More than 60 years of innovative mixing technology from Teka

For over 60 years, Teka Maschinenbau GmbH has been developing cutting-edge, innovative mixing equipment. The most reputable concrete producers in Germany, Europe and across the world use Teka planetary, turbine and pan-type mixers with and without agitators.

The company’s latest product release, the Teka THT high-performance turbine mixer with a patented mixing turbine, has become particularly popular. This mixer is mainly used for demanding and challenging concrete recipes and, even more importantly, where many different mixes and products need to be manufactured.

Perfectly suited to a wide range of mixing jobs and batch sizes

Developing the patented mixing turbine paved the way towards a new approach to mixing technology. The underlying design idea was to conceive a mixing system capable of mixing special concretes with high intensity and efficiency while using as few mixing tools as possible and allowing for a huge variety of batch sizes to be processed in a single mixer. This effort gave rise to a mixing system that not only meets these requirements but also further improves product quality, particularly in exceedingly complex mixing jobs, while reducing the overall process sequence by shortening mixing and discharge times. The small number of mixing tools and the specially designed turbine geometry also reduce mixer contamination and subsequent cleaning to a minimum.

Teka high-performance turbine mixers with innovative mixing technology are equipped with a patented mixing turbine that ensures high-intensity mixing of the batch while preventing particle destruction and thus leaving the grading curve undisturbed. The rotating side and discharge scrapers continuously feed material to the patented mixing turbine, which allows for high-intensity, quick mixing of the material within a very short time while attaining a very high degree of homogenization. One of the mixer’s main advantages is the option to process exceedingly small batches for custom products.

The optimal energy input into the mix and the high degree of material disintegration at smallest batch sizes ensure outstanding mixing results. In practice, for instance, face mixes and colored concretes were mixed excellently at less than 10% of the mixer’s maximum filling capacity.

Just like the exceedingly successful Teka planetary mixer, the turbine mixer uses a true countercurrent mixing principle from a filling volume of 1,500 liters. The mixing star and turbine rotate in opposite directions and overlap like gear wheels in the mixing pan center. This results in the mixing tools continuously feeding material to each other, which ensures a very high mixing intensity within the shortest possible time. Furthermore, the mixing star and turbine run on different effective circuits, meaning that they rotate on different radii and thus overlap in the pan center. This working principle prevents “dead” zones in the mixer; it also originates from the globally acclaimed Teka planetary mixer. In addition, the mixing turbine is equipped with a scraper blade with self-cleaning effect. The mixing turbine and the scraper are tungsten carbide coated to ensure a long service life.

Even in its standard version, the Teka turbine mixer is available with a frequency converter for the main drive, although customers also have the option of adding their own. The frequency converter can thus be used for the main drive to vary the rotation speed of the mixing turbine and to perfectly adjust it to the composition of the mix. Likewise, the speed of the mixing turbine and mixing tools can be optimally adjusted during the different phases of the mixing cycle (i.e. dry mixing time, water addition, wet mixing time, and discharge time).

Key areas of application of the Teka turbine mixer

The Teka turbine mixer is predominantly used for the following special concretes or concrete producers:

Producers manufacturing many different premium products requiring a large number of product changeovers, including frequent color changes

Concretes with a very high ratio of ultra-fine aggregate particles, such as face mixes and self-compacting concrete

Producers having to process exceedingly small batches or quantities. In practice, batch sizes of less than 10% of the maximum filling capacity can be mixed for custom products.  

All test series carried out to date with the most varied recipes processed on the new THT mixer series clearly met the high-performance criterion for mixers for all tested products, which involved steel-fiber-reinforced concrete (SFRC), self-compacting high-strength concrete (SCC), self-compacting lightweight concrete (SCLC), and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). These concretes are among the most demanding types of the new generation. They were tested extensively at the Institute for Construction Process and Environmental Engineering in Trier, Germany, and were evaluated for various properties such as homogeneity, consistency, flexural and compressive strength. The tests confirmed that the Teka turbine mixer achieves excellent results and meets all requirements for a high-performance mixer. Since its launch at Bauma 2013, the new THT series has also proven its worth for refractory materials.

Tailor-made solutions

The THT range uses the tried-and-tested parts of the planetary mixer series. A new type designation was introduced in order to always choose the best possible combination. This designation is no longer based on rigid filling capacities; instead, it responds to the specific needs of the customer combined with the required components. It is thus possible to configure each mixer individually and to perfectly adjust it to the product to be mixed. The type designation includes the output of the drive motor, the number of mixing turbines and the pan size, as well as the types of gears used.

What does this mean for the operator?

The patented mixing turbine ensures a very wide product variety since it provides the option of processing very different recipes, batch sizes and exceedingly small quantities in a single mixer. In practice, batches of less than 10% of the mixer’s maximum filling capacity were mixed perfectly, even with very demanding concrete mix designs. In addition, the patented mixing turbine ensures complete emptying of the pan within extremely short times for product changeover purposes, as well as an extremely short discharge process in general. In addition, the mixing cycle was shortened such that discharge times of less than half of those of a conventional planetary mixer are not uncommon. Another key advantage is the interaction between the mixing turbine and the scraper arm, which ensures exceptionally fast complete emptying.

The patented mixing turbine and the “swing & throw” effect achieve optimal mixing efficiency even when processing the most sophisticated custom and high-performance concrete mixes. This working principle prevents particle destruction and thus unwanted changes in the grading curve. Wear is very limited thanks to the specially designed turbine geometry and the small number of mixing tools. In addition, the mixing turbine comes with a tungsten carbide coating even in its standard version. Teka also refers to very low cleaning costs and/or long cleaning intervals with exceedingly short cleaning times ensured by a very small number of mixing tools as well as the special design of the mixing blades and the turbine with a minimum of adhesion points as well as a scraper mounted on the mixing turbine.

Practice has proven that contamination and cleaning costs can be reduced to a minimum thanks to the scraper attached to the mixing turbine. This benefit is immensely important when it comes to frequent product and color changeovers. Low wear and the associated low costs as well as the limited amount of required cleaning result in low maintenance and servicing costs. The mixing turbine is also easily height-adjustable so that it can be optimally set to the pan bottom, which ensures very fast and clean emptying of residues.

Yet the new mixer also excels with its high energy efficiency since the motor output is optimally aligned with the batch and the specific mixing job. Different motor and gear options are available for the same mixing chamber sizes such that the motor outputs are utilized fully in order to limit energy consumption to the required minimum and to achieve a correspondingly high energy efficiency.

Test center at Edenkoben company headquarters

In recent years, a large number of concrete plants in Germany alone have been modernized to meet the latest customer requirements. Customers can draw on a huge treasure trove of knowledge and expertise from employees with many years of experience. Teka staff engage in thorough discussions with their customers regarding coordination of their projects. Accordingly, each project is designed and analyzed individually, and the best possible solution is identified together with and for the operator. 

The company’s own test center operated at the Teka premises in Edenkoben in the German Palatinate region enables concrete producers to carry out mixing tests and see the turbine mixer for themselves. From joint preliminary planning to project design, assembly and commissioning, Teka Maschinenbau GmbH follows a one-stop-shop approach to offer the complete range of services to its customers. Additional important decision criteria include the top-class, experienced customer service as well as the extensive spare parts warehouse and correspondingly rapid spare parts supply.