Powder processing industries exploit the range of behaviours that powders exhibit to deliver an array of valuable products. For example, the pharmaceutical industry manufactures formulations that aerosolise, for inhaled drug delivery, or that compact to form oral solid dosage products in the form of granules and tablets. In the paint and coatings industry, fluidisation behaviour underpins the application of powdered coatings, and additive manufacturing is an exacting application in terms of powder flowability which directly impacts processing rates and product quality. All these applications, and many others, share a requirement for relevant and effective powder characterisation, but they differ substantially in terms of the conditions to which they subject powders. This is an important issue.
The article ‘Powder Characterization for Effective Powder Processing’ considers the fundamentals of powder behaviour within the context of demonstrating the understanding required for industrially relevant testing and successful processing. A key focus is the impact of the process environment on bulk powder behaviour. Dynamic powder testing, a method with a proven record of process relevance is introduced, and the value of multi-faceted powder characterisation is explained with reference to different applications.
Click here to read the article in full.