Ross mixers, blenders and dispersers are used throughout the adhesives and sealants manufacturing industry. Applications include the simple stirring of low viscosity miscible fluids to the sophisticated dispersion of high viscosity dissimilar materials.

A few examples of typical end products include:

• Epoxies - multi component reactive mixtures used in the electronics, medical, marine, adhesive/sealant, semiconductor and fiber optics industries. Ross mixers are used to add fillers, viscosity reducers, colorants, thickeners, accelerators, adhesion promoters, etc.
• Hot Melts - this thermoplastic adhesive is commonly sold in solid sticks designed to melt in special application tools. Our mixers are used for low and high viscosity materials and are often supplied to extrude the hot melt into a final form.
• Latex Sealants - typically used for filling holes in wood, as a firestopping material, padding of electrical outlet boxes, glass glazing etc. Ultra high viscosity mixtures under vacuum operating conditions are possible using Ross mixers and controlled shear rates.
• UV & Light Activated Adhesives - UV & light cured - activated adhesives for bonding, sealing and coating applications are produced on Ross mixers and used for automotive, medical, dental and general industrial applications.
• Pipe Joint Compounds - used for sealing metal or plastic pipe joints and fittings. These compounds can be either low viscosity solutions of plastic or high viscosity non-flowing materials.
• Polybutene Emulsions - applications for these emulsions are wide ranging and include lubricants, sealants and adhesives, coatings, polymer modification, personal care products and more. Because of the big range of applications a wide variety of variable shear mixers and dispersers are used for this application.
• Polyurethanes - polyurethane formulations cover a wide range of stiffness, hardness, and densities. These materials include flexible foam , rigid foam used for thermal insulation, soft solid elastomers used for gel pads and print rollers, and hard solid plastics used as electronic instrument bezels and structural parts. Ross mixers offer a versatility including vacuum, jacketing for temperature control and multiple speeds when manufacturing these end products.
• Rubber Cements and Adhesives - rubber cements are commonly used for applications to easily peel or rub off without damaging the substrate or leaving any trace of adhesive behind. They are ideal for use with photographs and specialty papers and as cements to secure laminates. Ross mixers easily dissolve at high speed the polymers used in the carrier solvent.
• Silicones - silicones are used for a variety of applications and in a very diversified industrial mix. The product consistencies are broad ths many different mixers and blenders are used in the manufacturing process. Common end products include sealnats, mold making materials, electronic encapsulants, breast implants and personal care products.

Our Mixers and Blenders are associated with a wide range of dry and wet applications in the battery and electronics industries.

A few examples and typical products include:

• Aluminum Oxide-Filled Silicone Gels - conductive thermal interface material for use in high-speed computer processor applications.
• Battery Pastes and Slurries - Homogenous dispersion of the active material into the binder solution is critical for consistent battery performance. Presence of agglomerates also gives rise to problems encountered in downstream equipment such as coating machines.
• Conductive Inks - can be a blend of finely ground carbon black into high molecular weight resin. The more viscous solutions are not easily turned over by single shaft high-speed dispersers. For these cases, the Ross PowerMix yields better color development, greater particle size reduction and shorter addition and mixing times.
• Copper Pastes - used in screen-printing processes as part of multi-layered microchip production. Vacuum mixing is of benefit for this application as air in the product can cause defects in screened wires.
• Encapsulation Materials - Protective materials used to isolate circuits from moisture and other harmful contaminants, provide electrical insulation for high voltages and also protect the circuit from thermal and mechanical stresses.Encapsulants are typically applied in thick layers--exceeding 125 mils. When the two-part liquid components are thoroughly mixed, the mixture cures to a flexible elastomer either at room temperature or with the application of heat.
• Epoxy Insulators - when prepared in single shaft mixers, heating of powder ingredients is necessary and solids are slowly added to the top of liquid epoxy resin and hardeners. The Ross PowerMix and Double Planetary Mixer are recommended for this application. Heating of raw materials can then be eliminated since these mixers can tolerate the viscosity. Vacuum mixing will reduce air entrapment in the end product. This is important because air voids can cause the insulator assembly to rupture.
• Ferrite Compounds - Our Double Planetary Mixers with HV Blades are excellent equipment for manufacturers of battery, capacitors and power storage products utilizing Carbon Black Slurry and Ferrite in Binder technologies.
• Ferrite in Propylene - in the manufacture of components for capacitors, ferrite powders are mixed into wax, copolymer and polypropylene binder. Downstream, the cooled mixture is broken up to smaller pieces for injection molding. Former users of Sigma Blade Mixers and Two-Roll Mills have successfully transitioned to Ross Double Planetary Mixers and Discharge Systems and improved their over-all production.
• Fuel Cell Powders - an example is a lithium cake mixture, which functions as a porous, insulating, and chemically inert ceramic matrix inside the fuel cell. The cake is thoroughly blended using a Ross Ribbon Blender with little heat introduction.
• Solder Pastes - fusible metal alloys, melted at relatively low temperatures (120-450°C) to join metallic surfaces. The solder particles are frequently a mix of tin and lead, though newer legislation is forcing a move to lead-free solder. Proper dispersion of solder particles throughout the liquid vehicle is key to achieving the required physicochemical characteristics. Basic single planetary mixers, sigma-blade tilt-type units and pony mixers have been used to make solder pastes. However, the level of success achieved by such types of equipment is often compromised by the lack of vacuum capability, temperature control and/or shear power.
• Thick Film Inks - dispersion of very small particles of inorganic powders in a viscous liquid vehicle. The type of powder used determines the nature of the thick film ink; metals for conductors, metal oxides for resistors and dielectric glasses for insulating coatings. Effective mixing and dispersion of these electronic links is the key to successful production of advanced multilayer hybrid microelectronics.
• Tungsten Carbide Powders - The Ross Double Planetary Mixer is extremely successful in blending a slurry of these extremely dense materials, then vacuum drying the batch to

• Abrasives - products developed to shape and finish surfaces in various applications including woodworking, autobody painting & repair, construction, personal products, etc. Typically, materials used as abrasives are either hard minerals (rated at 7 or above on Mohs scale of mineral hardness) or synthetic stones. Softer minerals like calcium carbonate are used as abrasives, such as "polishing agents" in toothpaste. Ross Blenders efficiently mix, coat or vacuum dry abrasive powders. Our Multi-Shaft Mixers are suitable for preparing binder solutions for abrasives formulations.
• Asphalts - Modified asphalt is a blend of asphalt (bitumen) and fillers, such as calcium carbonate, and then modified by a polymer such as SBS rubber (styrenebutadiene-styrene block copolymer) or APP (atactic polypropylene). These polymers are often in pellet or crumb form and require very high shear conditions to soften and dissolve them into the asphalt at temperatures from 350 to 400F. The polymer modification gives the usually brittle asphalt improved mechanical characteristics such as tensile strength, elastic modulus and freeze/thaw stability - all are important factors for road paving applications. The processing of polymer modified asphalt using the Ross Inline High Shear Mixer has been proven to be successful and is also applicable to other industries such as roofing and gasket manufacture.
• Chlorinated Organics - key ingredients in a wide variety of end products including paints and coatings, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, aerosols, dry-cleaning agents, degreasing solvents, etc. A Ross customer offloads chlorinated hydrocarbon slurry from railcars and trucks. During transport some solids settle and agglomerate. The slurry is fed at 10 to 30 gpm to reactors that operate with 1/4" nozzles. In the past they used centrifugal pumps to offload this slurry. In an attempt to break down the solids, they recirculated the solution through the pumps -- obviously a waste of time and energy, and a purpose for which centrifugal pumps are not well suited. The solids still ended up plugging the reactor nozzles. Installation of several Ross Model HSM-401 Horizontal Inline High Shear Mixers solved the problem. Agglomerates that can potentially clog the reactor nozzles are broken down as they pass through the rotor/stator interface. The presence of chlorine necessitated Hastelloy C materials.
• Coal Suspensions - In the processing of synfuel, powdered coal is combined with oil that is fed into the furnaces of large power plants. Ross Inline High Shear Mixers have been proven very effective in this area. Also, our vacuum Double Planetary Mixers are ideal for drying coal and recovering solvents. The dried coal is used for making fire-resistant insulation boards and ablative coatings on aircrafts.
• Epoxy Hardeners - The building blocks of epoxy adhesives are essentially five: epoxy resins, hardeners, accelerators, fillers and additives. Cure is generally achieved using hardeners (co-polymerization). Hardeners then fall into two big categories: the ones for two-part epoxies which cure at room temperature, and the ones for one-part epoxies which require a form of energy to start the reaction (heat, light etc.). Common hardeners are polyamines, polyamides and polymercaptanes. In terms of performance, each hardener provides specific properties to the product. For example, polymercaptanes are generally used to cure the resin very quickly, polyamines to give high performance and polyamides for good adhesion, flexibility, relative insensitivity to mix ratio, and good health & safety classification. "Five minutes epoxies" which have 3 - 6 minutes of pot life generally contain polymercaptane hardeners. High temperature two-part resins, which are characterized by superior resistance to thermal environments, often contain polyamine adducts. A 1000-gal Ross VersaMix services one of the biggest epoxy hardener production plants in the world.
• Fertilizers - Ross Inline High Shear Mixers with Solids/Liquid Injection Manifold (SLIM) are installed and successfully operated in fertilizer production plants for introducing solids into low-viscosity fluids such as induction of silicon dioxide (diatomaceous earth) into phosphoric acid for stripping of fluorine.
• Flotation Reagents - Flocculants are chemicals that are specifically designed to form agglomerations, usually in an aqueous medium, such as wastewater. When the compound to be removed comes in contact with the flocculent, an agglomeration is formed. The resultant agglomerate can then be filtered and removed from the effluent stream. Two Ross Inline Mixer Emulsifiers, Model HSM-4100 (100 HP) are in service at a client's facilities, each producing 3000 gallon batches of polyelectrolyte-based flocculants. The manufacture of polyelectrolyte-based flocculants involves bringing together a 4-constituent aqueous phase with a 3-constituent oil phase. The two phases are introduced to the 3000 gallon tank. The batch is recirculated through the 100 HP mixer emulsifier, until complete - approximate batch time is 2.5 hours. When the batch is finished, the flocculant is again pumped through the Mixer Emulsifier, on its way to a storage vessel. The finished product is shipped to industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities via bulk tankers and also in 55-gallon drums. Application note: Both units referenced in this case history are reportedly working extremely well. They have been operating successfully for over 15 years.
• Lubricant Pastes and Oils - A manufacturer of oil-based lubricating grease is using asphaltic oil, to which they add organic acids and aluminum isopropoxide powder to thicken the oil into a grease product. Large turbine-agitated vessels were utilized to make this product, however the addition of AIP, which is a dusty solid, created an environmental issue. The Ross inline SLIM offered them an improved way of introducing the AIP powders into heated asphaltic oil.
• Optical Brighteners - Cyanuric chloride, C3N3Cl3, is a key ingredient in Optical Brighteners. These find use in the textile industry for intensifying color in cotton and regenerated cellulosic fibers. The effect of optical brighteners is to absorb invisible UV-light and emit visible light primarily in the blue spectral range. Yellow or yellowish substrates appear whiter when more bluish light is emitted. In a customer's expansion project, a 2,500-gallon Ross VersaMix became the equipment of choice over their existing single shaft turbine-type mixers. The Three Wing Anchor of the VersaMix provides mass flow while the High Shear Mixer promotes deagglomeration and dispersion of solids. Lumps 100-200 microns in size must be broken apart. A single-blade mixer is inferior to the VersaMix because effective mixing would be confined to certain areas in the tank, especially for large batch volumes such as this one. A colorless crystal with pungent odor, C3N3Cl3 reacts violently with water producing cyanuric acid, hydrochloric acid and heat. Hence, the vessel is insulated and sheathed in stainless steel.
• Precious Metals - At some point in the manufacture of catalytic converters, a clean out is done whereby products are washed with water. Rinse water is recycled and stored due to the presence of precious metal residue. During storage the metal particles settle. A Ross High Speed Disperser effectively agitates this soup, keeping the precious metals suspended and dispersed within the rinse water before it is sent to a drier. Metals recovery is critical because these catalysts are very expensive.
• Propellants - Ross Planetary Mixers are widely used for making composite propellant pastes and slurries made from solid oxidizers such as ammonium perchlorate or ammonium nitrate, powdered metal fuel such as aluminum, rubber, cellulose, epoxy, and/or other fuel/binder compounds.
• PVB Emulsions - aqueous polyvinybutyral dispersions are used as decorative, protective or temporary coatings for paper, metal, wood or glass. A sample blend consists of viscous oil plasticizer, surfactant and powdered PVB polymer resin. Suitable equipment for this application are Kneader Extruders and Planetary Mixers.
• Technical Polymers - One Ross customer, a multi-billion dollar chemical & pharmaceutical company, uses the Model VM-100 as a mixer/reactor in its R&D efforts to further broaden their range of high-performance polymers and meet the evolving needs of the market. Their resins are vacuum-formed, injection-molded or machined into products designed for a variety of demanding applications. Engineering polymers can be classified into two groups: amorphous and semicrystalline. Amorphous polymers are generally transparent, feature high dimensional stability, good chemical resistance and toughness. Semi-crystalline polymers are usually opaque and exhibit excellent fatigue resistance. Processing of engineering polymers requires high pressure and temperature, tightly sealed mixer/reactor vessels highly resistant to chemical degradation, jackets for optimum heat transfer, and clog-free discharge systems.
• Thermal Transfer Grease - used as heat transfer material in central processing units of computers, other appliances, and vehicles. A client used to make their greases in single planetary mixers without much efficiency. After addition of each ingredient, it was necessary to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot and the blades. For their formulation, excess heat must be avoided to prevent formation of formaldehyde, an unwanted by-product. Successful lab tests confirmed that the Ross DPM with HV Blades is very appropriate for this application. The costumer was then able to optimize the packing fraction of the greases.

Our mixers and blenders are applied for many development and production operations in the cosmetics and personal care industries. A few examples are listed below:

• Carbopol Gels - Carbopol resins are a family of water-soluble acrylic acid polymers, available in dry white powder form. It is used in many applications as a thickening agent producing a wide range of viscosities to suspend insoluble ingredients and to stabilize emulsions. Applications in the cosmetic industry include hand and body lotions, sunscreens, skin cleansers, moisturizing creams, shampoo, medicated gels and other personal care products. Although laboratory scale batches of Carbopol Solution can easily be made using bench type agitators, large-scale production of these thickened solutions can present problems. If the white Carbopol powder is not sifted very carefully into a typical agitated vessel, the Carbopol can clump together. The clumps solvate to form a tough outer layer, which prevents complete wetting of the interior polymer particles. This can result in solution defects such as grainy texture, reduced viscosity, or the presence of insoluble particles resembling "fish eyes". The high shear conditions usually needed to break up these agglomerations can also shear the hydrated polymers and result in a permanent viscosity loss. The Ross VersaMix has been extremely successful at producing consistent, high quality Carbopol formulations. In addition, the Ross SLIM System, used by itself or in combination with the Ross VersaMix is a practical solution to preventing fish eye formation.
• Lipsticks - One the largest cosmetics manufacturers in the world standardizes on Ross Three Roll Mills for their diverse line of lipstick products.
• Powder Foundations - The Ross PowerMix equipped with a planetary stirrer and four-blade chopper has been tested to thoroughly coat talc powder and titanium dioxide with a blend of water and silicone. These materials are used in the cosmetic industry for powder foundations and sunscreen coatings. The customer's pony mixer displayed inadequate coverage of both the titanium and talc. Problems were experienced with material clinging to mix can sidewalls and unprocessed material at the bottom of the mix vessel. The PowerMix's planetary mixing action and shearing capabilities solved these problems.
• Skincare Creams - The Ross X-Series Ultra-High Shear Mixer is utilized in various cosmetic plants for final grinding of creams. Product coming out of large mix tanks is passed once through the X-Series to obtain the desired smoothness and optimal particle size.
• Toothpaste - Ross High Speed Dispersers, High Shear Mixers and Double Planetary Mixers are widely used in the manufacture of toothpastes - from preparation of low-viscosity intermediates to the final paste product.
• Wax Emulsions - Wax emulsions serve as a solubilizer in skin cleaning products or as a gloss modifier in hair care and styling products. Waxes also stabilize the shape of decorative pencils or sticks and adjust the viscosity of creamy products. The Ross line of High Shear and Ultra-High Shear Mixers, available in batch and inline configurations, are an excellent choice for the preparation of wax emulsions.

• Cheesecake Formulations - Mixing butter and cheese until a smooth, lump-free, creamy consistency is achieved without "breaking up" the butter, over-beating the cream cheese or over-heating the mixture is the key to success.
• Candy and Confectionary Products - The Ross VersaMix is the new choice for candy and confectionary manufacturers. This highly viscous application was previously made using double arm sigma blade mixers. However, gum dispersion can be inadequate resulting to fish eyes and lumps in the finished product. Several lab tests have confirmed that the VersaMix can properly disperse these gums and create a smoother, better quality product. Conventional propeller or turbine mixers simply cannot achieve the same level of dispersion nor could they handle this tough mixing application.
• Dry Solid Blends - The food industry is the main end user of most Ross Ribbon Blenders. Common applications include coffee, spices, food coloring, flour, sugar, cake and bread mixes, frozen vegetables, salsa mixes, snack foods and tea blends.
• Gums - Ross Kneader Extruders are appropriate equipment for processing chewing gums and other extremely viscous food products.
• Juices - Fortified milk and juices are prepared in Ross Sanitary High Shear Mixers.
• Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Dressings - Ross Ultra-High Shear Mixers are great alternatives to expensive and high-maintenance high pressure homogenizers when it comes to preparing fine food emulsions and dispersions as in salad dressings, mustard sauce, ketchup, etc.
• Pet Foods - Ross Blenders are also commonly used for making pet food mixes and animal feeds.
• Syrups - In various soft drink manufacturing facilities, Ross High Shear Mixers are successfully being used for dissolving preservatives and artificial sweeteners into water. Previously, propeller mixers were being used which were not able to eliminate the lumps formed by the preservative and sweetener.
• Sauces - A major supplier of pizza sauce utilizes a Ross Dual Shaft Mixer with Anchor and Disperser to blend large volumes of tomato paste with water, salt and spices.
• Meats and Seafood - The Ross Ribbon Blender is being used by a customer to blend fresh shrimp with cocktail sauce. Chopped meats and vegetables may likewise be mixed in a Ross Paddle Blender.
• Soup Bases - The gentle blending action of the Ross Vertical Blender makes it ideal for soups.

• Ceramic Formulations - Metal or ceramic Injection molding is a process used for forming intricate parts in a wide variety of alloys, steels, carbides and ceramic compounds. The process begins by making a mixture of a desired metal or ceramic powder with a binding agent such as a polymer, wax or resin. The resulting mixture is usually a viscous paste at elevated temperatures that will solidify when cooled. This metal or ceramic paste is injected into a mold where it takes a desired shape before being ejected. The binder is carefully stripped off from the part, leaving a skeleton of metal or ceramic powder which is then heated to melt strong bonds between adjacent particles. The accuracy and strength of injection molded pieces rely on the quality of the molding compound mixture. If dispersion quality is poor, the resulting part could be warped, weak or not formed correctly. Ross Planetary Mixers are highly successful at producing good dispersions with high viscosity, high density molding compounds. Heat is evenly applied to these compounds by hot oil recirculating through the jacketed mix can.
• Energetics and Propellants - Ross Planetary Mixers and Vertical Blenders are popular choices for mixing and drying of energetics and propellant formulations. Discharge is fairly simple on the V-Blender as it is designed for complete discharge. Ross offers features such as solvent-resistant elastomers, lock-wired hardware in the product zone, tight clearances between stirrers and mix can, elaborate explosion-proof local and remote PLC controls, intrinsically safe vacuum/pressure transducer, grounding straps and explosion-proof camera and light assembly, among others.
• Enamel and Enamel Mediums - used for decorating of ceramics and glass products and for automotive glass applications. Traditional mixing utilizes single shaft Cowles blades or combinations of dispersers and anchors. Due to difficulty encountered in achieving the proper dispersion in a reasonable amount of time, Ross customers tried the PowerMix and found very good results.
• Epoxy and Glass Bead Molding Compounds - epoxy and glass spheres are easily mixed and dried in a Ross Double Planetary Mixer. These compounds are used for a variety of vacuum form molds.
• Glass Powder Compounds - free-flowing glass powders, colorants and solid wax polymers are heated and mixed in a jacketed Ross Double Planetary Mixer. The dry blend is ultimately mixed into a binder and pressed to form a solid glass body. In the dry batching process of fine glassware, the advantages of using a Ross Ribbon Blender manifest in fast mixing, low head room and dust-tight construction (or vacuum, if required).
• Molten Metal Slurries - Ross is a reliable supplier to major players in the metals industry, many of whom demand very special mixer features for their sensitive products. One such application is the processing of molten metals which required temperatures upwards of 350F, double mechanicals seals for all agitators with complete seal support system, extra head space in the mix can, interchangeable dispersers and rotor/stators and Type Z gas-purged control panel.
• Brazing Slurries - Aluminum, copper, silver, nickel and other alloy-based brazing and soldering pastes are used in the metal and electronics industries. Customers formerly using single planetary mixers to mix the powder metals and vehicles noticed a tremendous amount of air incorporated into each batch. This air can manifest in voids in the finished filled syringes that are used in the application of brazing and soldering pastes. Vacuum-rated Ross Double and Hybrid Planetary Mixers are proven more successful at making void-free product and also at processing the binders that are later used in the manufacture of metal pastes and brazing materials. Ross Discharge Systems are also appropriate for clean and quick extrusion of these products after vacuum mixing.
• Refractory Linings - A high-volume supplier to the steel industry utilizes a 385-cu.ft. Ross Ribbon Blender to blend magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide and other minor ingredients (binders, foaming agents, etc). The resulting blend is a lightweight, low-density, basic slurry which is later mixed with water and sprayed to the surfaces of tundishes and furnaces. On curing, the lining develops a bond with liquid steel as the latter is strained of impurities, passes through the bottom of the furnace and eventually flows into a cooled mold or die.
• Tungsten Carbide Powders - The Ross Double Planetary Mixer is extremely successful in blending a slurry of these extremely dense materials, then vacuum drying the batch to form a light, fluffy powder.
• Water-based Castable Cements - used in the glass and aluminum casting industries. Ross Planetary Vacuum Mixers produce high quality cements with zero porosity.

• Artist Colors
• Conductive Inks
• Corrosion Protection Coatings
• Electropastes
• Fumed Silica Dispersions
• Inkjets
• Lithographic Inks
• Magnetic Pigments
• Paints
• Paper Coatings
• Photographic Inks
• Printing Inks
• Silicone Coatings
• Steel Activators
• Stereolithography Pastes
• Textile Colors
• Thermoplastic Color Flushes

• Filter Media
• Osmotic Membranes

• Antacid Powders
• Biopolymers
• Blood Reagents
• Bone Graft Pastes
• Collagen Solutions
• Dental Composites
• Dental Porcelain
• Drug Vehicles
• Gelatin Compounds
• Granulations
• High Protein Pastes
• Hydrocolloid Medical Adhesives
• Medical Gels
• Medical Putties
• Mucoadhesive Suspensions
• Nanocomposites
• Non-gelatin Softgels
• OTC Drugs
• Polymers for Optical Implants
• Prescription Drugs
• Transdermal Patches

• Filled Rubbers
• Pigmented Organosols
• Pigmented Plastisols
• Polyamide Polymers
• PVC
• Reaction Injection Molding Formulations
• Rubber Additives
• Silicone Rubbers
• Synthetic Foams
• Thermoplastic Modified Epoxies
• Urethanes and Polystyrene Beads

• Candle Waxes
• Synthetic Leather
• Tobacco Products