Saving Time & Money In Wet Wipe Manufacturing

Pre-saturated or "wet" wipes have grown in popularity over the past number of years. Most wipes are Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) and/or DI (de-ionized) water-based, with mild cleaning agents impregnated into non-woven materials. To bind the liquid components to the non-woven materials, a polymer is added to produce the desired adhesiveness. A common problem encountered when adding powdered polymers into a liquid is the tendency for the outside to hydrate much more quickly than the core, resulting in "fish-eyes" or agglomerates.

The Quadro Ytron^TM In-line Powder Disperser is specifically designed to disperse extremely difficult-to-wet powders such as polymers, into a liquid stream in a single-pass. Powder incorporation is achieved by the presence of significant vacuum in the reactor housing generated by the liquid seal created between the rotor and stator. This vacuum ensures that powders from the hopper above are drawn into the reactor head, where the particles are subjected to intense mechanical shearing PRIOR to hydration into the liquid stream. The result is a perfectly dispersed and homogeneous dispersion of hydrophilic powders WITHOUT "fish-eyes". Other benefits realized include repeatable and consistent product batch-to-batch, less air entrainment and the need to install expensive de-aerating equipment, reduced batch times by up to 90%, and decreased cleaning times due to the elimination of powder build-up on tank walls and mixer shaft

SOURCE: Quadro Engineering Corp.