Many manufactures all over the world produce products that require very fine particle sizes that measure in the microscopic range. In order to achieve this manufactures use bead mills in their production facility to mix or blend their liquids or “slurry”. Bead mills, also referred to as media mills, are designed to use very small beads to break apart agglomerates or shear down particles. The two most common bead mills used in mass production are batch mills and horizontal media mills.

Batch Mills

A CMC batch mill has two shafts; one with a propeller on it and the other with a set of pegs that is enclosed by a screen style basket. The basket is loaded with beads, and as the shaft rotates the pegs inside it agitates the media while the screen is stationary. The shaft with the propeller feeds the liquid materials towards the basket creating a circulation with in the tank and allowing liquid to flow through the basket and beads. As it flows through the particles are broken down and dispersed throughout the liquid.

Horizontal Bead Mill

Supermill Plus is a horizontal bead mill that is designed with a hollow cylindrical chamber that houses a shaft that has several discs and spacers stacked up on it. The chamber is filled with, on average, 80% load of beads/media, the size you choose will vary based on the desired particle size. As the discs rotate the velocity agitates the media allowing products and materials to flow through. As they flow the particles are being broken down by shear force or impact.

Bead mills offer a full range of benefits:

  • More consistent result in the finished product
  • Finer particles can produce higher quality products
  • Can achieve consistent even dispersion
  • Less contamination of the products
  • Decrease processing time

Our state-of-the-art customer demo lab is open to customers to test out CMC equipment. To schedule a test call 610-926-0984 or email sales@cmcmilling.com.