METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS GRANULATION TO PRODUCE HIGH DENSITY DETERGENT GRAIN

PURPOSE:To produce a high-density grain and to improve the dispersibility and solubility by feeding continuously a detergent powder into a granulation chamber wherein a stirring blade is rotated in the horizontal direction, stirring, mixing and granulating it and making the obtained grain overflow from an outlet on the lateral side of the granulation chamber. CONSTITUTION:A detergent powder for high-density granular detergent consisting of a surface active agent, a builder, a surface modifier, a bulking filler, etc., is continuously fed from an inlet 1B of a granulation chamber 1 and is stirred and mixed by means of a stirring blade 2 rotating in the horizontal direction. While the powder repeats movements such as impingement against the side wall of the chamber 1 and rebounding, the powder grows by the action of a binder to granulate. On the other hand, excessively grown and coarsely granulated detergent powders are ground by the action of a grinding blade 3 and dressed. Coarsely granulated powders which tends to stay in the center of the chamber 1 are taken out by opening intermittently a valve 8. The detergent grains are thereby dressed in the chamber 1 so as to have given grain size and overflows from an outlet 1C on the side wall of the chamber 1 and are taken out of an outlet 1D, too.