Methods of preconditioning comestible materials such as foods or feeds include the step of separately injecting steam and water into a static mixer in order to create a blend, which is then injected into the materials within a preconditioner barrel. The methods yield increased cook values in the preconditioned materials, with a reduction in evolved steam from the preconditioner.

The continuous treatment device (10) includes a tank (11) of elongated shape and that determines a mixing chamber (15) which includes, at a first end, at least one inlet orifice (12) for the raw material and, at a second end, at least one outlet orifice (13) for the treated material, and also, between these orifices, at least one agitator shaft (16) equipped with blades (17) suitable for continuously mixing and advancing the material in the mixing chamber (15) from the inlet orifice to the outlet orifice. The device also includes a mixing screw (25) in the bottom of the tank, which is positioned in the mixing chamber (15), below and parallel to the at least one shaft (16), and which is suitable for being rotated, about at least one direction of rotation, the opposite way from the advance of the material from the inlet orifice to the outlet orifice.

A tank on a firefighting aircraft initially is loaded with water. A polymer gel emulsion vessel is provided but gel emulsion is not activated and mixed with water in the tank until such polymer gel preparation is initiated by an operator. When initiated, a pump pulls water from the tank and returns water back to the tank with a dose of gel emulsion supplied therein. Double elbows and/or the pump impeller fully activates the polymer gel. The activated polymer gel is mixed within the tank by one of a variety of systems including sparging with air, routing of return water from the pump through nozzles and providing a baffle for generating circulatory mixing flow within the tank, or utilizing a mixer element which moves dynamically within the tank. Hydrodynamic forces associated with the aircraft passing over a body of water can power dosing of the water with polymer gel emulsion.

The method of producing a colored powder of a polymeric material includes the steps of selecting a feedstock of said polymeric material, pulverizing said polymeric material in a pulverizer to produce a powder, moving the powder directly from the pulverizer to a mixer; spraying a liquid formulation including a colorant into the powder within the mixer, and mixing the liquid formulation and powder.

A kneading apparatus has a housing and first and second rotary shafts mounted in the housing in parallel to one another for undergoing rotation about respective axes in opposite directions at unequal speeds to one another for kneading an object. The first and second rotary shafts have respective first and second stirring members arranged helically at a predetermined helical pitch and at predetermined angular pitch intervals, with the second stirring members being arranged with an inverse helix from that of the first stirring members. Side blocking plates disposed in the housing partially block the kneaded object and move it between the first and second rotary shafts. The side blocking plates are spaced apart from one another to provide a space above the first and second rotary shafts such that the kneaded object can pass through the space in the axial direction of the first and second rotary shafts.

A device for dispersing a water-soluble polymer in powder form having a standard particle size of less than 1 mm, includes: a wetting chamber, a chamber for grinding and discharging the dispersed polymer with a horizontal axis of revolution, and a mechanism for connecting the wetting chamber to the grinding chamber in the form of an L-shaped tube. The upper and lower parts of the wetting chamber and the L-shaped tube have an internal surface with an identical surface tension (TS1). The cover of the wetting chamber has an internal surface with a surface tension (TS2) higher than the surface tension (TS1) of the internal surface of the upper and lower parts of the wetting chamber and the L-shaped tube.

A three-dimensional printing head including a dynamic mixer comprising a mixer casing, which delimits a mixing chamber, a supply inlet configured to supply the mixing chamber with a mineral composition and a discharge outlet; and an injector for injecting a building material admixture in the mixing chamber. The injector includes a tubular injecting member being flexible and having an injection outlet, the tubular injecting member being elastically deformable between a first state in which the tubular injecting member is configured to allow a flow of the building material admixture through the tubular injecting member and towards the injection outlet, and a second state in which the tubular injecting member is configured to prevent a flow of the mineral composition from the mixing chamber and through the tubular injecting member.