Tests | Trials
We carry out trials in order to support our commercial activities from you and we will endeavour to achieve this at the lowest possible cost to you.
Where possible this service is free, for example in the initial evaluations, when using low cost equipment.
As the complexity of the investigation increases and the equipment becomes more expensive, it is necessary to introduce charges. These are kept as low as possible and we will point out cheaper options for you wherever possible.
This service is not available for academic or research purposes
Initial Evaluation
We can undertake this internally for all our powder processing services with the exception of air jet milling (Fluid energy micronizing) and air classification. These exceptions would be done by our equipment suppliers who would probably not charge you for the service. For our granulation services we can establish whether a product is suitable for compaction and agglomeration but for extrusion and for more recently developed services, we would need to refer you to the equipment manufacturers.
Small Scale
When you ask for just a few kilos, most people mean just a few kilos that perform exactly as it would be on a commercial plant. This is not possible, unless we process up to one tonne and that becomes very expensive. The solution is to use the scaleable equipment of the equipment manufacturers. What we can offer is an approximation which may be sufficient for our customer, yourself and ourselves to make decisions on going forward to the next stage. There are charges for this work, which will be established according to your specific needs.
Small Trial on Commercial Equipment
A small trial is the right choice for many instances but you will need bear in mind that it may not uncover problems of build-up on the side of equipment, premature melting or problems associated with recycling. The equipment is always scrupulous clean, which takes from 24 operator hours to 90 hours to achieve. The trials will be carried out by a senior operator, will be supervised by a manager and will result in a formal report. The costs will be established in advance and a limit will be agreed, so that there are no financial surprises. Where appropriate, such as low cost raw materials, we will carry out trials in a “dirty” system. The purpose is to cut the trial costs dramatically, whilst establishing a throughput that can determine the budget price for commercial operations. The end product will contain a small amount of contamination but will otherwise be on specification.
Large Trial - Commercial
This is usually larger than what you would have expected it to be, until you consider that individual batches may be up to 1 tonne or two hours of continuous processing and could consume 2 tonnes of material. The benefits are in establishing problems that only build up over time. As an extreme example, one confident customer who had carried out 2,000 hours of formulating trials on small scale equipment on his own premises found that within a few hours on our equipment that recycling resulted in heat build up followed by decomposition and a fire. From this and other examples, you may better understand why we propose larger trials. The trials will be properly supervised, the costs will be established in advance and there will be no unanticipated expense.
For more information on Custom Powders Services please contact us directly.