What Equipment is Used for Putty Powder Production? Key Applications and Advantages of SLG Modifiers

Putty powder creates the smooth base for wall coatings. Traditional powder, however, often has issues like caking, poor application, and weak water resistance. This is a major challenge for calcium-based putty. The SLG modifier is key to solving this by improving the powder’s surface properties.

This article explains how the SLG modifier works, its specific applications in putty powder production, and its advantages over traditional equipment, offering insights for companies looking to enhance product quality and competitiveness.

I. What is an SLG Modifier? Revealing Its Core Principle

The full name of the SLG modifier is continuous powder surface modifier, a surface treatment equipment specially designed for micron and nanometer level powders. It realizes the directional optimization of powder performance based on the mechanochemical principle. Its core advantages lie in “continuity, precision, and low energy consumption”, and the entire working process is divided into 4 key steps to ensure stable and controllable modification effects:

Powder Dispersion: Breaking Agglomeration to Lay a Uniform Foundation

Calcium hydroxide and other powders tend to form agglomerated particles during storage, which directly affects the uniformity of modification. The SLG modifier generates strong shearing force through a high-speed rotating rotor to fully break up agglomerated particles, forming a uniformly suspended powder flow and creating “single-particle contact” conditions for subsequent coating treatment.

Modifier Compound: Precise Introduction for Uniform Contact

According to the requirements of putty powder for water repellency and reinforcement, liquid (such as stearic acid solution) or solid modifiers are evenly introduced into the dispersed powder flow through atomized spraying, precise feeding, and other methods. Taking stearic acid, commonly used in calcium-based putty powder, as an example, the addition amount can be accurately controlled at 0.5%-1.5%, avoiding the waste or insufficiency of modifiers.

Surface Coating: Instant Temperature Control for Firm Bonding

High-speed impact, shearing, and friction will generate instant low temperature (<120°C). This temperature can not only promote the rapid melting of modifier molecules (such as stearic acid) and their adhesion to the powder surface but also prevent calcium hydroxide from carbonization due to high temperature. Finally, the modifier molecules form a firm monomolecular coating layer with the structure of “hydrophilic group facing the powder and hydrophobic group facing outward”, completely changing the surface properties of the powder.

Cooling and Discharging: Continuous Production for Immediate Use

The modified powder is quickly cooled through the built-in cooling system of the equipment to avoid secondary reactions caused by residual heat, and then continuously discharged. The entire process does not require intermittent waiting and can be directly connected to subsequent putty powder mixing and packaging processes, realizing the efficient operation of the production line.

II. 4 Core Values of the SLG Modifier in Calcium-Based Putty Powder Production

In the integrated production line of “limestone → calcium hydroxide → putty powder”, the SLG modifier is mainly used in the “calcium hydroxide modification” process. It provides solutions for 4 major pain points of traditional putty powder and directly improves product quality and market competitiveness:

1. Solving the “Easy Caking” Problem and Extending the Shelf Life of Putty Powder

Traditional Pain Point: Calcium hydroxide has strong hydrophilicity and is prone to absorbing moisture in the air to agglomerate. As a result, putty powder needs to be used quickly after opening, with a shelf life usually only 1-3 months, and large losses in storage and transportation.

SLG Modification Solution: Through the monomolecular hydrophobic coating layer, the hydrophobic group of stearic acid acts as a “protective film” to block the contact between water molecules and calcium hydroxide, turning the powder from “hydrophilic” to “hydrophobic”. Tests show that the shelf life of modified calcium-based putty powder can be extended to 6-12 months, and there is no caking during storage, reducing the inventory loss of enterprises.

2. Improving Constructability: Smooth Scraping Without Knife Sticking, Easy Sanding with High Efficiency

Traditional Pain Point: Unmodified calcium hydroxide powder has poor fluidity. The prepared putty slurry is prone to “knife sticking” during scraping, increasing the labor intensity of workers. After drying, the hardness of the putty film is uneven, and it is easy to stick to sandpaper with a large amount of powder during sanding, making it difficult to control the flatness of the wall.

SLG Modification Solution: The friction between modified powder particles is reduced, and the fluidity is significantly improved:

During scraping: The slurry has a fine and smooth texture, and the single scraping area of workers can be increased by 20%, with the construction efficiency improved by 30%;

During sanding: The hardness of the putty film is uniform (Mohs hardness 1.5-2.0), and it does not stick to sandpaper with a small amount of powder during sanding. The flatness error of the wall can be controlled within 0.5mm, reducing the rework rate of subsequent coating.Note: If the powder fineness is increased to 600 mesh, the sandability can be further optimized.

3. Enhancing Water Resistance and Strength to Avoid Subsequent Wall Powder Loss and Blistering

Traditional Pain Point: Traditional calcium-based putty is easy to soften when exposed to water. Walls in humid environments such as bathrooms and kitchens are prone to “powder loss and blistering”, resulting in high maintenance costs.

SLG Modification Solution: The stearic acid coating layer not only prevents moisture absorption during storage but also forms a long-lasting waterproof barrier after the putty is dried and formed into a film. Tests show that after the modified putty film is soaked in water for 24 hours, there is no softening or powder loss, and the compressive strength is increased by 15%-20%, which can meet the needs of wall use in humid environments and expand the application scenarios of the product.

4. Optimizing Formula Compatibility and Reducing the Dosage of Organic Additives

Traditional Pain Point: Inorganic calcium hydroxide has poor compatibility with organic additives (such as redispersible latex powder and cellulose ether). More latex powder (usually 3%-5%) needs to be added to ensure film-forming performance, resulting in high raw material costs.

SLG Modification Solution: As an organic “bridge”, stearic acid can improve the interface bonding force between inorganic powder and organic additives. Practice shows that the modified calcium hydroxide can achieve the same film-forming effect with 2%-3% latex powder, reducing the dosage of organic additives by 20%-30% and directly lowering the production cost of putty powder.

III. SLG Modifier vs. Traditional High-Speed Mixer: Advantage Comparison in 3 Dimensions

Traditional high-speed mixers are often used for modification in putty powder production, but they are far inferior to SLG modifiers in terms of efficiency, effect, and cost. The specific comparison is as follows:

Comparison Dimension	SLG Continuous Modifier	Traditional High-Speed Mixer
Modification Effect	Monomolecular layer coating, uniform and firm, with product performance error of <5% per batch	Uneven coating, prone to modifier agglomeration, with performance error of 15%-20%
Production Efficiency	Continuous production, with a daily processing capacity of 10-50 tons per unit and high automation (can be linked with PLC control system)	Batch intermittent operation, with a processing capacity of 0.5-2 tons per batch, requiring manual start-stop, and daily processing capacity ≤10 tons
Cost and Energy Consumption	Low energy consumption (25% more energy-efficient than traditional equipment), 50% reduction in labor cost, and 15%-20% reduction in comprehensive production cost (in line with the enterprise’s goal of “25% cost reduction”)	High energy consumption, requiring dedicated personnel on duty, high labor cost, and high comprehensive production cost
Temperature Control	Instant low temperature <120°C, precise temperature control, no risk of calcium hydroxide carbonization	Uneven heating, prone to local overheating (≥150°C), leading to calcium hydroxide carbonization and product yellowing

IV. Conclusion: The SLG Modifier is the “Core Equipment” for High-Quality Putty Powder Production

For putty powder production enterprises pursuing high quality and cost-effectiveness, the SLG modifier is not an “optional equipment” but a “must-have equipment”—it not only solves the quality pain points of traditional production but also helps enterprises stand out in the fierce market competition through the threefold advantages of “cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and quality enhancement”:

In terms of quality: The produced calcium-based putty powder has the characteristics of “long shelf life, easy construction, and strong water resistance”, and can meet the needs of the mid-to-high-end market;

In terms of cost: By reducing the dosage of organic additives and lowering energy consumption and labor costs, the comprehensive production cost can be reduced by 15%-25%;

In terms of efficiency: Continuous production is suitable for large-scale production lines, with a daily processing capacity of up to 50 tons, meeting the expansion needs of enterprises.

If you want to know more information, please feel free to contact Cronus’ dedicated customer service at any time. We will do our best to provide you with professional services.