Mixing Kettle & Tinting Kettle Company | Shanghai Polyc Technology Co., Ltd.

Core Technology & Working Principle

A tinting kettle is asked to do two contradictory things. During let-down it holds a low-viscosity resin solution that flows easily and only needs gentle axial turnover to stay uniform. During the tinting pass it takes in colorant paste — often far heavier than the base — and that paste will sink and stratify unless the agitator reaches the wall and the bottom rather than just stirring the middle. Get the impeller wrong in one direction and you either fail to dissolve the pigment or you fail to keep a large dilute batch moving. Heat is the second constraint: color development and viscosity both depend on temperature, and a jacket that only heats the center leaves the wall cold, so the batch reads differently at the top and bottom of the tank. That is why the wall-scraping anchor matters even on a "simple" blending kettle — it is the part that keeps the heat-transfer surface in contact with moving product instead of a stagnant film.

▲ Jacket & Thermal Control

Single-wall, dimple jacket or external half-pipe limpet coil, fed with steam, hot water or thermal oil at up to 250 °C. A dimple jacket gives uniform coverage over a dished surface; a half-pipe coil tolerates higher fluid pressure and velocity with a thinner wall. The jacket pressure rating on the standard range is up to 0.3 MPa.

▲ Agitator Matched to the Batch

Anchor with PTFE wall scrapers for heavy pastes, multi-tier pitched blades for axial circulation, a marine propeller for low-viscosity let-down, a helical ribbon for very high viscosity, or a sawtooth Cowles disc where dry powder has to be pulled into the liquid quickly. Standard shaft speed on the PEK range runs 10 to 80 rpm at the low-speed end.

▲ Vacuum, Pressure or Open

The same vessel pattern is built three ways: an open atmospheric blending tank, a vacuum-tight kettle down to -0.095 MPa for bubble-free de-aeration before filling, or a pressure-rated reactor. Which one you need is decided by the process, not by the tank — and it is settled before fabrication because the shell thickness and the flange standard differ.

Precision Engineered Details

Inside a mixing kettle the parts that decide whether a batch comes out uniform are the scraper fit, the impeller set and what happens at the discharge. The views below are from our own builds and from customer lines.

Anchor frame with PTFE scraper blades set against a mirror polished vessel wall, seen through the manway

Anchor Frame with PTFE Scrapers

Seen through the manway: the anchor frame carries replaceable PTFE blades that ride against the polished wall. The blade is a wear part, not a structural one — once the edge rounds off it stops wiping, and the first symptom is a temperature reading that no longer matches the batch.

Combined pitched blade impellers and anchor frame mounted on the shaft inside a stainless vessel

Impeller Set & Shaft Assembly

Pitched blades on the same shaft as the anchor give axial turnover where the batch is thin, while the anchor handles the wall. The combination is what lets one kettle move between a let-down batch and a pigment paste without changing agitators.

Bottom pitched blade and flush discharge valve at the base of a jacketed mixing vessel

Bottom Sweep & Discharge

The lowest impeller is set close to the dished head so settled pigment is lifted rather than left as a heel, and the outlet sits at the low point so the tank drains without manual flushing. A heel left in the bottom is what makes the next batch a different color.

Row of weighed tinting kettles with individual control panels in a clean coatings production hall

Weighed Tinting Kettle Line

On a real tinting floor the kettles sit in a row with load cells under each one and a control panel beside it, so the colorant addition is weighed on the vessel rather than in a separate hopper. That layout is what makes small-batch color matching repeatable.

PEK Technical Parameters

Working capacity is the usable batch volume; total vessel volume is the full shell including the freeboard above the liquid line. Motor power and shaft speed are given as ranges because both follow the viscosity of your product.

Model	Working Capacity (L)	Total Vessel Volume (L)	Motor Power (kW)	Agitator Speed (rpm)	Jacket Pressure (MPa)	Approx. Weight (kg)
PEK-500	500	650	4.0 – 7.5	10 – 80	≤ 0.3	950
PEK-1000	1,000	1,300	7.5 – 11.0	10 – 80	≤ 0.3	1,600
PEK-2000	2,000	2,600	11.0 – 18.5	10 – 60	≤ 0.3	2,800
PEK-3000	3,000	3,900	15.0 – 22.0	10 – 60	≤ 0.3	3,800
PEK-5000	5,000	6,500	22.0 – 37.0	10 – 50	≤ 0.3	5,200
PEK-10000	10,000	12,500	37.0 – 55.0	10 – 40	≤ 0.3	8,900

*Parameters above represent standard configurations. Custom capacities, coaxial dual-shaft agitation, higher jacket pressure ratings, mechanical seals and explosion-proof configurations are built on request, with the specification confirmed against your process data sheet. Reference projects in your industry are available on request.

Our Manufacturing Advantages

POLYC manufacturing plant in Wuxi, certified to CE and ISO 9001

🏢 Direct Source Factory

Vessel rolling, automated welding and mirror polishing are done in our 9,000 m² Wuxi plant. Dimple and limpet jackets are formed and welded in-house, which is why the jacket pressure rating is a fabrication fact rather than an assumption.

✈️ 30–45 Days Fast Delivery

Standardized vessel heads and stocked stainless sheet let us ship standard PEK configurations within 30 to 45 days from drawing approval.

🛡️ Strict Quality Control

Every kettle goes through non-destructive weld inspection, a jacket pressure test and a run-in of the agitator and seal before dispatch, under our ISO 9001 and CE certified manufacturing system.

🔧 3-Year Global Warranty

Every PEK kettle carries our standard 3-Year Global Warranty covering the main vessel body, the agitator shaft and the primary electric drive motor, with rapid spare parts dispatch.

Target Application Spectrum

A mixing and tinting kettle is specified wherever a liquid batch has to be blended, let down and brought to a color in the same vessel:

Open ink and paint tins showing red, blue, black, yellow and white product

Printing & Packaging Inks

Colorant splashes above a row of filled paint tins

Pigment & Colorant Pastes

Paint brushes loaded with different colors of architectural paint

Architectural & OEM Paints

Cosmetic and personal care product illustration

Cosmetic Emulsions

Ready to Discuss Your Mixing and Tinting Kettle Requirements?

Tell us the batch volume, the working viscosity, the heating or cooling duty and whether the process needs vacuum — our Wuxi engineers will match the jacket type, impeller and motor, then return a direct factory quote within 24 hours.

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Technical FAQ

Short answers to the questions buyers ask before specifying a jacketed mixing kettle or tinting vessel.

What is an industrial mixing kettle used for?

It is a batch vessel for liquid-liquid and liquid-solid blending, thermal treatment and let-down, typically from 500 L to over 10,000 L. In a coatings or ink plant it usually does two jobs in sequence: blending the base varnish or resin solution, then let-down and tinting, where colorant paste is folded into the finished batch and brought to a target color.

What types of agitator blades can be installed in the PEK series?

Low-speed anchors with PTFE wall scrapers for viscous batches, multi-tier pitched-blade turbines for axial circulation, marine propellers for low-viscosity blending, helical ribbons for the top of the viscosity range, and sawtooth Cowles discs where dry powder has to be drawn into the liquid quickly. The impeller is matched to the viscosity curve, not chosen from a default list.

How is temperature regulated in jacketed mixing kettles?

The vessel is built with a single wall, a dimple jacket or an external half-pipe limpet coil, fed with steam, hot water or thermal oil at up to 250 °C. Combined with PTFE wall scrapers that keep product moving across the heat-transfer surface, this gives a uniform batch temperature instead of a hot wall and a cold center.

Can the PEK kettle operate under vacuum or positive internal pressure?

Yes, and which version you need is settled before fabrication. The same vessel pattern is built as an open atmospheric blending tank, a vacuum-tight kettle down to -0.095 MPa for bubble-free de-aeration before filling, or a pressure-rated reactor. The shell thickness and flange standard differ between them, so the choice is made at the drawing stage rather than retrofitted.

Are explosion-proof configurations available for solvent-borne chemistry?

Yes. For solvent-borne coatings and inks an explosion-proof configuration is available upon request, with sealed control cabinets, flameproof motors and mechanical seals using a pressurized barrier fluid. The exact motor and cabinet specification is confirmed against your hazardous-area classification before the order is released, because the required marking depends on the zone and the solvent involved.

What is the warranty and lead time on POLYC mixing kettles?

Every PEK kettle carries our standard 3-Year Global Warranty covering the main vessel body, the agitator shaft and the primary electric drive motor. Standard units ship within 30 to 45 days from confirmed drawings, with rapid spare parts dispatch after that.