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greater the probability that the particles will miss the high shear zones on a single pass through the device. For this reason the discharge of many rotor/stator devices is re-stricted with a series of holes or bars, or with a grid, which performs two separate tasks. First, a discharge grid absolutely limits the maximum particle size that can exit the mixer. If the holes on the discharge grid are 2 mm, it is virtually impossible for par-ticles larger than that diameter to pass through the machine. Rotor/stator in-line mix-ers are made with restricting grids as small as 0.5 mm, and a wide range of larger sizes up to 50 mm or even unrestricted outlets. A sample of such grids is presented in Fig. 29. But even the smallest usable discharge grid does not necessarily provide abso-lute control of the required size distributions in the range of fine dispersion. This is the second reason for the restriction on the discharge. By putting a more limiting dis-charge on the outlet, the flow rate through the device for a given set of pumping cir-cumstances (viscosity, density, system suction, and discharge head) is reduced and the residence time in the machine for a given particle or droplet is increased. The longer residence time increases the probability that a particle has to travel through the highest shearing zones and, thereby, be reduced to the smallest size that the machine is capable of producing. • • • • " ' ; • " * * «L £ J- •-
