IBC Mixers and Agitators for 1000 L Totes
We have been building IBC mixers at our plant in Jasienica since 2013. The first one was made for a customer producing components for the railway industry, who needed to re-mix liquids delivered in IBC totes before use. At the time, the European market had plenty of large mixing stations and almost nothing dedicated to a single 1000 L tote. We started with one model. Twelve years later, this is our flagship category: ten IBC tote mixers built around the same foldable 316Ti propeller, with electric and pneumatic drives, ATEX-certified variants, bridge-mounted and screw-cap versions.
About 100 mixers leave our hall every year. That is not a high number for a factory, and it is intentional. Each mixer passes through our own CNC turning and milling, MAG and TIG welding, assembly and pressure testing before it ships. Motors and gearboxes we buy from European suppliers. Powder coating is the only step we outsource to a specialised shop nearby.
The 10 models in our IBC mixer range
| Model |
Drive |
Power |
Viscosity |
ATEX |
What it does best |
| MKE-2000 |
electric |
0.75 kW (1 HP) |
2,000 mPa*s |
no |
Our bestseller since 2013. Single-phase 230 V option, daily duty |
| MKE-500 |
electric |
0.75 kW (1 HP) |
500 mPa*s |
no |
High-speed disperser at 900 rpm. Pigments, AdBlue, light coatings |
| MKP-5000 |
pneumatic |
air 6–7 bar |
5,000 mPa*s |
natural intrinsic safety |
Oil-free, no electricity, runs from a regular shop air line |
| MKE-10000 Ex Full ATEX |
electric |
1.5 kW (2 HP) |
10,000 mPa*s |
YES — II 2GD (Zone 1/21) |
Whole-system Ex. Built for ethanol, dynamite and solvent paint lines |
| MKE-10000 Ex |
electric |
1.5 kW (2 HP) |
10,000 mPa*s |
YES — II 2GD (Zone 1/21) |
Same Zone 1 as Full ATEX. Control box mounts separately outside the zone |
| MKE-5000 |
electric |
1.1 kW (1.5 HP) |
5,000 mPa*s |
no |
The medium-duty workhorse. Resins, PUR adhesives, alkyd coatings |
| MKP-5000 Ex |
pneumatic |
air 6–7 bar |
5,000 mPa*s |
YES — II 2GD (Zone 1/21) |
Coating shops with classified Ex zones and compressed air on tap |
| MKE-10000 |
electric |
1.5 kW (2 HP) |
10,000 mPa*s |
no |
Honey, syrups, heavy cosmetics. Bestseller in household chemistry |
| MKZE-500 |
electric |
compact |
500 mPa*s |
no |
Screws straight onto the DN150 cap. One-person install |
| MKZP-1000 |
pneumatic |
air 6–7 bar |
1,000 mPa*s |
natural intrinsic safety |
Same screw-cap idea, air-driven. For coating shops without 400 V |
What an IBC mixer actually does in your hall
Customers ask us this often. We always answer with three jobs:
- Re-homogenising what came in. AdBlue, paints, surfactants, polymer solutions all separate during transport. An IBC agitator brings the tote back to a uniform batch in a few minutes.
- Mixing inside the tote instead of pumping it out. You add pigment, thinner, or a powder dose right in the IBC and skip the transfer to a process vessel. Less cleaning, less product loss.
- Dissolving powders. Polymer flocculants, water-soluble additives, dyes go into the tote as solids and come out as a working solution.
Electric or pneumatic? A practical answer
The choice is rarely about preference. It is about what is in the tote and what is on the wall.
If you mix water-based chemistry, food products, cosmetics, AdBlue or any non-flammable medium, electric is cheaper to run, quieter and easier to control. Our MKE series covers six models from 500 to 10,000 mPa*s.
If you have solvent-based paints, resins with styrene, ethanol-bearing media or anything flammable, switch to pneumatic. The air motor has no electric components, so there is no ignition source by design. The MKP-5000 runs from a standard 6–7 bar shop air line. For a formally classified Zone 1 area, the MKP-5000 Ex adds full ATEX certification on top.
ATEX — when it stops being optional
If your atmosphere may contain flammable vapours (solvents, fuels, ethanol-based chemistry), ATEX is not a feature. It is a legal requirement under Directive 2014/34/EU. We build three ATEX models:
- MKE-10000 Ex with the same Zone 1 marking as Full ATEX (EX II 2GD h IIb T4). What is different: the control box mounts separately, outside the Ex zone, typically about 1.5 m from the IBC. Cheaper than Full ATEX and the mixer body is lighter. The only IBC mixer in our range with separated control box.
- MKE-10000 Ex Full ATEX — the whole system Ex, marking EX II 2GD h IIb T4 for Zone 1. This is the version we ship to ethanol processors and (yes) to a customer who manufactures dynamite.
- MKP-5000 Ex — pneumatic, full ATEX II 2G with all components Ex-certified (the only pneumatic version that is formally intrinsically safe).
We have shipped tens of ATEX IBC mixers across Poland and Europe. Certifying a single component takes several weeks, which is why our ATEX lead time is 6–8 weeks (vs 2 weeks for standard models). It is worth planning for.
What our customers ask before buying
Will it fit my tote?
Almost certainly yes. Every IBC mixer we build is sized for the DN150 (150 mm) screw cap, which is the standard top opening on totes from Mauser (the brand we see most often in our orders), Schütz, Werit, Sotralentz, Ecobulk, Van Leer and Greif. The folding ∅350 mm propeller passes through the cap and unfolds inside the tote.
Can one person handle the installation?
That is what operators tell us most often after the first job. The MKE series with the transport bridge is light enough to lift via the bridge's forklift fork holes by a single operator with a forklift, or by two people without a forklift; the cap is just a hand-tight thread on the screw-cap versions. The pneumatic models are even lighter because there is no electric motor on top.
What is the lead time?
Standard MKE and MKP models ship in 2 weeks. ATEX-rated models take 6–8 weeks because of the certification documentation we attach per unit. Custom configurations (longer shaft, 304 stainless steel frame (hygienic option), specific control panel) need individual design and quotation, so they take longer. We are honest about this upfront.
What about food and pharma?
The wetted propeller on every model is 316Ti acid-resistant stainless steel approved for food contact under EC 1935/2004. For higher hygiene standards (FDA CFR 21 § 177.2600 documentation, 3-A Sanitary adaptation), we upgrade the frame to 304 and supply the paperwork. Ask before quoting.
Where our IBC mixers work
- Household and industrial chemistry — detergents, cleaning agents, disinfectants. This is our biggest segment for the MKE-10000.
- Water-based paints, coatings, AdBlue (DEF). The MKE-500 and MKE-2000 take most of these jobs.
- Resins, PUR and MS adhesives, solvent-based coatings — MKE-5000 for non-Ex, MKE-10000 Ex Full ATEX for ethanol and solvent vapours.
- Food and beverage — honey, syrups, molasses, edible oils. The MKE-10000 handles these well thanks to the 316Ti propeller.
- Pharmaceutical and cosmetic batches with hygienic frame option.
- Agricultural chemicals — fertilisers, pesticides, herbicide concentrates.
- One of our MKE-2000 units has been running at a brine extraction site in Zabłocie, Poland, for several years without a service call.
What you get from us beyond the mixer
We manufacture in Europe, in one location. That means short answers when you call, traceability per unit, and parts available straight from us — propellers, seals, motors. Spare propellers go out the same week.
Our technical team will help size the model for your medium, ATEX zone and tote brand free of charge. If you need something we do not stock — longer shaft for a 1500 L tank, a customer-supplied control panel, a non-standard mount — we design and quote it. We are open about timelines for custom work: those projects take longer than standard catalogue items because every drawing is individual.
Talk to us
If you know what you want, you can order from the catalogue directly. If you are not sure (most first-time buyers are not), call our sales line or send a few details — viscosity, hourly volume, tote brand, whether there is a classified Ex zone. We will come back with a model recommendation within a working day. Most standard IBC mixers ship within 2 weeks of order.
