Particle size analysis is an important aspect of materials characterization in various industries like mining, construction, food and many others. Sieve shakers are laboratory equipment used extensively to separate and analyze particle sizes in a sample through the process of sieving. In this article, we will discuss the importance, working, applications and different types of laboratory sieve shakers.
What is a Sieve Shaker?
A sieve shaker, also known as mechanical shaker, is a machine used to shake sieves containing a sample in order to separate the sample into different particle sizes based on the size of mesh or openings in each sieve. Sieve shakers help facilitate dry sieving processes in laboratories by providing controlled and consistent sieving actions that allow for accurate and repeatable particle size determination.
There are mainly three components of a typical sieve shaker - stack of sieves, shake mechanism and a collector tray. The sample is loaded on top of a stack of sieves which are clamped together. The sieves have standardized mesh or screen sizes to segregate particles. The shaker moves the sieve stack in various motions like tapping or vibrating to facilitate separation of sizes. The particles falling through different sieves are collected in the tray below.
Working of a Sieve Shaker
The Laboratory Sieve Shakers provided by sieve shakers can be rotary, elliptical or horizontal. Rotary shakers shake the sieves in a circular motion while elliptical and horizontal shakers provide sieves with back-and-forth motion. During operation, the shaker agitates and jostles the sieves to cause particles to move down through the meshes where smaller particles fit and larger ones are retained.
This sieving process is continued for a specified time duration according to standardized test procedures. The tapping and sieving motions help break agglomerates and move particles across mesh openings. At the end of test, the fraction of sample particles retained on each sieve is collected and weighed to determine particle size distribution. Proper sieving yields consistent reproducible results.
Applications of Sieve Shakers
Sieve shakers find widespread usage in various industries and application areas where particle size control is important:
- Mining: To analyze sizes of coal, minerals, ores and crushed rocks. This helps determine recovery efficiency.
- Construction: For testing aggregate sizes in sand, gravel, crushed stone used in concrete and asphalt. Ensures quality.
- Pharmaceutical: For granulation, powder blending and quality checks in manufacturing of tablets and capsules.
- Food Processing: To grade flour, sugar, cereals and spice powders during production and R&D.
- Chemical: Sieving is done for catalysts, ceramics, pigments and many chemical powders.
- Research Labs: Universally used in materials, soil and metallurgy labs for particle size sorting.
Types of Sieve Shakers
There are different types of sieve shakers available based on shaking actions, capacities and applications:
- Rotap Sieve Shaker: Workhorse shaker with eccentric mass arms providing circular motion. Suitable for most general applications.
- Ro-Tap Testing Sieve Shaker: High amplitude shaker ideal for heavy duty and production sieving with capacities up to 45 kg.
- Electromagnetic Sieve Shaker: Provides controlled variable amplitude and frequency sieving horizontally without vibration noise.
- Orbital Shakers: Provide small orbital shaking motions for sieves. Used where gentle sieving is required like for emulsions.
- Stackable Sieve Shaker: Economical and portable shakers ideal for field testing with stacking capability up to 5-10 sieves.
- Sieve Testing Machines: Large capacity vibrating frame machines used in production plants for continuous sieving.
In summary, laboratory sieve shakers play an indispensable role in particle size analysis which is very important for R&D, quality control and process optimization across many industries. Selecting the right type of sieve shaker is crucial for accurate and reproducible particle size determinations as per testing standards. They provide efficient and consistent sieving actions to characterize samples into specific size fractions.
Get more insights on This Topic- Laboratory Sieve Shakers
Increasing research activities in the field of nanotechnology, rising investments in pharmaceutical R, and stringent regulatory guidelines for product quality across industries are fueling the growth of the market.
Moreover, increasing government support for nanotechnology research and the rapidly growing pharmaceutical industry in emerging countries are some of the other major factors driving the growth of this market.The Particle Size Analysis Market is projected to reach USD 465 million by 2025 from USD 356 million in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period.Download PDF Brochure: –https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=74084833Market segmentation: -Based on technology, the market is segmented into laser diffraction, dynamic light scattering, imaging, coulter principle, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and other technologies.
The laser diffraction segment accounted for the largest share of the particle size analysis market in 2019, driven by the growing initiatives to create awareness about laser diffraction, increasing R expenditure in the pharma and biotech sectors, and rising food safety concerns.Based on type, the imaging market is segmented into two major types—dynamic imaging and static imaging.The Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) segment is expected to register the highest growth during the forecast period by technology.
The significant growth of this segment is attributed to advanced applications of these particle size analyzers and growing research activities in the field of nanotechnology.Recent Developments:In 2020, MICROTRAC MRB (US) entered into a distribution partnership with ATS Scientific (Canada), where ATS will act as a service provider for MICROTRAC in Canada.In 2019, Shimadzu Corporation (Japan), entered into an agreement with Earle A. Chiles Research Institute (Providence), (US).
The agreement will focus on the application of mass spectrometry technology to develop tools for personalized cancer immunotherapeutics.In 2018, Malvern Panalytical (UK) and Waters Corporation (US) entered into a co-marketing agreement.
Under this, both companies will market the polymer characterization product range.Regional Analysis:-The particle size analysis industry is segmented into five regional segments, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.
