Keep It Simple — How a Modular Homogenizer Can Facilitate R&D
The path to creating a marketable product of consistent quality typically involves at least some initial research and development. Whether you’re making tinctures or beverages, concentrates or creams, you’ll need specialized equipment to achieve your goals. And you’ll probably need to tinker in the lab before you decide on a specific formulation and a reliable, reproducible production process.
Stir Things Up
Inevitably, there will be some industrial-scale stirring involved. A homogenizer is a piece of equipment that takes laboratory stirring — ordinarily achieved using simple magnetic stir plates — to the next level. Magnetic stirring is perfectly adequate for many mundane laboratory tasks. Magnetic stir plates are arguably the workhorses of labs all over the world. But generating a homogenous mixture of active ingredients and excipients, such as edible oils, typically requires specialized equipment.
It takes a homogenizer; a carefully-engineered piece of equipment that has been designed to achieve emulsification and homogenization, quickly and efficiently. A rotor-stator homogenizer achieves this level of mixing using mechanical and sonic shear forces to size reduce particles and ensure rapid, thorough mixing. There are numerous types, sizes and configurations of homogenizers, ranging from modest bench-top units, to large units installed on industrial production lines.
Modular Means Multi-Talented
Most smaller manufacturers — and virtually anyone involved in R&D — can benefit from a small benchtop modular homogenizer. These unique machines pack a lot of power into a relatively small package. They excel at homogenizing. But they also provide the convenience and flexibility of a machine with interchangeable parts.
Our modular homogenizers feature variable speed drives capable of handling a wide range of volumes. With multiple rotors to choose from, you can change out rotors to accommodate changing processes, ingredients, or other parameters. A modular homogenizer allows you to customize your results, according to your specific needs.
R&D typically involves working with small amounts of ingredients. Scale-up to pilot or production runs may require scaling up your mixing equipment as well. But in many instances, a modular homogenizer will suffice for consistent, reliable, lower-volume production.
For R&D, there’s nothing more suitable than a modular homogenizer. The Unidrive X1000, for example, handles volumes from a minuscule 0.2 mL all the way up to 2 L. Spinning at speeds ranging from 4,000 to 33,000 RPM, the precision-crafted stainless steel rotor rapidly, thoroughly, and efficiently homogenizes your entire sample, and the powerful 1,000-watt motor makes short work of the most challenging homogenizing tasks.