Why is De-Lumping so Important for Mixing Processes?

De-lumping processes play a critical role at the initial stages of bulk material handling by conditioning and removing lumps from powdered products. This process is essential for preparing materials for subsequent mixing operations. Often referred to as deagglomeration, this procedure requires specialized equipment. Various particle reduction machinery can de-lump agglomerated materials, with lump breakers being the most commonly used. Additionally, certain mills and sifters are utilized to achieve effective de-lumping results.

How De-Lumping Works in Material Handling Applications

The de-lumping process is often used on agglomerated materials that are heat-sensitive and viscous. Equipment for de-lumping agglomerates works by breaking material back down to its original state after storage or transport or due to environmental conditions. This original state might be crumbed, flaked, powdered, or clumped. A wide range of materials can become agglomerated during storage, transport, and processing, and all of these require equipment for de-lumping. Agglomerated materials can include cement, clay, detergents, flour, gypsum, pharmaceutical powders, plastic resins, powdered sugar, salt, and other bulk products.

De-lumping methods include:

• Wet milling: This technique involves mechanical agitation of powder dispersed within liquid media to break down the agglomerated material.
• Ultrasonic mixing: By generating cavitation via ultrasonic waves, bubbles that form within the material break up agglomeration.
• Dry milling: Through particle size reduction, agglomerations are reduced in size or eliminated without the use of liquids.
• Adding dispersants: Chemical additives like surfactants are put into the mixture to prevent particles from agglomerating by reducing surface tension.

Besides breaking down bulk materials to make them easier to handle, de-lumping also optimizes mixing processes.

De-Lumping Before Mixing Chemicals & Other Ingredients

Mixing chemicals, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, powdered minerals, and other bulk materials helps save time during processing. Equipment for de-lumping agglomerated materials is often used to improve blending quality. De-lumping helps disperse powders more evenly without significantly reducing particle size. This helps break down these materials so they flow freely and blend more uniformly.

Benefits of de-lumping prior to or during mixing include:

• Enhanced reactivity: This is particularly important when mixing chemicals, as it exposes more surface area for chemicals to interact so that reaction rates increase.  
• Improved consistency: De-lumping ensures even distribution of materials, leading to a more consistent, homogenous end product.
• Reduced settling: Suspensions within fluids benefit from de-lumping by preventing larger particles from sinking to the bottom, leading to greater stability.

De-lumping processes break down clumps of particles during mixing. Chemical processing often relies on de-lumping equipment, augmenting blending, and producing a more uniform mixture. This is especially true for finer chemical powders.

De-Lumping in the Chemical Processing Industry 

Chemical mixing and de-lumping work for either liquid or powdered compounds to produce a more uniform particle size distribution that improves the performance of the end product. This is especially true when formulating chemical-based products, like paint or pharmaceutical drugs. De-lumping fundamentally improves flowability, which in turn facilitates the blending of chemicals. Mixing is just one aspect of de-lumping used in the chemical processing industry.

De-lumping applications in the industry that involve chemical mixing include: 

• Blending powders: Catalysts, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals benefit from de-lumping, which distributes particles uniformly and aids dispersion.
• Emulsions and suspensions: Clusters of particles undergo de-lumping processes during the production of coatings, paints, or other chemical mixing applications for emulsions and suspensions to ensure the stability of the mixture.
• Post-drying processes: De-lumping after crystallization, granulation, and spray drying processes prevents caking or lumping of material.
• Pretreatments: De-lumping of catalysts and other reactive substances during pretreatments allows greater exposure of particle surface area to improve chemical mixing efficiency.
• Producing dyes and pigments: During dye and pigment production, de-lumping ensures that textiles, plastics, and inks are uniformly colored and dispersed by reducing particle size within a mixture.

Deagglomeration is a crucial process in the chemical processing industry that breaks down agglomerated, clumped, or clustered particles into finer, more uniform sizes. This ensures consistent material properties, enhanced product performance, and improved processing efficiency. Equipment for de-lumping agglomerated material in the chemical processing sector includes classification mills, high-shear blenders, grinding mills, fluid energy mills, lump breakers, screening machines, and ultrasonic deagglomeration machinery.

De-Lumping in the Food Processing Industry 

Key to many food processing applications, equipment for de-lumping agglomerated materials is used for granulated and powdered ingredients to augment mixing, improve quality, and provide consistent textures for food and beverages. Breaking up lumps helps augment consistency in food products, especially for powdered foods. Additionally, de-lumping helps keep drinks, foods, and their ingredients from clumping again.  

De-lumping processes that support mixing of ingredients for foods and beverages include:

• Baked items: De-lumping helps ensure there are no clumps in batter or dough when making bread, cakes, doughnuts, and other baked items.   
• Beverage production: Drink mixes like Kool-Aid, instant coffee, milk powders, tea, and other powdered drinks that must be mixed in water or other fluids dissolve better with proper de-lumping.
• Chocolate and candy: Cocoa powder and sugar used in the production of chocolate and candy are smoother with de-lumping.
• Dairy products: The solubility of infant formula, milk powders, whey proteins, and other powdered drinks is better digested when lump-free.
• Packaged foods: Pre-packaged mixes for brownies, cakes, macaroni and cheese, soups, and other foods go through de-lumping to ensure better consistency when used and flowability during processing.
• Powdered ingredients: Cocoa, flour, spices, starch, sugar, and other powdered food ingredients flow better through processing systems when they are more uniform in texture.
• Salad dressings and sauces: De-lumping keeps emulsifiers, stabilizers, and thickeners from producing a gritty texture in salad dressings and sauces.  

Equipment for de-lumping agglomerated material in food processing applications includes air classifiers, grinding mills, hammer mills, lump breakers, rotary sifters, and ultrasonic de-lumping machines.

De-Lumping in the Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical sector uses de-lumping to break down agglomerated powdered ingredients into uniform particle sizes to ensure better absorption, bioavailability, consistency, and delivery of therapeutic drugs. The de-lumping process also augments the dispersing and dissolving of active pharmaceutical ingredients to ensure their effectiveness. Breaking up agglomerated clumps within active and inactive ingredients also improves mixing.  

De-lumping processes that support pharmaceutical mixing applications include:

• Active ingredients: With de-lumping, active and inactive ingredients flow better during processing while enabling more accurate dosages of medicinal drugs.  
• Capsules and tablets: The powdered active ingredients and fillers need to be uniform in texture in order to compress correctly into capsules and tablets.  
• Controlled release: Coatings on controlled-release medications benefit from the de-lumping process, making their active ingredient release more predictable.
• Inhaled formulas: Asthma and other dry powder inhalers require medicinal particles are reduced enough in size to be absorbed by the lungs.
• Liquid formulas: Injectable drugs, suspensions, vaccines, and other liquid drugs require that powders are properly dispersed to ensure their absorption by the body.
• Topical products: Creams, eye drops, ointments, and other topical medicines require a consistent dispersion of finely de-lumped active ingredients to work well.  

Equipment for de-lumping agglomerated material commonly used in pharmaceutical applications includes air classifiers, high-shear mixers, jet mills, vibratory sifters, and wet mills.

Prater Equipment for Delumping Agglomerated Material 

The most-used piece of industrial equipment for de-lumping agglomerated materials is the humble lump breaker, also known as a flake breaker or lump crusher. Prater Industries’ lump breakers provide a means for de-lumping agglomerated materials, designed to be fed from above. Our lump breaker features rotating blades that pass through stationary blades shaped like a comb to reduce particle size before discharging below the machine. Prater’s design is economical and works well with most materials, enabling reduction down to clumps of 1/₁₆th of an inch (1.5875 mm) without generating too much dust.

Our lump breaker design also offers an efficient yet simple way to compact granulated products for more efficient mixing downstream. When combined with screening procedures, de-lumping also helps remove contaminants, ensuring product quality. Prater also makes other equipment for de-lumping agglomerated materials, including air classification mills, attrition mills, hammer mills, rotary sifters, and other equipment for de-lumping bulk materials before downstream processing. To learn more about our equipment for de-lumping agglomerated materials, contact the material processing experts at Prater today.