Overheard at the Chemical
Show
A dramatization . . . reading time 1M minutes Joe Sims, plant engineer, wasn't as idly curious as he sounded when I overheard this conversation at a recent trade show : JOE: WhatYe you grinding up there? Answer: It's sawdust—but we don't grind anything here. We're "mulling" (pouring the contents of an envelope into the mixer). Watch this . . . (pause). JOE: That was fast! Answer: The.Mix-Muller dispersed that green dye throughout the sawdust in less than 2 minutes. Call the dye a binder or a reagent and you can better understand why a smearing or rubbing action is essential where dry materials must be mixed with relatively small quantities of liquids, semi solids or amorphous solids.
JOE: You tell me. Answer: OK, if I stirred the dye in with a stick or paddle we would have a pepper and salt effect. The elements would be next to each other but not blended. It takes the folding of the Mix-Muller plow action, combined with a rubbing, kneading, muller action to give you an intimate, reacted if you will, blend of materials. Apply that to a product that must be extruded, cast, briquetted or wetted to a slurry and you can see why we say we sell controlled uniformity here. JOE: (Later and aside to me) You know, asking those Mix-Muller people what mulling is, is like putting a nickle in a juke box. They've got a whale of a story on mixing dry solids—I know ... we've got five of them in our plant. I reconfirm this story every time I come to this show.
If you mix, and it's dry but not a powder, wet but not a liquid there's a whale of a story in this book for you. Write for "Mulling for the Chemical and Process Industry'* today!
SIMPSON MIX-MUER ' DIVISION NATIONAL ENGINEERING CO., 643 Machinery Hall BIdg., Chicago 6, I I I . (Not Inc.)
SEPT. 5,
1955
C&EN
3641
