Analytical Techniques and Methods

LED-based particle image velocimetry (PIV) images the velocity field inside a moving powder bed during blending, adding spatial resolution that static angle of repose, Hausner ratio, and shear cell tests cannot provide. Here is what that resolution can and cannot support for a process decision.

The power or torque trace in high-shear wet granulation rises and plateaus as granules consolidate, but the signal is a supporting process indicator, not a direct particle size measurement, and its interpretation is bounded by batch size, impeller geometry, and formulation.

Pairing laser diffraction with dynamic image analysis adds per-particle shape descriptors, aspect ratio, circularity, convexity, that help explain an anomalous D50 or D90 and show where the combined result still cannot replace a dedicated particle morphology study.

Gas pycnometry and BET surface area each report a single number. X-ray micro-CT builds a three-dimensional map of the pore network, showing connectivity, tortuosity, and closed porosity that single-value tests cannot resolve, within real resolution and sample-size limits.

Single-contact electrification apparatus measures charge transfer from one controlled particle-surface or particle-particle contact, isolating a variable that bulk triboelectric and charge decay measurements can only report as an average.

Both the Hausner Ratio and Carr Index reduce bulk and tapped density to a single number. The mechanism behind that number, whether aeration, particle shape, or surface cohesion, determines whether it supports a process decision or actively misleads one.

Process analytical technology combined with machine learning is changing residual moisture control and yield prediction in pharmaceutical and food spray drying. The gains are real but bounded, and the off-line test panel has not been replaced.

Sintered contacts, additive manufactured heat exchangers, EV motor components, and conductive pastes each require a different copper powder. This article explains why morphology, particle size distribution, oxygen content, and packing density are engineering variables, and how to specify them correctly for electrification applications.

Poorly soluble APIs now represent the majority of the pharmaceutical development pipeline. Dissolution and oral bioavailability are determined by molecular solubility, surface wetting behavior, solid-state stability, and how the formulation interacts with the GI environment from first contact onward. Amorphous dispersions, lipid systems, nanocrystals, and co-crystals each rely on different surface mechanisms to deliver their intended advantage.

Real-time particle characterization is moving powder processing from delayed laboratory checks toward [...]

Metal powder feedstock quality has a direct effect on print stability and [...]

Paint QC can approve a batch that still behaves badly on the substrate. [...]