Bühler has launched Cenomic Horizon 3, a new bead mill designed to help customers improve product quality, reduce energy consumption, and increase product throughput in wet grinding processes. The solution offers better temperature control, lower wear, and more flexibility, making it a cost-efficient solution for industries that rely on fine grinding and dispersion of solids into liquids, such as paint and coatings manufacturers, printing ink specialists, and agrochemical producers.
“With Cenomic Horizon 3, we wanted to give customers more processing stability and greater confidence when working with temperature-sensitive materials,” says Patrick Schwager, product manager, grinding & dispersing at Bühler.
Cenomic Horizon 3, now available to customers worldwide, has an active chamber volume of 20 liters and a drive power of 30 kilowatts. “Cenomic Horizon 3 is designed not only to increase flexibility in application, but also to ensure the reliability and efficiency of processes.”
Expanding product horizon
To achieve these results, the Bühler team has introduced several mechanical upgrades to the Cenomic Horizon 3. The grinding chamber has been re-engineered to improve flow and bead distribution, resulting in more stable processing conditions.
The new process zone, in combination with a silicon carbide inner liner, offers significantly better thermal conductivity, enabling more efficient cooling. This allows higher power input and continuous production without overheating the product.
Pilot test results show that Cenomic Horizon 3 maintains the same product quality at the same processing speed, while achieving up to 20% higher flow rates, up to 15 degrees Celsius lower outlet temperatures, and energy savings of up to 30% compared with previous versions. The new separation system ensures optimal distribution of beads, minimizing pressure buildup and wear.
Building on these physical improvements, Cenomic Horizon 3 integrates Bühler’s Premium V4 automation system. This digital interface allows operators to manage recipes, monitor performance, and track production data in real time. The system is designed to improve process safety, reduce manual work, and support predictive maintenance, helping customers optimize their operations and reduce downtime.
Wide range of applications
Cenomic Horizon 3 is suitable for a wide range of coatings and paints, including primers, fillers, colorants, and finishes. It is also used to formulate gravure and flexo printing inks, digital inks, pigment concentrates, and agrochemicals. “Our customers operate in diverse markets with varying formulation requirements,” says Patrick Schwager. “Cenomic Horizon 3 was developed to give them the flexibility and agility they need to respond quickly and efficiently without compromising on quality.”
Upgrading processes
For existing customers, Cenomic Horizon 3 is also available as an upgrade. With modular retrofit kits, customers can enhance current Cenomic 3 and Cenomic Optima 3 models with key features of the new solution. These include an extended grinding chamber, optimized bead separation concept, and advanced screen design. The result is a wider process window, enabling efficient processing of a broad range of formulations.
Testing Cenomic Horizon
Customers can test Cenomic Horizon 3 at Bühler’s Grinding & Dispersing Application Centers in Uzwil, Switzerland; Wuxi, China; and Kita, Japan. These three flagship locations offer full lab, pilot, and industrial-scale testing environments. Customers can run trials with their own formulations, supported by Bühler’s process experts, to optimize grinding parameters and validate performance before investment.
Additional sizes of Cenomic Horizon line will be introduced in the coming years, further expanding the product range.
