mixing

Waring Blender for Biopharma Mixing

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Avoid getting your mixing and blending equipment rejected by the FDA due to lack of, or improper certification of materials.

You can now upgrade to waring commercial blender to be in compliance.

Waring blenders modified and upgraded by White Mountain Process can be used for mixing of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical blends.
Need material test reports? Desire 316Lss polished or USP VI PP Mixing Tank? Options for polishing, passivation, electropolishing for your waring blender containers and tanks. We can accommodate any of these requirements and provide the certs and traceability that you need.

Waring blender drives are excellent pieces of equipment. Unfortunately the metal components are mass produced and have no certifications or traceability. Waring blenders are excellent high speed and high shear mixing devices for mixing, homogenizing, and blending of fluid mixtures. We offer retrofit kits for Waring Blenders that makes it suitable for a GMP pharmaceutical environment or FDA manufacturing. We offer custom vessels in 316Lss with 20Ra polish with electropolish and passivation and material test reports for the 316 L grade stainless steel material. All other parts have traceable material certs, elastomers will be USP VI certified with all proper documentation. Tanks are also available in USP VI PP (polypropylene) material and FDA HDPE plastic.

Any customization of waring blenders is available to meet your needs. Contact sales@wmprocess.com for an application engineer to assist you.

Single Use, CIP & COP Carboy Mixers

Single Use, CIP & COP Carboy Mixers

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White Mountain Process offers world class single use mixing systems for a variety of carboys and plastic process vessels. These mixers can be used over and over and cleaned via traditional CIP/COP methods. Although single use bag mixing dominates the disposable blending market, using USP VI PP carboys and single use poly mixing assemblies can be extremely cost efficient. Mixing is via traditional TOP ENTRY AGITATION so scale up to larger production batches is very easy, and scale down to microliters is easily duplicated.

Download our carboy mixer PDF to see a variety of mixers used on off the shelf poly carboy tanks. Containers are customized to suit your requirements including dip tubes, sterile vent filters, solvent filters, inlet/outlet connections, volume markers, custom tagging, private labelling, etc.

Carboys are available in HDPE, PP, PETG as well as Polycarbonate, which provide a see thru container option. Carboy mixers are available in open top, sealed vapor tight, and magnetic drive designs. Materials of construction are available in a wide range of poly materials, 316LSS, Hastelloy C and exotic alloys. We offer a variety of mixing impeller designs to optimize blending performance depending on your mixing application. Low shear and high speed designs are available.

Full GMP documentation packages are standard, and all mixers are test run at QC to assure simple and easy mixing startups. All mixers are guaranteed to run flawlessly out of the box.

Contact White Mountain Process at sales@wmprocess.com for any assistance or price quotes.

Top Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Trends in 2017

Top Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Trends in 2017

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The biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry has been growing in leaps and bounds in the last few years. Expansion is expected to continue in 2017, especially with the growth of facilities in developing countries like India and China.

Many of the innovations in technology and drug development are likely to come from contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and not the branded biopharmaceutical companies. Because they work on several different client projects at any one time, CMOs have to be more agile in their approach to manufacturing. They are therefore more driven to research and adopt new technologies that can increase capacity, productivity and time to market.

Continued Growth in Single-use/Disposable Mixing

Although stainless steel systems continue to be used for specific biologics and large volume processes and for pressure and vacuum mixing applications. Single-use technology employing disposable plastics will continue to grow in preference to stainless steel systems.

Single-use mixing is the cornerstone of upstream processes and offers manufacturers several benefits:

  • Elimination of cleaning and sterilization
  • Reduction in cross-contamination risk
  • Flexible manufacturing that conforms to cGMP
  • Fast adjustment of production schedules
  • Implementation of continuous mixing

The use of flexible manufacturing incorporates process replication where the same equipment can be used to simplify processes and decrease production time. Manufacturers using single-use systems have access to a wider range in the scale of production. Single use blending is popular for:

  • Media Prep
  • Buffer Prep
  • Filtration Holding

Mixing in single use bags and carboys are popular and available in a number of orientations:

  • Top entry single use mixer
  • Bottom entry mixer for single use
  • Carboy single use blending
  • Mag drive single use stirrer
  • Bioreactors employing single use technology

Although there will be a trend for the increasing adoption of single-use technology overall in the biopharmaceutical industry, experts predict a marked increase in the manufacture of biotherapeutics, as this is the perfect market for the application of single-use technologies.

Advances in Downstream Technologies

2017 is likely to see an upsurge in the development of downstream technologies. While there have been improvements in upstream processing, downstream technologies struggle to keep up. Current technologies tend to be inefficient and costly, and continue to limit productivity.

A majority of biopharmaceutical manufacturers view downstream purification as the most capacity-limiting stage of their process. CMOs are expected to invest in research into the use of in-line buffer dilution systems, high capacity resins, disposable UF systems and single use TFF membranes.

The Cambridge Healthtech Institute is holding its ninth annual summit in August 2017 to discuss advances in purification technologies. Topics up for discussion may include current research into:

  • Continuous downstream processing
  • Disposable pre-packed columns
  • Precipitation and flocculation techniques for improved filter capacity
  • New membrane adsorber technologies
  • Using activated carbon in polishing
  • Advances in chromatography

Botanical Plant Oil & Concentrate Production

North America is expected to dominate the soaring demand for nutraceuticals in the years ahead. This is being driven by growing consumer preference for organic food and natural derivatives obtained from non-genetically modified foods. There is also a growing trend towards herbal remedies for health problems.

The nutraceuticals market will grow to include the extraction of essential oils from various parts of plants. This includes leaves, flowers, seeds, stems, fruit, resins and bark.

As consumer demand grows for natural foods and remedies, the production of botanical oils and concentrates will increase. This includes the production of plant oils from botanical plants which requires sophisticated mixing technology.

The Pivotal Role of Mixing Technology in Biopharmaceutical Production

Mixing and blending play an indispensable part in biopharmaceutical manufacturing to ensure uniform and optimal mass transfer at each stage of the process. Mixing equipment is used throughout the process, upstream and downstream, and must be carefully designed for each application. The design of mixers and blenders, along with mixing time and agitator speed, will affect the efficiency of process operations.

The importance of mixing is well illustrated in the production of botanical plant oils. The extraction of cannabinoids from botanical plants involves controlled mixing processes using ethanol as solvent. After cannabinoid extraction, the plant material must undergo decarboxylation to optimize the extraction of the main active ingredients. The cannabinoid oil is often blended with plant terpenes using magnetic stirrers to produce various oils and concentrates to suit.

All biopharmaceutical processes require strict control of mixing and blending equipment to achieve optimal plant performance and product quality. With vast opportunities looming in the biopharmaceutical industry, a global expert in the field of mixing and blending technology will provide a turnkey solution for any application.

Sanitary Tote Mixers

Sanitary Tote Mixers

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Are you looking for a sanitary custom IBC Tote Mixer? White Mountain Process can assist with sanitary custom IBC tote mixers that are rugged, heavy duty, corrosion resistant and cater to sanitary and hygienic mixing applications. Our bridge mount IBC mixers are used to mix and blend liquids in an Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) tote. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and speeds, and work with various viscosities and applications. 

White Mountain Process specialists can help you select the right tote mixer for the job. Mixers for Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) totes, Polyethylene caged totes, and other Schutz style 275 gallon totes. The mixer motor options available are electric, air, and 12Volt agitator, we offer these in direct drive or gear drive.

We can help you determine the perfect mixer and tote combination for your specific application, weather they are viscous, corrosive or sanitary the mixtures. We can determine the power needed, if an explosion proof motor is required or if the application is a corrosion resistant material.

Our tote mixers are suitable for nearly any imaginable application. We can also customize mixers for your specific container system. For example, if you need a heavier duty bridge mount style mixer but require the tote to be sealed we can add a vapor tight tote cap. This will prevent any dust, dirt particles, etc. from getting into your mixture. We also offer the option for coated shaft & impeller assemblies if stainless steel is not compatible with your application. If a stainless steel or aluminum bridge is not an option, we build a poly bridge.

IBC tote mixer agitators are shipped ready to be used, with little to no set-up. Heavy-duty bridge mounts can fit on the top of the tote cage as well. Tote Mixer Impellers and Agitator Mixing impellers typically feature a 5.75″ diameter for direct drive mixers. Higher torque gear drive tote agitators feature a folding, collapsible mixing impeller that fits through the tote’s 6” top opening. A collapsible mixing impeller opens up to its full diameter once mixing begins. Mixing impellers typically span 10-16 inches, which depends on viscosity, density, mixer horsepower and desired speed. Single or double mixing impellers can be used on tote mixers; and in some cases a third impeller is added to provide ideal mixing.

Choose from air or electric operated tote agitators for poly or stainless steel totes, sizes typically are 275 gallon & 330 gallon, for poly and 250 gallon to 550 gallon for stainless steel totes, but either can go as large as 750 gallon containers.

White Mountain Process can assist you with any of these tote mixer options and custom requests. Options may include:

  • Coated shaft/impeller assemblies costed in PTFE/Teflon, PVDF/Kynar, PP/Polypropylene, PE/Polyethylene. We also offer exotic alloy (hast c, alloy 20, titanium, AL6XN). 6″ screw cap
  • Tote Cap with vapor tight seal
  • Poly Bridge Mount in aluminum, stainless steel polished, or non metallic poly materials
  • Custom size bracket/bridge mount, if standard size does not fit
  • Other custom mounting options depend on the tote dimensions

White Mountain Process can also equip you with quality Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) totes for your mixing project. IBC totes are economical containers used to transport or handle bulk liquids, dry or viscous products. These types of totes can be used for safe and effective mixing, storage and transportation, from everything from chemicals to biopharmaceuticals. IBC totes are large (common sizes range from 275 gallons to 330 gallon capacities), cost-effective, and preferred for many types of mixing. Most IBC totes are made of polyethylene and surrounded by a metal cage for stabilization (often referred to as a “Schutz style” tote). They typically feature a 2” outlet and a 6” screw top fitting at the top. When used for mixing or impelling, it’s critical that mixer impellers fit through the top screw cap opening. Schutz totes are popular for chemical storage and shipping. Portable tote mixers work very well for Schutz-style totes, since our 5.75” impellers or folding impellers fit easily through the Schutz tote’s standard 6” screw cap opening.

Poly & Stainless Steel Totes are available in a variety of sizes. We source only the best, and can help you determine what style of container is best for your application. We can help you by providing:

  • Plastic totes with a metal cage (Schutz style) with a tote mixer
  • Plastic totes with metal, plastic or wood pallets
  • Totes volume – typically 235 gallon, 275 gallon or 330 gallon
  • Stainless steel totes with quick disconnect agitators, volumes are typically 350 gallon & 550 gallon
  • Tote liners, as well as disposable film liners
  • Tote and mixer packages
  • IBC totes which feature custom designs, such as adding an additional opening on top or sight glass indicator commonly used on the IBC Stainless Steel totes

Specifying an IBC Tote Mixer

We are happy to assist you with choosing the appropriate IBC tote mixer type and size for your application. We would need to know what is being mixed, the viscosity, density/sg, solids % and the desired results. Our specialists can help you determine construction, type, size and style of mixer based on your application. From mixer to tote, White Mountain Process can provide you with a complete, delivered, turn-key mixing system. Price range desired is helpful, typical tote mixers range from $3000-$8000+.

We would like to have the opportunity to be your preferred supplier for IBC Tote mixers.

Contact us at 800-737-9619 or sales@wmprocess.com for more details.

Single-Use Mixing Systems: Cut Costs, Reduce Risk & Increase Flexibility

Single-Use Mixing Systems: Cut Costs, Reduce Risk & Increase Flexibility

Single Use Mixing Options,Biopharmaceutical Use,Industrial Use,Pharmaceutical Use,Plastic Agitator and Tank Options,Sanitary MixersNo Comments

A recent General Electric Healthcare Life Sciences study discovered that single-use mixers “exhibit lower environmental impacts” compared to their multi-use counterparts. As pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers jump on the single-use mixer bandwagon, it’s likely that multi-use mixing technology will eventually become a thing of the past – at least in the highly sensitive, carefully sterilized spheres of biopharmaceuticals.

Single-use mixers are the way of the future when it comes to cutting costs, streamlining efficiency, and boosting output in the biopharmaceutical realm. Single-use mixers, which are comprised of pre-sterilized, disposable, usually polymer-based materials, are replacing stainless steel and glass mixers nationwide. Because single-use technology effectively reduces risks of cross contamination, it can significantly cut operational costs and reduce the corporate environmental footprint for the long term. Big savings over traditional mixing tanks are the reduced time and costs associated with CIP, clean in place, cleaning of equipment between batches.

Single-use mixers require users to dispose of all fluids and the disposable single use bag and mixer after each use. So how does this save money and streamline efficiency? The irony is that replacing the fluids every time actually saves cleaning and waste output, because multi-use mixers must be painstakingly cleaned and rinsed with the typical CIP cycle, purified water, washed with any number of cleaning solvents or acids, and then treated with air or pressurized steam if SIP is required. Cleaning products, chemicals, solvents, water and the heat used to produce steam all equate to added costs, extra time and an increased environmental impact.

Single-use mixers consist of an in-bag impeller, which creates a mixing action inside a hermetically sealed bag (the bag is disposable and often gamma radiated). Boasting results that include economic and operational efficiency, single-use mixers are ideal for media prep, buffer prep, product mixing, certain botanical oils and concentrates, drug formulation mixing, pH and conductivity adjustments, and compounding.

With the reduced cleaning demands inherent to the single-use mixer approach, CIP (Clean-In-Place) and SIP (Sterilize-In-Place) technologies – and their associated problems and risks – are also undermined when single-use mixing is implemented. Because CIP and SIP processes demand so many steps, from multiple “flushes” to solvent washes to “air blows,” the time and energy it takes to clean multi-use mixers is not insignificant. Enter the single-use mixer, which erases the need for constant cleanings as well as the concern that raw materials might become contaminated over the course of multiple agitations within the same enclosure.

The data is in, and it’s overwhelming: Single-use mixers are streamlined, simple, and practical. With slashed validation costs and cleaning times, you’ll find that single-use mixers enable increased operational flexibility across the board, because you’ll suddenly find yourself with more time and resources available to devote to other areas. And single-use mixers drastically reduce the risk of cross contamination, because fresh raw materials will always be entering a brand-new, sterile environment.

For sensitive or sterile operations, single-use mixers are the solution. With less wastewater output, less product waste, and a proven track record for reducing the company’s environmental footprint, a single-use mixer is the efficient, logical choice. Already, single-use mixers are appearing across a number of sectors and not only being used in biotech and pharmaceuticals.

Mixer-Agitator Bending Moment and Shaft Deflection

Mixer-Agitator Bending Moment and Shaft Deflection

How To Use,Biopharmaceutical Use,Bioreactors,Industrial Use,Pharmaceutical Use,Plastic Agitator and Tank Options,Stainless Steel Agitator and Tank OptionsNo Comments

Bending Moment is the Hydraulic Force (FH) acting on a shaft at a length away from the bearings perpendicular to the axis of rotation. Bending Moment causes the shaft to bend away from the central rotational axis and is critical to determine the shaft material, diameter and bearing design. Excessive bending moments or weak materials of construction can lead to catastrophic failures. The bending moment for each impeller is calculated using the applied Horsepower (HP) and impeller distance from the load bearings. The speed of the mixer and diameter of the impeller is also taken into account as well as whether or not the impeller is submerged or at the liquid surface (important for filling and emptying). After the bending moment is established, the amount of shaft deflection can be estimated using the shaft diameter and the material’s Modulus of Elasticity.

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