Design Integrated Technology, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 in Virginia. Its principal stockholder is Steve Andrews, President of DIT. The staff works with computer aided design software. The office and shop have design, machining, welding, polishing and painting capability. The company's two main products, the Helicone Mixer and the Propellant Strand Burner has over 50 years of sales history from their original manufacturer Atlantic Research Corporation, to present day activities. The Mixer line has several styles, each style having many sizes and custom options. DIT acquired the Mixer & Propellant Equipment lines from ARC in 1990. The propellant system includes a variety of devices and options. The corporation also has design and engineering capabilities well suited for the manufacture of Pressure Vessels.

HELICONE MIXING PRINCIPLES

The HELICONE Mixer was designed and developed by Atlantic Research Corporation for mixing solid propellants. The right to manufacture and market these Mixers was purchased in 1990 by Design Integrated Technology, Inc. They have been used in manufacturing: polymerization reactions, pigment dispersion, fiber polymer research and production, mixing adhesives and sealants, high temperature insulation, and for the mixing of slurries.

The double intersecting cone design provides the ultimate in variable mixing capability. Each cell of the bowl is in the shape of a cone; the ratio of product surface area to product depth remains the same. A benefit of this unique design is accurate scale up from laboratory to production.

The HELICONE Mixer provides fast, thorough, uniform mixing. Material is pumped down along the bowl wall until it reaches the bottom of the vessel. It then moves back up through the center while being continually divided and recombined by the intermeshing of the blades. Thus, mixing is carried on in both the vertical and horizontal planes. Operation of the HELICONE blades pumping downward (the mixing direction) permits extrusion of highly viscous materials through the discharge valve.

The conical shape of the bowl aids in the escape of gases from a mix. This feature makes the HELICONE Mixer ideally suited for those reactions in which the reaction rate depends upon the rate of removal of one of the reaction products. Reactions may be accelerated by operating the HELICONE blades in an upward pumping direction. The removal of moisture or other vapors is accelerated resulting in a decreased reaction time in cases where reaction equilibrium is a function of condensate concentration in the liquid phase.