Insight of the Week

Welcome to Insight of the Week, where we spotlight practical, actionable knowledge in powder technology and material sciences. Each week, we delve into a key topic, offering a short analysis, expert perspectives, and innovative solutions tailored to industry challenges.

Featured Insight of the Week

Why Powder Flow Often Fails After a Short Shutdown in Hoppers and Feeders
Powder flow after a short shutdown often fails because the resting powder bed becomes denser, less aerated, and mechanically stronger under load. Restart conditions are therefore harder than running conditions, even when the powder, equipment, and settings seem unchanged. A powder system can run smoothly for hours, stop [...]
Loss in Weight Feeder Drift After Refill: The Refill Shock Mechanism and How to Diagnose It
Loss in weight feeder drift often starts at refill, not at tuning. Each refill changes packing density and air content at the screw inlet, so the same screw speed meters a different solids fraction for minutes. Why refills create a hidden process step Most teams treat a [...]
Plastic pellet loss prevention is now a compliance KPI (and a bulk solids design problem)
Regulation (EU) 2025/2365 makes plastic pellet loss prevention a documented operational control item across the EU pellet supply chain, including transport. Treat pellet losses like any other bulk solids failure mode: locate the release point, fix the interface, verify control with repeatable checks, then keep records that survive audits. Large and medium companies [...]
Water Soluble-Fluoride in Black Mass: Limits, Risks, and QA Control
Water-soluble fluoride in black mass is now a control variable, not a lab curiosity. Lock the test method, control moisture exposure during handling and storage, and use trend-based decision rules to prevent spec failures, corrosion, or emissions drift. Water-soluble fluoride in black mass has shifted from “lab detail” [...]
Deaeration lag, why “easy flowing” powders still surge
Deaeration lag in powders creates a timing mismatch between how fast your process cycles and how fast trapped air can escape under hopper stress. That mismatch drives pause and surge discharge, density swings, and feeder instability. Fix the air pathway first. Reduce air entrainment during fill, verify vent capacity under real dust load, [...]