Have you ever stood in front of a hopper, watching production grind to a halt because the material inside simply refuses to move? Or perhaps you’ve dealt with a product that looked perfect at the start of the line but arrived at the packaging station separated and inconsistent. If you work in manufacturing, these scenarios probably sound all too familiar.
Handling powders and granules can be tricky. Unlike liquids, which generally behave predictably, bulk solids have a mind of their own. They can cake, arch, flood, or separate, leading to costly downtime and frustrated teams. But here is the good news: flow problems aren't a mystery. They are physics problems, and they can be solved.
At Material Flow Solutions, we believe that understanding the science behind your material is the key to reliable production. Whether you are in the pharmaceutical, food, or chemical industry, optimizing your handling process is the best way to ensure efficiency and profitability. Let’s explore how the right testing and design can turn a headache-inducing process into a smooth operation.
The Challenge of Bulk Solids Handling
Bulk solids handling is a critical part of operations for countless industries, from bio-fuels to pharmaceuticals, or even mining production. Yet, it remains one of the most common sources of production bottlenecks.
When a system isn't designed with the specific material properties in mind, several issues can arise:
- Arching: Material forms a bridge over the outlet, stopping flow completely.
- Ratholing: Material flows only from the center, leaving stagnant product on the sides which can spoil or cake.
- Flooding: Fine powders become aerated and flush through the system uncontrollably like water.
These aren't just annoyances; they are economic drains. They waste time, ruin product quality, and can even create safety hazards. The solution starts with moving away from guesswork and moving toward data.
Why You Can’t Guess with Powders
Many production facilities rely on "rules of thumb" or generic equipment designs. The problem is that sugar doesn't flow like salt, and pharmaceutical powders don't behave like agricultural granules. Even small changes in moisture content or particle size can drastically change how a material moves.
To build a robust system, you need to know exactly what you are working with. This is where scientific analysis comes into play.
The Role of the Particle Properties Test
Before you can design a silo or a feeder, you need to understand the individual particles. A particle properties test looks at the fundamental characteristics of your material. We examine things like particle shape, surface friction, size distribution, and density.
Is your material jagged and interlocking? Is it smooth and spherical? These physical traits dictate how particles interact with each other and with the equipment walls. By characterizing these properties early, we can predict potential issues before they cause a line stoppage.
Understanding Movement with a Powder Flowability Test
Once we know what the particles look like, we need to know how they move as a group. A powder flowability test measures how the material reacts under pressures and stress levels in your process.
In a storage bin, the material near the transition from the cylinder to the cone is under immense pressure or stress. While the material near the bin outlet is under much less pressure or stress. If your powder is cohesive, that pressure may turn it into a solid block (caking) or cause it to support its own weight over an outlet (arching). Flowability testing gives us the “flow function” of the material. This data tells engineers exactly how steep hopper walls need to be and how large the outlet must be to prevent arching, or how large the active flow channel must be to ensure gravity does its job and prevents stable rathole formation.
Preventing Separation with a Powder Segregation Test
One of the most insidious problems in bulk handling is segregation. This happens when a blend of ingredients separates back into its original components. For example, if you are making a drink mix, you might end up with all the sugar at the bottom of the bag and all the flavoring at the top.
Segregation often happens during discharge or transport. Heavier or smaller particles might sift through the lighter or larger ones. Materials with different repose angles may separate as they form a pile. A powder segregation test helps us identify if your material is prone to these behaviors. If it is, we can design handling systems that minimize patterns that cause separation, ensuring your final product is consistent from the first batch to the last.
Engineering Solutions That Work
Testing is vital, but data alone doesn't move mountains (or powders). The next step is applying that data to engineering design.
At Material Flow Solutions, we don't just hand you a report and wish you luck. We use the insights from the bulk material flow test to create conceptual designs that work. This might mean retrofitting an existing bin with a new insert to change the flow pattern, or it might mean designing a completely new feeding system from scratch.
Our approach is grounded in sound scientific principles. We look at the friction between your material and the wall liner. We calculate the critical arching dimensions. We analyze the compressibility of the solid. We test the segregation tendency of the mixture.
By basing the design on measured properties rather than generic assumptions, we help you achieve:
- Reliable Flow: Material goes where you want it, when you want it.
- Process Optimization: Faster throughput and less downtime.
- Economic Goals: A better bottom line thanks to reduced waste and maintenance.
A Partner in Your Success
We know that dealing with technical flow problems can be stressful. You want your plant to run smoothly, and you want satisfied customers. We want that for you, too.
Material Flow Solutions was incorporated in 2001 in Gainesville, Florida, but our roots go much deeper. Dr. Kerry Johanson, a leader in the industry, brings over 50 years of experience to the table. We have spent decades solving the toughest problems in powder and granule handling.
Our mission is simple: we help you achieve your goals. Whether you need a quick troubleshoot, a complex retrofit, or a new product development strategy, we are here to support you. We view our relationship with clients as a partnership. We listen to your needs, analyze your specific challenges, and provide robust, economic solutions.
Let’s Get Things Moving
You don't have to accept poor flow as "just the way it is." With the right expertise and the right tests, you can revolutionize your bulk operations.
Whether you are dealing with a new product formulation or trying to fix a legacy system that has never worked quite right, we are ready to help. Let’s use science to make your production process efficient, reliable, and successful.
Are you ready to optimize your operation? Reach out to us today and let’s discuss how we can get your materials flowing.
Have you ever opened a bag of granola and found all the big clusters at the top and the dusty oats at the bottom? That's a simple, everyday example of particle segregation. While it's annoying for your breakfast, it can be a massive headache for industries dealing with bulk solids.
Whether you are in pharmaceuticals, food processing, consumer products, or mining, handling powders and granules comes with its own set of challenges. When materials don't mix or flow the way they should, it leads to inconsistent products, wasted time, and lost revenue.
At Material Flow Solutions, we believe that understanding your materials is the first step to conquering these production hurdles. Let’s explore why segregation happens and how the right testing and engineering can get your process flowing smoothly again.
Understanding the Root of the Problem
Segregation isn't just bad luck; it's physics. Different particles behave differently based on their size, shape, surface friction, bounciness, and density. When you move, shake, or pour a mixture, these particles often separate from one another.
This separation leads to product inconsistency. In the pharmaceutical world, this could mean a tablet doesn't have the right dosage of active ingredients. In the food industry, it might mean a batch of spice mix tastes completely different from the last one.
The key to fixing these issues isn't guessing it's testing. By performing a powder segregation test, we can identify exactly how and why your materials are separating. This data allows us to design handling systems that keep your mixture uniform from the blender to the final package.
The Importance of Material Testing
You wouldn't build a house without checking the soil first, right? The same logic applies to bulk solids handling. If you don't know the properties of the material you are working with, designing a reliable system is nearly impossible.
This is where a particle properties test becomes essential. We look at everything from particle size distribution and surface friction to moisture content. These tiny details have a huge impact on how a material flows through a hopper, bin, or chute.
Similarly, a powder flowability test can tell us if your material is likely to arch (form a bridge over the outlet) or rathole (flow only through a narrow channel in the center). These flow obstructions are common culprits behind production downtime. By characterizing your material upfront, we can predict these behaviors and engineer solutions to prevent them.
Designing for Success
Once we have the data from a bulk material flow test, we can move from diagnosis to cure. At Material Flow Solutions, we don't just hand you a report and wish you luck. We use sound scientific principles to provide engineered designs that actually work.
This might involve:
- Retrofitting existing equipment: Sometimes small tweaks to your current bins or feeders can make a world of difference.
- Designing new systems: If you are building a new line, we can help design it right the first time to avoid future headaches.
- Product design: Sometimes the solution involves tweaking the product itself so it behaves better during processing.
Our goal is simple: to ensure your bulk solids flow exactly where and how you want them to. We want to help you achieve new levels of efficiency and profitability.
Partnering for Reliable Production
Material Flow Solutions has been incorporated since 2001, but our experience goes back much further. With over 50 years of experience, Dr. Kerry Johanson and our team have been solving flow problems for clients across the globe.
We are dedicated to providing you with the knowledge and tools you need. Whether you are struggling with caking, segregation, or erratic flow, we are here to help. We view our relationship with clients as a partnership. We want to help you achieve your economic and process optimization goals.
If you are ready to transform your operations, we invite you to engage with us. Let's work together to make your production process robust, economic, and headache-free.
Effective handling of materials is vital to a successful manufacturing or processing facility. Material Flow Solutions is dedicated to helping industries reduce one of the most prevalent issues in production: erratic or unreliable material flow. No matter if it's powders or granules, even the most challenging blends of particles can have a smooth transit between hoppers, conveyors, feeders, or packaging systems to maintain productivity and provide consistent quality oversight. That's where our material flow testing services, such as our proprietary bulk material flow test capabilities, are invaluable to the engineers and plant managers who need advanced tools to help them anticipate and prevent or resolve flow-related problems before they shut down the line. This is also where a powder flowability test becomes essential for understanding true material behavior.
We know that every material flows in a unique way. Its flow performance is influenced by particle size, moisture content, stickiness, shape, and environmental conditions. This is why the industries depend on our specialized enclosed systems when conducting a bulk material flow test, a test that simulates actual handling conditions to determine exact flowability. All of the same conditions that material will experience inside your equipment are replicated during testing, and you can see potential blockages, funneling patterns, rat-holing tendencies, or discharge headaches that could slow your process. Many clients request a powder flowability test in addition to bulk flow evaluations to capture finer variations in powder behavior.
Our difference from Material Flow Solutions is that we cover all. We do not give you a cookie-cutter solution; we customize each assessment to the challenges that your organization is facing. State-of-the-art material flow testing equipment, our laboratory has dedicated flow testing equipment capable of handling bulk material samples from all sectors, including the food industry, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, building materials, and agriculture. Whether you are prototyping a new product, optimising production of an existing formula, or trying to get to the bottom of long-standing batch flow problems, Material Flow Solutions gets you there with key insights that improve efficiency and minimize costly downtime. A powder flowability test is often included when fine materials require close examination.
Our customers frequently tell us that testing with us is a critical part of their R&D and operational game plan. What happens is that when your subject material is subjected to a detailed bulk material flow test, things become obvious that are not normally possible to observe during normal handling. These qualities determine how a product will behave in silos, feeders, mixers, and packaging systems. For instance, even a small increase in moisture can make a flowing powder become cohesive and clump or bridge inside a piece of equipment. Through our testing, these surprising transformations are identified early so that plants can make changes to equipment design, environmental conditions, or material formation.
Oftentimes, the revelations attained from our bulk material in flow testing save companies from investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment changes. Not through buying ever bigger hoppers, more muscular feeders, or another batch of shiny mechanicals, but by having good data and an accurate understanding of how material will behave. Our engineers give not only industry-standard guidance but also relate how your material actually behaves in the "real world". This prevents changes that are not correct, cost-effective, or efficient.
One of the reasons industry professionals have come to trust Material Flow Solutions is that we believe in transparency and education. We’re not just delivering results; we show what they mean. On completion of a bulk material for a flow testing study, we provide a full interpretation of the data, describing what each parameter is doing to performance and how this can improve reliability. We also advise clients on how to safeguard uniform flow properties during processing, storage, and transport, some of the most underestimated aspects that have a profound impact on efficiency over time.
However, individual testing is not the only benefit Material Flow Solutions provides; we also offer assistance in product development and quality improvement. Many of our clients choose to consult during the initial formulation and early-scale production to gain a clear understanding of the flow behaviour. As a result of the integration of insights gained from evaluations of bulk material flow tests during the developmental course, companies are able to plan for the risks of later redesign or delays in production and introduce the products to the market in as little as half the time it would otherwise take.
Safety is also a major factor we focus on, as poor flow behaviour spreads to the operational domain as well, leading to surges, clogs, and equipment strain. A well-constructed bulk material in the flow test programme allows our clients to identify those potential risks and install systems that maintain the material flow steadily and safely. Steady material movement is safe for equipment and personnel, allowing organizations to meet safety standards with much higher confidence.
As the industries develop, the need for reliable material handling is more pressing than ever. Automation, sustainability goals, and lean manufacturing require the material to behave according to a single set of standards. Material Flow Solutions will help you achieve this goal with real testing, real data, and a qualified assessment of material behaviour. If you have issues with flow or just need a reliable assurance of your production, Material Flow Solutions is the right partner, from simple evaluations to comprehensive bulk material flow testing programs. Our services are aimed at helping you succeed at every stage of your operation.
