When preparing new facilities, or retrofitting existing ones, it is imperative that plant quality and safety be kept at the forefront of the design and specification of equipment and facilities. The primary contributor to plant quality and safety is the design and selection of equipment; in the coatings industry this is predominantly mixing and dispersion equipment. When operating at an industrial scale, the dangers associated with dispersion equipment are many.
The right piece of machinery for the job helps to ensure a safe working environment, as well as protect the quality of the plant. Items that must be considered are: machine capacity; horsepower; range and limit of machine in terms of what operating parameters are safe, and when a change in these conditions can be potentially hazardous; safety features and retrofits; and monitoring and maintenance equipment.