We’re scaling a chili base from 100 L pilot to 2,000 L batches, and our inline rotor–stator still leaves starch/paprika fish eyes and dusts the room. I’m eyeing a powder induction mixer on a 3-inch loop to cut blend time about 20% and reduce fugitive dust — how’s the throughput, cleanability, and clog risk in your experience, especially with CIP between back-to-back runs?
I’ve had best results on a 3" loop by throttling discharge to hold “1.5–2 bar ΔP across the inducer” and metering starch first at about 25% of max feed — no fish eyes, way less dust, and paprika stopped bridging; quick CIP was an 80°C water chase for 6–8 min between runs, full caustic only at shutdown. What solids loading are you aiming for and is your hopper fitted with a vibrator or air-knife?
One thing that saved us on 2,000 L chili was a 10–15 s water slug through the inducer throat right before and right after starch addition; it knocks out the little “fish eyes” and clears the venturi so CIP between runs doesn’t fight a packed bowl. We tee the slug off the CIP header and keep the feeder trickling during the pulse so fines don’t bridge, which kept throughput steady and clogs near zero on restart. Can you plumb a small upstream injection point on your 3" loop for that slug?
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Pre-screen paprika to 40–60 mesh and nitrogen‑purge the hopper; CIP is quicker at 60°C — do you have hopper vacuum? https://www.ystral.com/en/conti-tds.
Agree with @carla_w209 on hopper vacuum; what fixed throughput for us was holding about 0.6–0.8 bar ΔP across the induction venturi via a small bypass and a downstream gauge — below that we dusted, above that it choked, and for paprika‑heavy runs we swapped to the next throat size to avoid plugs. Do you have a DP gauge on the loop?