Project Location: Argentina
Target Products: Wall Putty & High-Solids Coatings
Project Time: 2024
Customer Challenge
The Argentine customer purchased two complete production lines from POLYC MACHINE:
- Line 1 - Wall Putty: Product viscosity approximately 50,000 cps, requiring heavy-duty mixing and efficient filling
- Line 2 - High-Solids Coatings: Production volume of several thousand litres per batch, with high solid content requiring concentric double-shaft mixing
POLYC Solution
Wall Putty Line:
- 2x Butterfly Mixers with different capacities, equipped with spiral blades for high-viscosity putty handling
- Direct-connection motor design for reliable operation and easy maintenance
- Pressing machines with automated control for efficient material transfer
- 2x Filling machines integrated with the pressing system for continuous production
High-Solids Coating Line:
- 5000L Concentric Double-Shaft Mixing Kettle (high-speed dispersing shaft + low-speed anchor shaft)
- Ideal structure for high solid content coatings, ensuring thorough dispersion and mixing
- Hydraulic lifting system for the high-speed shaft to accommodate different batch sizes
Results
Both production lines were successfully installed and commissioned in Argentina. The butterfly mixers handle the 50,000 cps putty efficiently, while the 5000L concentric double-shaft kettle delivers consistent quality for high-solids coatings at several thousand litres per batch. The automated pressing and filling system reduces labor requirements and improves production efficiency.
Industry Context
Argentina's construction materials market includes a significant segment for wall putty and high-solids decorative coatings. Wall putty with viscosities reaching 50,000 cps presents one of the most challenging mixing applications in the coatings industry—the material behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid that requires heavy-duty mixing with strong wall scraping to prevent stagnation. High-solids coatings at several thousand litres per batch require efficient dispersion to achieve proper film properties while maintaining batch-to-batch consistency.
Technical Highlights
| Parameter | Wall Putty Line | High-Solids Coating Line |
|---|---|---|
| Product Viscosity | ~50,000 cps | High solids content |
| Batch Size | Multiple capacities | 5,000L |
| Core Mixer | Butterfly Mixer with spiral blades | Concentric Double-Shaft Kettle |
| Packaging | Pressing + Filling machines | Integrated transfer system |
Engineering Approach
The butterfly mixer design with spiral blades is particularly well-suited for high-viscosity wall putty: the dual counter-rotating blades generate both axial and radial flow patterns, ensuring complete mixing of the high-viscosity material without dead zones. The direct-connection motor design eliminates belt drive losses and provides reliable torque transmission for the demanding putty application. The pressing machine with automated control efficiently transfers the high-viscosity material from the mixer to the filling machines, while the integrated filling system ensures continuous production flow. For the high-solids coating line, the 5,000L concentric double-shaft kettle combines high-speed dispersion with low-speed anchor mixing to handle the high pigment loading efficiently.
Process Design Rationale
Wall putty at roughly 50,000 cps behaves as a non-Newtonian paste: it does not flow to the impeller, so the impeller has to reach it. Butterfly mixers with spiral blades are chosen for exactly this reason - the blade geometry pushes material from the wall and bottom into the mixing zone instead of cutting a channel through the centre of the batch. The direct-connected motor design removes belts and gearboxes from the drive train, which reduces maintenance points on a machine that runs at high torque for long periods.
On the high-solids line, the 5,000 L concentric double-shaft kettle separates duties in the same way as the Ecuador project: a high-speed shaft for dispersion and a low-speed anchor for bulk turnover. The hydraulic lifting system on the high-speed shaft allows the disperser to be positioned according to batch size, so a partially filled kettle is not mixed with the disc buried at the wrong depth. Pressing machines coupled to two filling machines complete the transfer chain, removing manual handling from the most labour-intensive step.
Quality and Acceptance Checks
Putty acceptance centres on consistency rather than fineness: viscosity and texture at the filling point, absence of lumps, and filling weight accuracy. Motor current draw under full load is a useful early indicator, because a paste that has thickened beyond the design range shows up as rising current before it shows up as a rejected batch. For the high-solids kettle, temperature rise during mixing and dispersion uniformity across the batch are the two measurements worth recording on every run.
Specifying a Similar Line
A comparable two-line project should define the viscosity of each product separately, since putty and high-solids coatings cannot share one mixer configuration. Batch size and the number of batches per shift set the vessel volumes; packaging format sets the filling and pressing equipment; and the material transfer method - pumping, pressing or gravity - determines the layout. Buyers should also state whether the two lines will run simultaneously, because shared utilities and shared operators change the specification of both.
Related Equipment
Learn more about the mixing technology: Butterfly Mixer, Concentric Double-Shaft Mixer, and High Viscosity Mixer.
Recommended equipment
Butterfly Double Shaft Mixer is the relevant POLYC MACHINE configuration for this application.