Flowability

Flowability refers to the ability of powders and bulk solids to move freely under various conditions, impacting material handling, processing efficiency, and product quality. In industries like pharmaceuticals, food, and chemicals, understanding and optimizing flowability is essential to prevent blockages, ensure uniformity, and maintain consistent production rates.

On this page, learn about the factors affecting flowability, methods to measure and improve it, and its critical role in achieving efficient and reliable industrial operations.

Featured Flowability articles

  • Powder permeability dosing instability in a hopper feeding a loss in weight feeder.

    Powder Permeability, The Hidden Cause of Dosing Instability

    Powder permeability dosing instability often starts with trapped air. Low permeability traps air, shifts bulk density, and makes feeders surge and drift. Measure permeability, then improve venting and refill behavior before tuning the feeder. Powder permeability dosing instability rarely looks like a gas problem. It looks mechanical. The [...]

  • Winter powder quality control sampling graphite to prevent flow issues during the Christmas rush

    Graphite Under the Tree

    In the Holiday rush, winter humidity shifts and faster throughput can break powder flow, so trend PSD, moisture, density, and flow to prevent clogs and quality drift. A winter powder quality control plan is key. Table of contents Winter powder quality control for the Christmas [...]

  • Triboelectric charging in powders at a pneumatic conveying transfer point, showing fine powder flow near grounded stainless steel piping and an electrostatic field sensor.

    Triboelectric Charging in Powders: The science, failure modes, and industrial controls

    Triboelectric charging forms when powders contact and separate, creating a shifting charge distribution. It can drive wall coating, segregation, coating drift, and ESD risk. Control it with hotspot measurements, humidity control, dissipative surfaces, ionisation, and KPI checks. Table of contents Why triboelectric charging in powders [...]

  • Hopper bridging arch forming across the outlet of a conical powder hopper

    Hopper Bridging: Why One Hopper Always Bridges First

    Hopper bridging is rarely random. It points to a mismatch between powder behavior, stress fields, and hopper geometry. When you read that signal correctly, you can fix causes instead of fighting symptoms. Every plant has a troublesome hopper somewhere in the process. The same alarm appears, usually at [...]

  • Hand scooping infant formula powders into a baby bottle on a wooden board.

    The complexities of infant formula powders

    Infant formula powders are far more demanding than simple food powders. Safe infant formula powders depend on tight control of formulation, spray drying, agglomeration, emulsion stability, and packaging, so fragile nutrients stay stable and absorbable from production line to feeding bottle. Table of contents Infant [...]

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More Flowability Articles

Editor’s Picks

Graphite Under the Tree

Categories: Editors pick, Feature Article, Flowability, Laboratory, Particle size distribution, Shear

Triboelectric Charging in Powders: The science, failure modes, and industrial controls

Categories: Dustiness, Editors pick, Electrostatic Effects, Feature Article, Flowability

Additive Manufacturing Integration and the Rise of Smart Powder Processing

Categories: Additives, Aerospace Industry, AI, Editors pick, Feature Article, Metallurgy

Powder Plateau S Curve: How to Win When Physics Limits You

Categories: Additives, Bulk Solids Characterization, Editors pick, Feature Article, Flowability, Future

Powder Technologies Within Circular Systems

Categories: 3D printing, Bulk Solids Characterization, Editors pick, Feature Article, Legislation and Standards, Metallurgy, Moisture Sensitivity, Particle Size Testing, Plastics and Polymers, Porosity, Sustainability

Atomic Fundamentals and the Density–Energy Link

Categories: Editors pick, Electrostatic Effects, Energy Industry, Feature Article, Future

Black Mass Powder Handling: NFPA 660, 2025 Safety Regulations

Categories: Chemical Composition Analysis, Editors pick, Energy Industry, Feature Article, Flowability, Legislation and Standards, Sustainability

Functional Importance of Porosity in Food Powders

Categories: Bulk Solids Characterization, Compaction, Editors pick, Feature Article, Food Industry, Porosity, Rheology, Spray-Drying

Selecting the Right Powder Mixer for your blend

Categories: Attrition, Bulk Solids Characterization, Caking, Editors pick, Know How, Mixing technology, powders, Shear

Molecular Sieve Adsorption in the Oil and Gas Industry

Categories: Bulk Solids Characterization, Chemical Industry, Crystallinity, Editors pick, Liquid and Gas Processing Techniques, Oil and Gas, Petroleum Industry, Spray-Drying

Sand in the Construction Industry: The Unsung Hero

Categories: Agglomaration, Bulk Solids Characterization, Cohesion, Construction, Editors pick, Feature Article, Flowability, Sedimentation, Sustainability

Powders and Coatings in Orthopedic Implants

Categories: 3D printing, Adhesion, Coating, Crystallinity, Editors pick, Feature Article, Future, Health care, Metallurgy, powders, Surface Energy

Processing Techniques Involving Liquids and Gases – Drying (Part 4)

Categories: AI, Chemical Industry, Cryogenic Processing, Crystallinity, Editors pick, Energy Industry, Feature Article, Food Industry, Future, Granules, Laboratory, Liquid and Gas Processing Techniques, Pharmaceutical Industry, powders, Spray-Drying, Sustainability, Thermal Properties

Hydrotreating and Hydrocracking: The Backbone of Modern Oil Refining

Categories: Chemical Industry, Editors pick, Feature Article, Oil and Gas, Petroleum Industry, Sustainability