Online measurement of a spray coating process

Motivation

Spray coating is used in granule production both to apply active ingredient on the seed material and to encapsulate the granules with TiO2. Online monitoring is needed to control both phases, i.e. to ensure 1) required particle size distribution and 2) good quality encapsulation

Implementation

A Pixact Particle Monitoring system (PPM-FL) is installed to a sight glass in a spray coating machine. Images of granules during the coating process are acquired with the camera system. Real-time information of the particle size distribution and color are produced for the factory DCS.

Benefits

Measured particle size distribution is used to determine optimal coating time for the active ingredient ensuring in-spec particle size. During the encapsulation phase, the particle color measurement is used to optimize the coating time eliminating the need for ”over-coating”.

Process parameters