International. New collaborative research conducted by Freeman Technology, Tewkesbury, UK; and Gericke AG, Zurich, Switzerland, demonstrates how to achieve faster and more reliable equipment selection in the powder processing industries.
Through the experimental study, experts from the two companies have identified easily measurable powder properties that can be used to predict feeder screw performance for any type of powder. The resulting correlations support optimized feeder selection for a new powder based on testing a small amount of powder.
"For Gericke AG, selecting the best screw feeder for a given powder is an essential aspect of our business, and something our customers have trusted us to do well," said Daniel Büchi, Process Engineer at Gericke. "This study shows that, with the FT4 Powder Rheometer, we can measure the properties of the powder to simplify this task. Being able to predict the feed flow performance of rapid tests that require only a small amount of sample is potentially very valuable to us and to the industry as a whole."
In the study, the tests were performed with two different Gericke screw feeders – one compact and versatile for high-precision feeding, the other a self-cleaning double spindle extruder for low-capacity applications, especially suitable for materials with poor flow characteristics. The volumetric flow rate delivered by each feeder was found to correlate with different powder properties in each case, but always with dynamics rather than shear powder or bulk properties.
