The latest accessory for Freeman Technology's FT4 powder rheometer allows the flow properties of powders to be studied under vacuum. Reducing the air pressure, and hence the entrained air in the powder, can lead to dramatic changes in flowability. Since a number of unit operations in powder processing may be carried out under vacuum (including drying, filtration, pneumatic transfer and dosing) it is important to understand the behaviour of powders under these conditions.
The FT4 is a fully automated, universal powder tester that can be used to characterise powder behaviour under aerated, conditioned, consolidated and now vacuum conditions. In this new test mode, vacuum is applied to a powder sample through the system's standard aeration base. The FT4 allows the rapid and systematic investigation of dynamic behaviour as a function of applied vacuum and other variables, such as flow rate, moisture content and composition. By characterizing a powder in a range of complementary ways, the FT4 builds a complete picture. This information can be linked to process performance and used to predict the likely behaviour of a powder in specific processing equipment.
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