What Different Types of Dispersers are Available

What Different Types of Dispersers are Available, and Which Type is Best for Me?

Dispersers are available with single-speed, two-speed and variable-speed mixing shafts. Some are directly mounted atop a tank and are fixed to operate with the blade in only the original mounting position. Other tank-mounted dispersers can raise and lower the blade by several feet (to better control the vortex) without exiting the tank. Another design, perhaps the most popular, places the disperser on top of a hydraulic lift, similar to the ones used at gas stations to lift automobiles, which is mounted to the floor. The lift enables the operator to raise the blade completely out of the mixing vessel and change to another vessel. This technique uses small, portable tanks (up to 500 gallons) that can be rolled away on wheels or picked up with a fork truck. Larger, stationary tanks are often centered within the arc of rotation from the center of the hoist to the center of the mixing shaft.

The bridge containing the mixing shaft at one end and the motor at the other is then rotated from one tank to the next. Choosing the best configuration of available designs is a combination of functional need and economic justification. An experienced process engineer or consultant familiar with dispersers is a good investment. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate two different types of dispersers.