Case Study: High-Speed Stirring Emulsifier Transforms Emulsification Processes in Personal Care Production
In the personal care and cosmetics industry, the emulsification process is a critical link that directly determines product quality, texture, stability, and user experience. For manufacturers producing creamy products such as facial cleansers, moisturizing creams, and卸妆 balms, achieving uniform dispersion of oil-water phases, controlling particle size at the micro level, and ensuring long-term product stability are core challenges in mass production. This case study details how a manufacturer overcame long-standing process bottlenecks by introducing a high-speed stirring emulsifier, realizing a comprehensive upgrade in product quality and production efficiency without disclosing the company's name.
1. Background and Challenges
The manufacturer focuses on the research, development and production of high-end personal care products, with a product line covering amino acid facial cleansers, hydrating emulsions, and nourishing balms. Prior to the introduction of the high-speed stirring emulsifier, the company had been using traditional paddle-type mixers for the emulsification process. As market demand for product texture and stability continued to rise, the limitations of traditional equipment became increasingly prominent, bringing multiple challenges to production operations:
1.1 Poor Emulsification Uniformity and Coarse Product Texture
Traditional paddle mixers had insufficient shearing force, with a maximum rotational speed of only 1,000 rpm. During the production of amino acid facial cleansers, oil-phase raw materials (such as mineral oil, cetyl alcohol) and water-phase materials (amino acid surfactants, deionized water) could not achieve micro-level uniform dispersion. The resulting product had a particle size distribution of 8-15 μm, leading to a rough texture. Consumer feedback on "granular feeling during application" and "unsmooth smearing" accounted for more than 20% of negative reviews, directly affecting market competitiveness.
1.2 Poor Product Stability and Short Shelf Life
Due to inadequate emulsification, the oil and water phases of the products were prone to separation during storage. After 1-2 months of room temperature storage, phenomena such as oil separation and water precipitation occurred in some emulsion products, and the shelf life was only 1.5-2 years, which was significantly lower than the industry average of 3 years for high-end products. In addition, during low-temperature (-5℃) storage tests, some creamy products showed freezing and hardening, while high-temperature (45℃) storage led to increased oil separation, failing to meet the stability requirements of high-end personal care products.
1.3 Long Production Cycle and High Raw Material Loss
The traditional emulsification process required multiple stirring and mixing steps, with a single batch of 200L raw materials taking up to 60 minutes to complete emulsification. Moreover, due to uneven mixing, the product qualification rate was only 92%, and unqualified products caused raw material losses of 5-8kg per batch, resulting in significant cost pressure. At the same time, the disconnection between laboratory small-scale testing and industrial mass production parameters made it necessary to go through 3-5 repeated adjustments when scaling up from small tests to mass production, leading to a long product R&D cycle of 2-3 months.
1.4 High Energy Consumption and Low Operational Efficiency
Traditional mixers relied on prolonged stirring to improve emulsification effects, resulting in high energy consumption. The energy consumption per ton of products reached 120 kWh, which was 30% higher than the industry advanced level. In addition, the equipment lacked an automatic cleaning system, and manual cleaning after each batch took 40 minutes, which seriously restricted the improvement of production capacity.
2. Solution: Introduction of High-Speed Stirring Emulsifier
To address the above challenges, the manufacturer conducted in-depth research on emulsification equipment and finally selected a high-speed stirring emulsifier with multi-stage rotor-stator structure, precise temperature control, and vacuum deaeration functions. The core technical parameters of the equipment are as follows:
- Rotational speed range: 1,000-15,000 rpm, stepless frequency conversion adjustment
- Emulsification tank volume: 250L (adaptable to small-batch trial production and large-scale mass production)
- Temperature control range: room temperature - 100℃, precision ±1℃
- Vacuum degree: -0.093 MPa, realizing anaerobic emulsification
- Rotor type: interchangeable serrated rotor, emulsifying rotor, and paddle rotor
- Control system: PLC intelligent control, supporting parameter storage and automatic operation
- Cleaning system: CIP online cleaning, supporting automatic cleaning of tank body and rotor
In addition to the equipment itself, the manufacturer also optimized the entire emulsification process with the support of technical teams, including raw material pretreatment, feeding sequence, shear rate gradient adjustment, and post-emulsification cooling process, forming a standardized operation process matching the high-speed stirring emulsifier.
3. Implementation Effects and Data Verification
After three months of equipment commissioning, process optimization, and mass production verification, the high-speed stirring emulsifier has achieved remarkable results in improving product quality, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency. The specific effects are verified by data as follows:
3.1 Significantly Improved Product Texture and Fineness
By virtue of the high shear force generated by the 15,000 rpm high-speed rotation of the rotor-stator structure, the equipment can fully crush the aggregated particles of oil-water phases and reduce the product particle size to 3-5 μm. Detection by a laser particle size analyzer shows that the particle size distribution span (D90-D10) is ≤2 μm, which is far lower than the 8-15 μm of traditional equipment. The sensory evaluation by a 10-person professional review team shows that the product's smoothness, no-granularity, and smearing feel have been significantly improved, with the sensory score increasing from 75 points to 92 points. Consumer negative reviews related to "rough texture" have decreased by 90%, and the product's market reputation has been significantly enhanced.
3.2 Enhanced Product Stability and Extended Shelf Life
The vacuum deaeration function of the high-speed stirring emulsifier effectively eliminates air bubbles in the material during the emulsification process, avoiding oxidation of active ingredients and ensuring the stability of the emulsion system. Through a 3-month room temperature storage test, 6-month low-temperature (-5℃) storage test, and 3-month high-temperature (45℃) storage test, the products showed no oil separation, water precipitation, freezing hardening, or other phenomena, and the stability qualification rate reached 100%. The product shelf life has been extended from 1.5-2 years to 3 years, which is consistent with the level of international high-end personal care products.
3.3 Shortened Production Cycle and Reduced Raw Material Loss
The high shear efficiency of the equipment has significantly shortened the emulsification time. The emulsification time of a single batch of 200L raw materials has been reduced from 60 minutes to 25 minutes, and the production efficiency has been increased by 58%. At the same time, the uniform emulsification effect has improved the product qualification rate from 92% to 99.5%, and the raw material loss per batch has been reduced from 5-8kg to less than 1kg, saving raw material costs by about 15% annually. In addition, the equipment supports parameter storage and precise replication, realizing the seamless connection between laboratory small-scale test parameters and industrial mass production parameters. The product R&D cycle has been shortened from 2-3 months to 1 month, accelerating the speed of new product launch.
3.4 Reduced Energy Consumption and Improved Operational Efficiency
The frequency conversion speed regulation function of the high-speed stirring emulsifier can adjust the rotational speed according to the characteristics of raw materials and process requirements, avoiding energy waste caused by prolonged high-speed operation. The energy consumption per ton of products has been reduced from 120 kWh to 85 kWh, a decrease of 29%. The CIP online cleaning system has shortened the cleaning time per batch from 40 minutes to 15 minutes, reducing manual labor intensity and improving the continuous production capacity of the equipment. The daily production capacity has been increased from 8 batches to 12 batches, and the annual production capacity has been increased by 50% without expanding the production site.
4. Process Optimization Experience
In the process of using the high-speed stirring emulsifier, the manufacturer summarized a set of targeted process optimization experiences in combination with product characteristics, which provided a reference for subsequent production and industry peers:
- Raw material pretreatment: Oil-phase raw materials are preheated to 50-60℃ to melt and reduce viscosity, and filtered through a 100-mesh filter to remove impurities; water-phase raw materials are preheated to 40-50℃ to promote the dissolution of surfactants, which reduces the resistance of emulsification.
- Feeding sequence: Adopt the "oil-in-water" feeding method, add the preheated oil phase to the water phase at a rate of 5-10mL/min, and start low-speed stirring (3,000 rpm) at the same time to avoid local aggregation of the oil phase.
- Shear rate gradient: Adopt a step-by-step speed increase mode of "low speed (3,000 rpm) - medium speed (5,000 rpm) - high speed (8,000 rpm)", with each stage maintained for 2-3 minutes, which avoids material splashing caused by instantaneous high shear and ensures uniform emulsification.
- Temperature control: During emulsification, the temperature is controlled at 50-65℃. After emulsification, the temperature is reduced to below 40℃ at a rate of 2-3℃/min by low-speed stirring, and then additives such as essence and preservatives are added to avoid the destruction of active ingredients by high temperature.
5. Conclusion
The introduction of the high-speed stirring emulsifier has fundamentally solved the process bottlenecks faced by the manufacturer in the emulsification link, realizing a comprehensive improvement in product quality, production efficiency, and cost control. From the perspective of product quality, the texture fineness and stability have reached the international high-end level, enhancing market competitiveness; from the perspective of production efficiency, the production cycle has been shortened, the production capacity has been increased, and the energy consumption and raw material loss have been reduced, creating significant economic benefits; from the perspective of R&D and innovation, the seamless connection between small-scale tests and mass production has accelerated the launch of new products, laying a solid foundation for the long-term development of the enterprise.
This case fully demonstrates that high-speed stirring emulsifiers, with their efficient shearing performance, precise parameter control, and flexible process adaptation, have become key equipment to promote the upgrading of emulsification processes in the personal care and cosmetics industry. For manufacturers facing similar process challenges, the rational selection of high-speed stirring emulsifiers and the matching process optimization can effectively realize the transformation from "qualified products" to "high-quality products" and help the industry move towards a more efficient, high-quality, and sustainable development path.
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