In many industry sectors, the sieve method is used to analyse and determine the spread of particle sizes.
According to weighing instrument specialist Mettler Toledo, unskilled or semi-skilled employees often perform the sieve analysis, which means that the equipment must be very simple to operate.
With Mettler Toledo’s XP balance, sieve analysis becomes a simple and logical task, the firm says. The empty sieve is placed on the balance, the balance is tared and the sample is weighed in. Then the actual sieving is performed. When the sieving is completed the operator simply places the sieve back on the balance and reads the results on the display.
The XP balance automatically shows the results of sieve ‘back weighing’ as a percentage alongside the sieve residue in g or kg. It can also be configured to show the gross weight.
In a typical weighing process, the results are currently hand-written on a specific form, perhaps printed out from the balance or even transferred directly from balance to a PC (for example, using Mettler Toledo’s LabX software). The user then only has to press two buttons.
When fractioning sieving, often 6–8 different sized sieves are required and the XP balance with LabX software will guide the user step by step on the touchscreen to place the sieves onto the balance in the right order. The balance then checks if the correct sieve has been used.
After sieve weighing, the particle size distribution is automatically calculated. All data is saved in the background on a PC.
The weighing method can also automatically create a personally formatted report printout of the particle size distribution plus all other relevant data.
