Ultrasonic High-Shear Batch Mixers for Lab & Production Scale

Wetting, hydration, homogenization, grinding, dispersion, emulsification and dissolving are common applications for Hielscher’s ultrasonic high-shear batch mixers. Ultrasonic batch mixing is carried out at high speed with reliable, reproducible results for outstanding process results at lab, bench-top and full commercial production scale. Hielscher’s multipurpose batch homogenizers offer you the high speed mixing of uniform solid/liquid and liquid/liquid mixtures answering highest product quality.

Ultrasonic High-Speed Batch Mixing: Process Intensification with High Shear Forces

• Rapid Dispersion: Instant deagglomeration of sub-micron & nano materials.
• Versatile Processing: Ideal for high viscosities, pastes, and abrasive materials.
• Linear Scale-Up: Fully reproducible results from lab to full production.
• Energy Efficient: Lower energy consumption than competitive technologies.

High Speed Batch Mixing with Ultrasound High Shear Forces

Ultrasonic high-shear batch mixing represents a significant advancement over conventional technologies such as rotor-stator mixers, jet mixers, and UltraTurrax systems, offering superior process efficiency and product quality. While traditional methods rely on mechanical shear, ultrasonic mixers utilize high-energy sound waves to induce acoustic cavitation, creating a unique micro-mixing environment defined by extreme local conditions. This phenomenon generates shockwaves and high-velocity liquid jets reaching up to 280 m/s, which provide the intense micro-agitation necessary for the rapid wetting of powders, instant deagglomeration of sub-micron and nano-particles, and the creation of perfectly homogeneous emulsions.
Beyond these micro-mixing advantages, ultrasonic systems are notably more energy-efficient, handle abrasive materials with ease, and allow for fast, destruction-less cleaning (CIP/SIP), making them the ideal choice for demanding industrial applications.

Who Should Use Ultrasonic High-Shear Batch Mixing?

Ultrasonic high-shear batch mixing is ideal for manufacturers, formulators, and R&D teams across industries where precision, consistency, and rapid dispersion are non-negotiable. It is particularly valuable for companies processing nano- and sub-micron materials, high-viscosity pastes, abrasive slurries, or complex solid-liquid and liquid-liquid formulations. Industries such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, food & beverage, paints & coatings, specialty chemicals, and nanotechnology rely on this technology to achieve instant powder wet-out, uniform emulsions, and consistent particle size reduction without thermal degradation. If your process demands reproducible results, completely linear scale-up from lab to production, and lower energy consumption compared to traditional rotor-stator systems, ultrasonic high-shear batch mixing is engineered to meet your exact specifications.

Acoustic Cavitation – The Working Principle of Ultrasonic Shear Forces and Mixing

When high energetic ultrasound waves are coupled into liquids and slurries, alternating high pressure/ low pressure cycles (e.g. 20,000 cycles per sec at 20kHz) generate vacuum bubbles or voids in the liquid. These bubbles grow over several cycles until they collapse violently as they cannot absorb more energy. During the bubble implosion, locally extreme conditions are generated: temperatures of up to 5,000K, pressures of up to 2,000atm and liquid jets of up to 280m/s velocity. This phenomenon is termed cavitation. Ultrasonic cavitation is successfully applied to fulfill manifold mixing, milling and grinding applications, e.g. to process colloids, powders, fluids, oils, grease, resins, epoxies, pigment pastes, inks, paints, silicones, creams, gels, polymers, urethanes and many more.
 

Ultrasonic mixing is based on acoustic cavitation and its hydrodynamic shear forces.

Why Ultrasonics? – For Full Process Control

Ultrasonic mixing allows you to control all important process parameters precisely. This is crucial to achieve optimal process results whilst operating most efficiently.

• Ultrasonic Amplitude:

The displacement of the horizontal areas at the sonotrode (ultrasonic horn/ probe) can be adjusted to the process requirements by the power setting of the ultrasonic device, the selection of the sonotrode and by the use of a booster horn.

• Pressure:

Applying pressure to the sonication process acts process-intensifying, and is known as manosonication (MS). The ultrasonic cavitation under elevated pressures becomes more intense and violent increasing. Therefore, Hielscher offers pressurizable closed batch reactors.

• Sonication Duration:

As a general rule, the longer the sonication duration, the more progress in the process, e.g. of size reduction, dispersion etc. will appear – provided that enough intensity is applied to affect the process medium.

• Temperature:

Ultrasonic is a non-thermal, mechanical processing technique. Due to the law of thermodynamics, though, energy coupled into matter will always end up in heat. However, the outstanding energy efficiency of Hielscher sonicators ensure that up to 90% of the energy from the plug will converted into ultrasound waves and are coupled into the process medium.

• Viscosity:

The viscosity of the process medium is an important factor for ultrasonic processing. For applications such as particle size reduction, milling, and dispersion, the inter-particle collision caused by cavitation shockwaves is one of the main process effects that causes particle breakage, a high particle load is beneficial.

Let’s Engineer Your Ideal Mixing Solution!

To determine the optimal process conditions (= best result with minimum energy input required), the above named parameters must be established in accordance to the targeted process goal.
Feasibility testing and process optimization can be easily carried out in lab and bench-top scale. All achieved results can be exactly reproduced and scaled-up linearly to production size. Hielscher Ultrasonics offers you professional consulting and a fully equipped process lab where we can optimize the process with you or for you!
Hielscher is your expert for ultrasonic process solutions. Contact us today, we are glad to recommend you the suitable unit to solve your application needs!

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