Apparatus and method for mixing paste material with gas

An apparatus for mixing a paste material with gas, the apparatus comprising:

• a mixing part that mixes the paste material with the gas using a piston pump;
• and
• a static mixer that is connected to the mixing part to stir a mixture obtained by mixing the paste material with the gas in the mixing part,
• wherein the static mixer includes one or more stirring sections through which the mixture passes, the one or more stirring sections having a shape that allows a flow of the mixture passing through the one or more stirring sections to be stirred, and
• wherein the static mixer is a static mixer according to any of
• a first aspect in which a ratio of a volume of the piston pump to a volume of at least one of the stirring sections of the static mixer is within a range from 1:0.2 to 1:5 and
• a second aspect in which at least one of the stirring sections has a configuration in which the flow of the mixture is split into five or more streams to stir the mixture of the paste material and the gas by a shear force,
• wherein the piston pump includes:
• a cylinder;
• and a piston that reciprocates in the cylinder to perform a suction step and a discharge step,
• wherein the cylinder includes a valve for controlling discharge that is provided at a stroke end of the discharge step, a valve for controlling gas supply, and a valve for controlling paste material supply, and
• wherein a volume of the piston pump is a volume of an interior of the cylinder defined by the piston that is located at the stroke end in the suction step.

An apparatus for mixing a paste material with gas, the apparatus comprising:

• a mixing part that mixes the paste material with the gas using a piston pump;
• and
• a static mixer that is connected to the mixing part to stir a mixture obtained by mixing the paste material with the gas in the mixing part,
• wherein the static mixer includes one or more stirring sections through which the mixture passes, the one or more stirring sections having a shape that allows a flow of the mixture passing through the one or more stirring sections to be stirred, and
• at least one of the stirring sections has static stirring means including
• five or more flow paths by which to split into five or more streams to stir the mixture of the paste material and the gas by a shear force, each of the flow paths being arranged in parallel to the flow of the mixture.

An apparatus for mixing a paste material with gas, the apparatus comprising:

• a mixing part that mixes the paste material with the gas using a piston pump;
• and
• a static mixer that is connected to the mixing part to stir a mixture obtained by mixing the paste material with the gas in the mixing part,
• wherein the static mixer includes one or more stirring sections through which the mixture passes, the one or more stirring sections having a shape that allows a flow of the mixture passing through the one or more stirring sections to be stirred, and
• wherein the static mixer is a static mixer according to any of
• a first aspect in which a ratio of a volume of the piston pump to a volume of at least one of the stirring sections of the static mixer is within a range from 1:0.2 to 1:5 and
• a second aspect in which at least one of the stirring sections has a configuration in which the flow of the mixture is split into five or more streams to stir the mixture of the paste material and the gas by a shear force, and
• wherein a pipe having a predetermined length is provided at least any of between the mixing part and the static mixer and between the static mixer and discharge means for discharging the mixture.

A method for mixing a paste material with gas, the method comprising the steps of:

• mixing the paste material with the gas per batch;
• and
• arranging a static mixer in a flow path of a mixture obtained by mixing the paste material with the gas to stir the mixture,
• wherein the step of arranging a static mixer is set to be a step of arranging a static mixer that includes one or more stirring sections through which the mixture passes, the one or more stirring sections having a shape that allows a flow of the mixture passing through the one or more stirring sections to be stirred, and
• wherein the static mixer is a static mixer according to any of
• a first aspect in which a ratio of a volume of the mixture per batch to a volume of a first one of the stirring section through which the mixture at least initially passes among the stirring sections of the static mixer is within a range from 1:0.2 to 1:5 and
• a second aspect in which the flow of the mixture is split into five or more streams to stir the mixture of the paste material and the gas by a shear force,
• wherein the step of mixing the paste material and the gas per batch is set to be a step using a piston pump,
• wherein the piston pump includes:
• a cylinder;
• and a piston that reciprocates in the cylinder to perform a suction step and a discharge step, in which the cylinder includes a valve for controlling discharge that is provided at a stroke end of the discharge step, a valve for controlling gas supply, and a valve for controlling paste material supply, and
• wherein the volume of the mixture per batch is a volume of an interior of the cylinder defined by the piston that is located at the stroke end in the suction step.

A method for mixing a paste material with gas comprising the steps of:

• mixing the paste material with the gas per batch;
• and
• arranging a static mixer in a flow path of a mixture obtained by mixing the paste material with the gas to stir the mixture,
• wherein the step of arranging a static mixer is set to be a step of arranging a static mixer that includes one or more stirring sections through which the mixture passes, the one or more stirring sections having a shape that allows a flow of the mixture passing through the one or more stirring sections to be stirred, and
• the static mixer has static stirring means in at least one of the stirring sections, the static stirring means including five or more flow paths by which to split into five or more streams to stir the mixture of the paste material and the gas by a shear force, each of the flow paths being arranged in parallel to the flow of the mixture.