The word atom comes from ancient Greek around 400 B.C. and was named atomos which roughly translates to indivisible or uncuttable. However the present-day language and our particle perspective, the atom has not changed other than science has shown that even atoms can still be divisible and split into two utilizing fission reactions. An atom is a basic particle of matter, that uniquely defines an element on the periodic table. These useful particles generally start their human service once they are mined underground, in open surface pit mines, placer mines which sift metals from river sediment and beach sand or other areas, and finally in situ mining of uranium ore. Many of these ores are mined for their unique characteristics and are processed in the industry in some form or another to manufacture and facilitate building our global socio-technical and ecological systems that showcase our overall advancements as a species. Without particle science and powder processing technology we would not have the diversity of metal powder alloys, composites, the many types of plastics and other synthetics, semiconductors, or SEM microscopes. Our world is therefore filled with items made using powder technology.
Particles
The earth’s crust contains nearly every element on the periodic table, however, 24 elements are synthetically manufactured either because they are not available or they are easier to synthesize like plutonium and several other elements on the periodic table. Elements after Californium with atomic number 98, are radioactive, toxic, and are found in extremely small quantities. These elements presently have no mass industrial uses and their only real benefit is for specialized scientific research purposes.
Ores are finite in that they take up several million years to form either through hydrothermal processes, geological activities, or surficial erosions. Their abundance can still drive our technology for centuries to come until we need to find alternatives.
Powder processing Technology
Powder technology, its research, and actual powder processing are one of the most extensively employed industrial techniques used regarding the manufacturing of industrial and consumer products. It is essentially the technology and methodology that concerns itself with the processing of bulk powders in its many forms shapes and sizes.
Powders can be used in a variety of ways either as dispersion in liquids for paint or other emulsions and additives, as powder mixes that are compressed or sintered, think of additive manufacturing, ceramics, steel, plastics, and various alternative composites. Industries like pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and cosmetics all have their fair share of implementing powdered material in their research and development and finally mass production of consumer health and beauty products.
Powder processing
Powder processing is a commonly used material in manufacturing our products and its use will only increase as customized particle demand and higher particle tolerances become an industry standard. However, during powder processing there are a lot of factors to deal with that affect bulk powders and or the equipment that processes them. Particles whether during mining, transport, storage, conveying or processing are unwillingly enforcing reactions with their environment and each other, even as a final product, powders can still be affected by the environment and showcase undesirable phenomena.
Particle characteristics such as bulk powder flowability, density, mean particle size, particle texture, and compaction force, just to name a few are affected by a myriad of processing and particle interactions that need to be mitigated, balanced, or limited to suit the product design parameters. Particle agglomeration, clumping, rat-holing, caking, and dissolution delays, cause particles to collect and stick together causing production and storage issues that interfere with product quality and proper usage.
Shearing, powder bridges, electrostatic particle or equipment build-up, powder flow rate, solvability, particle breakage, powder segregation, particle abrasion, powder contamination, dust control, and particle degradation are among many forces that affect powder processing and particle characterization. All these physical properties affect and determine the behavior of powdered products during storage, handling, and powder processing. Eliminating or minimizing unwanted particle behaviors and changes is an ongoing exercise of powder and product perfection starting from mining to the finished product.
Consumer Demand and Innovation
The innate human drive to investigate leads researchers and laboratories to continuously explore new processing methods to modify specific particle characteristics and morphologies. Offering tighter particle tolerances that are sustainable and more efficient. Increasing the entire scope of particle technology.
Another driving force for research and development is the simple fact of consumer demand. Consumers want faster, better, and higher quality end products. This pushes the envelope of producers to invest and explore new technologies and methods adding to the consumer desire towards industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, and full machine automation. For example, the global baby powder market is expected to grow around 5% and reach an estimated 1.3 billion USD by 2027, because consumers increased awareness, wanting more product authenticity, transparency, and government legislation. It forces a global shift in powder technology advances, such as Particle Conductivity. Growing consumer awareness has increased the demand for vegetable powders and that market is also expected to grow substantially. The Industry is also moving from lead-based paints to enhance paint coating technologies, and faster semiconductors and battery densities are improving, to name a few.
Aside from the consumer demand, product and processing improvements also have a lot to do with the powder processing equipment, improved processing methods for producing powders that meet or exceed industry parameters and better regulated and maintained legislative standards all play a role. Powder processing of smaller particles with tighter tolerances and customization possibilities drives the industry’s technological advancements as consumer demand gears toward faster and better sustainable technology to meet our future head-on.
