What are the types and applications of homogenizers?

What are the types and applications of homogenizers?

1. Homogenizer principle

Emulsification homogenizer is a special equipment for liquid homogenization and refinement and high-pressure transportation. It is used to homogenize and emulsify liquid materials (liquid-liquid or liquid-solid) with a viscosity lower than 0.2 MPas and a temperature lower than 85 degrees Celsius. Mainly used in the food or chemical industry, such as the homogenization and emulsification process in the production process of dairy products, beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other products. This equipment smashes the particles and oil droplets in the liquid into small sizes through the comprehensive effects of pressure loss, expansion, shear and high-speed impact in the process of an adjustable flow-limiting gap, and at the same time establishes an ideal emulsion and dispersion . It integrates the functional principles of ultrasonic pulverizer, colloid mill, ball mill, jet machine, etc. The stability, consistency, mixing, easy absorption, nutritional value, shelf life, taste, color and preservation of the product can be completed in homogenization.

Second, the advantages of homogenizer

1. Better stability. Stable operation, low noise, convenient cleaning, flexible maneuverability, continuous use, ultrafine dispersion and emulsification of materials;

2. Improved nutritional value and preservation quality. Homogenizing all kinds of dairy beverages such as milk, soymilk, etc. under high pressure can significantly refine the fat globules in the milk liquid, making the products easy to digest and absorb after eating, and improve the value of use;

3. Better taste and color quality. Used in the production of ice cream and other products, it can improve the fineness and porosity of the material liquid, so that its internal texture is significantly improved;

4. Improved homogeneity, better absorbency, saved expensive additives, changed viscosity, and reduced reaction time;

5. It can be used for cell cutting.

There are three main types of homogenizers frequently used in laboratories: ultrasonic crushing homogenizers, probe rotating blade homogenizers, and flapping homogenizers (iron stomach machines). Each type of homogenizer has its scope of application and advantages and disadvantages. Tengyi Technology will introduce these three types of homogenizers.

The first category: ultrasonic crushing homogenizer

Principle: Using sound waves and ultrasonic waves, when encountering objects, it will rapidly alternate compression and expansion. Under the action of ultrasonic waves, when the material is in the half-period of expansion, the material liquid will expand as a bubble under tension; when the material is in the half-period of compression, the bubble will contract. When the pressure changes greatly and the pressure is lower than When the pressure is low, the compressed bubbles will collapse sharply, and the phenomenon of "cavitation" will appear in the material liquid. This phenomenon will disappear with the pressure change and the imbalance of the external pressure. The instant the "cavitation" disappears, The surrounding of the liquid causes a very large pressure and temperature increase, and plays a very complicated and powerful mechanical stirring effect to achieve the purpose of homogenization.

Scope of application: various tissue crushing and cell lysis, the extraction of organelles, nucleic acids, proteins, and the emulsification and homogenization of other industrial samples.

Advantages: easy to use, can process different amounts of samples by changing different probes; good emulsification and homogenization effects, suitable for single sample operation.

Disadvantages: can not process multiple samples at the same time, different samples need to replace or clean the probe, increase the chance of cross contamination between samples; it has a certain influence on biological samples with special requirements.

The second category: physical homogenizer VELP OV5/ WIGGENS D130

Principle: This type achieves the purpose of separation, mixing, crushing, homogenization and emulsification by rotating the rotor and stator in a homogenizing rod, and is suitable for processing tough samples.

Scope of application: food, cosmetics, materials, chemical industry used to disperse animal/plant tissues, combined with lysate for nucleic acid, protein extraction, etc., can also be used for industrial resin, pigment manufacturing suspension/emulsion, etc.

Advantages: It has the characteristics of low speed, large torque, and no noise. Easy to use, by changing different probes, different amounts of samples can be processed, easy to operate, and more suitable for single sample operation.

Disadvantages: It is not possible to process multiple samples at the same time. Different samples need to be replaced or cleaned to increase the chance of cross-contamination between samples.

The third category: flapping homogenizer (iron stomach machine) WIGGENS HG400VW

Principle: Keep hitting the bag by hitting the board. The pressure generated can crush and mix the contents of the bag. The grinding bead homogenizer is to put the sample and the corresponding beads in the test tube through three-dimensional high-speed rotation, vibration, and the high-speed beating method of the grinding bead to grind and homogenize the sample.

Scope of application: It has a wide range of applications. It can be used for the fragmentation of animal and plant tissues, algae, bacteria, yeast, fungi or molds, and various sporophytes, and extraction of DNA/RNA and protein.