Phoenix Scientific Industries Ltd

Atomiser development

PSI’s first atomiser, the Hermiga Mini, produced a few kilograms of powder and was intended to be used by universities and in the research departments of engineering companies for R&D into fine powder applications.  A sales visit to Japan had uncovered a market demand for these R&D atomisers to be accommodated within the four metre repeat distance between floors in a typical office block, because factory floor space in Japan was so expensive due to the high price of land.  The challenge, therefore, was to build an atomiser that would fit a small office space. Typically, atomisers need to be tall to give the powder particles plenty of time to cool down as they descend downwards in the process chamber. In addressing this challenge, the first generation of Hermiga Minis was born. The standard Hermiga range of vacuum/inert gas atomisers has developed over the years and now includes production-scale units capable of outputs of over 2,000 tonnes per year, whilst still retaining the performance and quality capabilities of the smaller R&D and pilot-scale atomisers. Now that these capabilities are considered standard throughout the range, recent development activity at PSI has been focused on the capital expenditure and operational expenditure considerations of the company’s atomiser users. Understanding companies after they have satisfied themselves of the powder quality characteristics, are concerned about their return on investment and the unit cost of ‘in-size’ powder, Detailed engineering discussions are thus carried out to ensure that the ’sweet spot‘ in atomiser specification is achieved to match the customer’s downstream production requirements. Over the last decade PSI has therefore devoted much of its resources to the development of features designed to achieve these objectives.