In an effort to continuously improve process transparency and provide a seamless process development experience in the Innovation Center, yet another new technology has been added to the FEECO testing facility.
The Innovation Center has seen substantial growth and development over the past several years, as we have continued to expand our process development and feasibility and pilot testing capabilities. Most recently, the testing facility saw the implementation of the Microtrac PartAn 3D Pro – an in-line tool for advanced particle analysis that provides real-time data, including particle size, shape, surface roughness, transparency, and more.
Now, the testing facility is adding another intuitive device that will further improve the testing and development experience: an in-line moisture sensor.
Why Moisture Analysis is Important
The proper moisture content of a material is critical both to the end product, as well as to the efficiency of the process itself.
How Moisture Content Impacts the End Product
In many industries, the ability to achieve a product within a targeted moisture range, or even at an exact percentage, is essential to maintaining product integrity throughout its lifecycle, as well as ensuring a product will perform exactly as designed, whether it be in an industrial process setting, or in the consumer market.
Moisture range can impact a number of factors that will ultimately influence the handling and performance characteristics of a material. This includes:
- Crush strength
- Breakdown of product
- Amount of dust
- Product storability
- Product flowability
- Angle of repose
- Bulk density
- Product formulation
How Moisture Content Impacts the Process
In addition to being important to the end product, on-target moisture content also plays an important role in the processing environment itself, helping to ensure that a product will move through the process smoothly, efficiently, and as designed. This also applies to ensuring feedstock meets the desired qualifications prior to entering the process.
A moisture content that is too high at any point in processing has the potential to break down or not hold its form (when working with agglomerates), cause caking and/or lumps in the material, or even result in the clogging of downstream equipment.
Similarly, a moisture content that is too low can also cause breakdown during processing, such as at drop-off and transfer points. This often causes excess fines and dust, resulting in increased re-processing and product lost as waste.
To ensure the desired moisture content is being met, it is common practice to analyze moisture content at various points throughout the operation such as at the inlet and outlet of process equipment.
This is essential to quality control, helping to confirm that the process is running as intended, and that the material is being produced to the exact quality specifications required.
Historically, moisture analysis of material has been a manual process, in which a technician physically removes a sample and brings it back to the lab for analysis. Not only does this take valuable time, but it also creates opportunity for human error and increases the risk of injury to technicians. Additionally, it creates the potential for process upsets and off-spec material to go unnoticed for long periods of time.
Advanced moisture analysis through the use of a real time, in-line moisture analyzing device can yield the following benefits:
- Non-destructive sampling
- Optimized process
- Efficient fuel/energy use
- Maximum product flow rate
- Reduced re-work
- Immediate identification of process upset conditions related to moisture content
Cutting Edge Moisture Analysis
The newly employed moisture analyzer is a state-of-the-art tool capable of analyzing a material’s surface 30 times per second through the use of near-infrared technology, providing precision measurements in record time.
A digital display provides continuous, real-time results. The system records time logs for later analysis. The device can be integrated into a variety of process control settings and offers reporting capabilities for comprehensive process transparency and analysis. In addition, the unit can assist in providing real-time mass balances – a key indicator of process efficiency, as well as when process conditions change.
The device can be used to analyze a wide variety of particle types and sizes, including powders and granules. In addition to measuring moisture content, the analyzer can also measure coating thickness.
Conclusion
The FEECO Innovation Center is a highly advanced testing facility capable of testing a wide range of agglomeration and thermal processing techniques and configurations at batch and pilot scale.
The moisture analyzer is just another step in the advancement of the Innovation Center and FEECO’s continued commitment to staying on the leading edge of process development and optimization for our customers.
For more information on our testing capabilities or process development, contact us today!