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Flow Blender

Overview and Key Concepts​

Flow processors are objects for which the input rate is always equal to the output rate. The flow blender is a specific shape of flow processor used to pull materials from multiple input ports based on percentages that you define. It is most commonly used for in-line blending when mixing is not done in batches.

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Blenders, pumps, and valves

Pumps, valves, blenders and splitters are all different shapes of a flow processor. You can switch between them using the Change Shape dropdown in the (Quick) Properties. The blender is similar to the pump and valve, except that it has its inflow rule set to "Balanced flow on rate %" by default. The blender always makes sure it is pulling the correct percentages. If the inflow rate is reduced on one of the input ports, all other ports will be reduced to keep the ratio between the inflow rates fixed. This implies in particular that if no material is available on one input port and its inflow rate drops to zero, that the blender will also stop the flow through all other input ports.

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FloWorks Blender vs. FlexSim's Fluid Blender

Contrary to the FlexSim Fluid Blender, or the FloWorks mixer, FloWorks' blender object does not have a recipe and does not hold content. It is used exclusively for inline blending where the input ratio of the incoming products is maintained. Following the FloWorks philosophy on product types, the blender also does not track components and the outgoing product is (re)defined according to the product type set on the object.

Events​

The blender uses the standard events that are common to almost all FloWorks objects. See FloWorks Triggers for an explanation of these events. Note that the outflow rule for the blender is fixed to "Preferred Order".

States​

For statistical purposes, the blender's FloWorks state profile will be in one of the following states at various points during a simulation run:

  • Idle- The blender is not receiving any flow.

  • Processing- Material is being blended at a non-zero flow rate.

Properties Panels​

The blender object has five tabs with various properties. The first three tabs are standard tabs that are common to all flow objects. For more information about the properties on these tabs, see:

  • The Settings Tab

  • The Flow Tab

  • The Triggers Tab

The last two tabs are the standard tabs that are common to all fixed resources. For more information about the properties on these tabs, see:

  • The Labels Tab

  • The General Tab

Custom coding​

You may control the behavior of the flow blender dynamically by writing FlexScript, for example in a Script window or by changing the code behind one of the options in an object trigger. The flow blender is an instance of theFlowObjectclass, see the class reference for information about its properties.

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Dynamically controlling the ratio

For the blender in particular, you may want to dynamically control the flow rate ratio between the input ports. Useobject.input.ports[i].ratioto get and set the ratio of the flow through porti. Just as when manually entering the ratios, the sum will be normalized to 100% automatically, unless the ratio forallthe input ports is set to zero.