Mixing apparatus

An apparatus for mixing flowing materials comprising:

• an elongated vessel provided with at least one inlet means near one end of said vessel for supplying materials to be mixed, and outlet means near the other end of said vessel for discharging the said materials after mixing;
• and
• a plurality of mixing guides inside said vessel, said mixing guides being spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal axis of said vessel, each of said guides having an axis arranged substantially perpendicular to the said longitudinal axis of said vessel, and each said guide being rotatably mounted in said vessel whereby materials flowed through the vessel are mixed by passing through and between said guides, and the pressure drop across the vessel is controlled by adjusting the angular position of said guides,
• each of said mixing guides including mounting rod means having at least one rod end extending through the wall of said elongated vessel in a rotatable and fluidtight manner, the axis of the rod ends being arranged substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of said vessel,
• a second rod end being anchored to the wall of the vessel opposite said first rod end,
• sealing means affixed to said vessel and engaging at least the end of the first rod in a fluidtight manner, and
• at least two blade-shaped semicircular vanes each having a float or straight section formed on the periphery or outer edge thereof, said flat sections being rotatably connected together, the curved edges of the two vanes at points taken along a line perpendicular to said straight vane section being fixedly connected to the rod ends extending into said vessel, at least one vane being connected to a rod end for independent rotatable movement therewith,
• the combined area the pair of said two vanes being less than the cross-sectional area of said vessel whereby at least one of the vanes can rotate through a complete circle within the vessel.