Why measure the flow properties of powders?
Keeping powders flowing correctly and consistently is critical in all stages of manufacturing and through to the end user.
It is estimated that over 50% of all materials used in all industries are, at some stage, in powder form.
An objective measure of powder and granule flow can:
Allow customers to avoid the extensive costs and time involved in unloading powders that will not flow out of storage containers
Help achieve the best product formulation with the properties to suit the requirements
Improve the quality and consistency of the product
Save costs by optimising storage, packing, handling and transportation
Stable Micro Systems' Powder Flow Analyser is an accurate and reliable method of measuring the flow characteristics of powders.
Manufacturers can assess and avoid typical problems such as batch and source variation of ingredients, caking during storage or transportation and problems with discharging from hoppers or bins.
Learn more about the Powder Flow Analyser
Typical powder flow issues
Process Development
If yours is one of the millions of companies using powders in a manufacturing process, you don't need us to remind you how vital it is to keep your production line running smoothly. The consequences of, for example, consolidation during storage or transport or the formation of a blockage in a hopper could be both very inconvenient and very costly.
Measurement of the flow properties will enable objective accept/reject decisions to be made, whilst the knowledge of a powder's characteristics before and during its processing will enable the formulation and key process steps to be optimised when conveying, mixing, tabletting and storing the powders, resulting in a more cost effective controlled operation of the process.
Quality Control – Monitor Batch and Source Variation
When a new supplier is selected, or even when a new batch of product is delivered from the usual supplier the variation in flow properties can lead to large problems during storage and handling. The Powder Flow Analyser allows the quality control of the newly delivered items.
Tests can be carried out in a short time to generate a reading that tells an operator whether the powder will handle/perform in an acceptable manner. This philosophy allows users to test powders in small volumes before deciding to fill up a silo or start processing, thus leading to large savings in terms of time and money usually resulting from unloading jammed silos.
Formulation Development and Quality Improvement
R&D teams need to optimise the mixing of powders and addition of flow aids. This is necessary to achieve the optimum performing final product without risking flow problems or over-using expensive flow improvement additives which may cause end product deterioration and costly waste.
The Powder Flow Analyser allows product development teams to test out the flow properties of new product recipes and mixes before running the powder through the process or loading up a large container. You will be able to rank and relate powder measures to process and end product features.
Product Substitution
During the course of a product's life cycle, cheaper alternative ingredients are likely to be discovered. Whilst on the surface these cheaper ingredients might appear to have the same specification, they may not behave "the same", as a product with the same name can have a wide variation of properties.
Confidence checks will need to be carried out to ascertain whether they convey and flow after storage in the same way, whether they are equally affected by, for example, moisture and temperature, and whether these cheaper ingredients would ultimately increase factory costs as a result of having to spend time unblocking processes and silos.
Product Handling
Measurement of powder flow enables assessment of the powder's behaviour when in Conveyors, Chutes, Silos, Air lifts, etc. and when, for example filling packs, bottles and capsules to a minimum weight. During storage, conveying and in transportation such issues as segregation, attrition and agglomeration can occur.
Obtaining measures of cohesion, caking, powder speed flow dependence means that powders can be characterised by several numbers to create a "fingerprint" rather than inadequately with a single value. The fingerprint can then be investigated with reference to changing parameters such as humidity, compaction pressure, particle size and shape (to name but a few).
Authority Requirements: EMEA, FDA, Weights and Measures
Measurement of powder flow enables assessment of behaviour when, for example, filling packs, bottles and capsules to a minimum weight. Flow behaviour will undoubtedly affect, for example, tablet hardness and capsule fill weight, both of which are likely to be strictly controlled to tight specifications.
Understanding and improving the variation in fill weights due to tighter control of the flow properties of the powder allows reduction in waste and subsequently improves profit.
Slicing/Shearing through a powder column allows movement through the sample with minimum disturbance when required by moving at the same helical path angle as the blade profile. This may be desirable when required to move downwards through the column with minimum disturbance and therefore effect on the sample in order to measure a characteristic on the upward cycle of the test or when looking to 'cut' through a column in order to measure the strength of a cake that has been formed after compaction/consolidation to a specified stress in order to imitate storage conditions.
