Adventures of Pequeño
This is another Adventure of Pequeño: The 150 Micron Particle, I wonder why I get myself into these fantasies. However, once I start I feel constrained to press on.
In an earlier encounter, our little friend Pequeño, was on a determined quest to make it through sieves -- particularly those through which were said be too small for him to pass. In this scenario, Pequeño along with some of his family and friends -- all small particles about 150 microns in size -- are on their way to a sieve test.
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Topics:
Sieve Shakers,
Sieve Blinding,
ASTM,
Pequeño,
Calibration,
Particle Size Analysis,
Sieve Calibration,
Sieve Certification,
Sieve Testing,
Sieves,
sieve shaker,
sieve stack,
certfication
Holy grail and Sieve Calibration
Sieve calibration is the final step in determining whether processes yield suitable end results. In other words:
- Is your concrete going to be strong enough?
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Will you chocolates taste right?
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Will your washing powder flow and dissolve as advertised?
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Is there dangerous residue in your pill stock?
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Will the “frack sand” keep the fractures open?
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Is my salt of the correct grade?
If these are not correct, serious consequences could result (e.g. spoiled product, returned batches, rework or scrap).
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Topics:
Calibration,
Particle Size Analysis,
Sieve Calibration,
Sieve Certification,
Sieve Testing,
Sieves,
Sieving Process,
particle sieze testing
Topics:
Coulometric Karl Fischer,
Moisture Analysis,
Moisture Testing,
Karl Fischer Oven,
Karl Fischer,
Karl Fischer Titration,
Loss-On-Drying,
Moisture,
interfacial tension,
moisture content,
moisture measurement
What seems like a million words ago, I began this journey explaining the simplest approach to measuring or determining moisture: Loss-on Drying. Little did I know how involved and esoteric it would become.
This voyage has taken me down mysterious paths through spooky theories, back to age-old chemistry concepts and into the vagaries of thermodynamics related to evaporation, vapor pressure, bound water and water activity. I have come full-circle; back to explaining Loss-on Drying -- a form of drying that I had assumed would be the simplest of all.
I thought the first four topics [evaporation, vapor pressure, bound moisture, water activity] were tough, complex, confounding and less-than-obvious. Drying -- defined as “the mass-transfer process of removing water (or other solute) by evaporation from a solid, semi solid or liquid” -- seemed easy.
As is often the case, reality makes “easy” a non-operative word. Such has turned out to be so with respect to the issue of drying.
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Topics:
Free Moisture,
Moisture Sorption Isotherm,
Moisture Oven Test,
Moisture Analysis,
Moisture Testing,
Loss-On-Drying,
Moisture
In my previous missive about Loss-On drying, we discussed Vapor Pressure -- because logically it was next. As we continue to explore moisture, we learn how vital vapor pressure is when regarding the quirky issues of free and bound water.
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Topics:
Evaporation,
Bound Moisture,
Free Moisture,
Moisture Analysis,
Moisture Testing,
Karl Fischer Titration,
Praxis Moisture Balance,
Loss-On-Drying,
Moisture,
karl fischer moisture,
water content measurement
A while ago on these pages I agonized about loss-on-drying moisture analysis . As you may recall, my explorations of the drying process overwhelmed me with evaporation concepts , vapor pressure notions, water content complexities and water activity witchcraft, all just to dry something.
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Topics:
Evaporation,
Moisture Analysis,
Moisture Testing,
Loss-On-Drying
One quiet night, I was musing over moisture analysis and how easy it is to do using loss-on drying. Little did I know what was in store.
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Topics:
Evaporation,
Moisture Analysis,
Moisture Testing,
Loss-On-Drying,
Moisture,
moisture balance,
moisture content
Have you ever mixed up a batch of epoxy glue and, just before you finished the job, of course, had the mix unexpectedly turn into solid concrete? If you have, you experienced the effect of gel time. This term is a common measurement for products that thicken, cure, gel or harden when mixed. Product such as epoxies, adhesives, resins and coatings all use gel time measurements.
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Topics:
Viscometers,
Viscosity,
gel time
We get the same two questions almost every week about the CSC Bostwick Consistometer:
1) What angle do I use to set it up?
2) How do I level the Consistometer?
Principle of Operation
The principle of the CSC Bostwick Consistometer is based on the slump cone. In this procedure, a cone is filled with the material to be tested. It is then set on a level surface with the open area facing downward. The cone is pulled away and after a fixed time, the amount that the material slumped is measured. The thicker the material, the less slumping occurs.
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Topics:
"Ask Art",
Bostwick Consistometer,
Consistency,
Liquid Properties,
Bostwick,
consistency vs viscosity
The answer, like most answers in the crazy measurement world, is, “it depends”. To find out what it depends on, we'll start with defining viscosity.
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Topics:
"Ask Art",
Newtonian Fluid,
Measure Viscosity,
Viscometers,
Viscosity
