Aluminum powder, the third most abundant material in the Earth’s crust, is a strong, non-toxic, nonmagnetic, and lightweight metal. Derived from bauxite ore, aluminum powder is utilized in numerous applications, ranging from pigments and aircraft parts to cans and window frames. To achieve a high market value, manufacturers strive to produce high-quality products by ensuring purity and eliminating impurities while developing tightly separated products.
In this article, we will cover three main topics:
- Challenges companies face sieving Aluminum powder at 44um
- Elcan Industries advanced sieving technologies VS traditional sieving machines
- What are the benefits of utilizing a toll processor to process Aluminum powder
Challenges Sieving & Screening Aluminum Powder
Sieving is a critical process in aluminum powder production, as it classifies the powder into uniformly sized particles and allows companies to achieve customer specifications of their powders. This uniformity leads to higher-quality end products. The ability to sieve aluminum powder and other similar metal powders at fine sizes has led to tremendous growth in emerging industries such as rocket development. Most companies that screen aluminum powder are still trying to screen material on traditional vibratory sieves and ultrasonics, which results in low capacities and efficiencies, especially when sieving below 74um. The low energy transfer on the screens of these technologies results in companies experiencing blinded screen meshes and having to do multiple passes of their powder through the machines. That, partnered with the density of aluminum powder, can lead to a high spare parts bill and operational downtime of their equipment.
Hi-Sifter Sieving Technology VS Traditional Sieving Machines
Elcan’s has developed an advanced sieving technology, the Hi-Sifter, to address these concerns. This technology is designed to sieve coarse and fine aluminum powder down to as fine as 20um on an industrial scale. The most notable difference between the Hi-Sifter and its counterparts is that the Hi-Sifter employs a strong vertical energy into the screen mesh in order to make fine separations. The high amplitude-low frequency method of sieving is contradictory to what is employed by alternative technologies. This approach to screening has allowed Elcan to sieve 8 million pounds of aluminum powder over the past 10 years through 44um and 20um sieves. The Hi-Sifter system is the only system in the world to use a completely tensionless screen cloth, which eliminates the need for sending screens back for remeshing and also allows longer life out of the screen. The system is the preferred choice in the Additive Manufacturing, Aerospace, and Commercial Spaceflight industries. Elcan also offers toll processing services for aluminum powder at their contract manufacturing facility in NY.
Benefits of Utilizing Elcan to Sieve Aluminum Powder
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Accuracy: Accurate particle size distribution of aluminum powder with Hi-Sifter sieving technology
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Performance: High throughput rates, efficiencies and yields over 98%
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Experience: Over 30 years of experience sieving aluminum powder
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Quality: Quality control & testing in our state-of-the-art laboratory
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Staff: Access to Elcan’s experienced staff and machine operators
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Flexibility: Ability to scale up & down production output
Conclusion
Elcan Industries offers a robust sieving system for industries seeking long-term support and performance as well as sieving aluminum powder services. With after-sales services and 24/7 support, we ensure our customers’ needs are met. Our tolling and testing facility allows you to test your material before purchasing sieving equipment. Please contact us now for help with your sieving and filtering challenges.
If you want to schedule a trial to run your powder materials and benchmark our performance, give us a call!
Call today to schedule your trial!
📞1-800-AT-ELCAN (1-800-283-5226)
