New features on the 200 LS-N Alpine air jet sieve from Hosokawa Micron have made the powder fineness analysis equipment both more flexible and more accurate, according to the manufacturer.
Designed to measure powder fineness to 10µm within the particle analysis laboratory environment, the 200 LS-N has a new sieve identification function that is said to make it even more flexible, quick and reliable. As no manual input of sieve mesh data is required, potential manual inaccuracies are eliminated, which is particularly advantageous for laboratories where a number of different products are analysed using different sieve sets.
Identification of a sieve is based on the mesh width and an individual ID number, which is checked automatically every time a sieve is used. This allows the 200 LS-N to be preset to count the number of times a sieve has been used and trigger an alarm and inhibit further use, for example, when cleaning is due.
A further new development allows the underpressure in the sieving chamber and the dispersing effect of the jet to be monitored, controlled and regulated, keeping them constant throughout the entire sieving process. This eliminates analysis errors such as those caused by secondary air entering the sieve cover. The underpressure set points can be selected automatically from a pre-installed database on the identification of the mesh width.
The same module also controls an electromagnetic tapper, which automatically removes the build-up of fine dust on the sieve cover, making sieving analysis even more reproducible.