Another month flies by and time for another newsletter. May was particularly hectic for us, as we were involved in the organisiation and running of our Powder Handling and Processing Seminar in Auckland last week and had a particularly busy month signing up new GOLD Members on the web site.

The Auckland seminar, which was held in the beautiful surrounds of Aucklands One Tree Hill, was again very successful and we received very positive feedback from the attendees. A brief report on the seminar and a few photographs can be found on the web site. Click here to view this report. Special thanks once again to the suppliers who sponsored this event, Nu-Con Ltd, Matcon Pacific, Roger Baxter & DownerMBL.

I am often asked what "knowledge level" our seminars suit, as many people seem to think that the information presented will be too "technical" or "academic" for them. But let me assure you that this is not the end of the market that our seminars are aimed at. The aim of our seminars is to provide information that is relevant to you and your industry. Information you can take back and use on a day to day basis. They are designed to be informative without being “too technical”, so they appeal to all knowledge levels within the industry – from Production to Senior Management and Maintenance Fitter to Engineering Manager.

We select presenters with “real life experiences” who have many years of theoretical AND practical experience in the industry. This means that they relate to the needs of the user and understand the problems faced every day in a production environment.

Our next seminar is being held in Perth on the 26th July, details of this event can be found below. And we are currently organising another event in Melbourne, with further locations to be announced shortly.

It's hard to believe that it wont be too long before the International Powder/Bulk Exhibition gets under way in Shanghai. If you are interested in attending or exhibiting at this event, you can can get more details here. If you would like more information about exhibiting, please email me.

As always, I hope you find this months newsletter of interest and thank you for supporting the resource that supports the local Powder Handling and Processing Industry.

An all too often situation when mixing powders that are hydrophobic is that they simply don’t dissolve, or, they set out too quickly. Even worse, those that do mix can foam and froth leading to overflow spillage which can be extremely hazardous.

One such product which has created difficulties not just for industry in Australia, but indeed all over the world, is powder activated carbon. Just ask the workers who are exposed to it. They’ll quickly tell you how unpleasant it is to work with. Being a powder, it easily floats in the air when disturbed, and as such, presents serious OH&S risks to these same workers. More pertinent, is the fact that the carbon is widely used by literally all water authorities in the process of water purification.

After considerable research and testing, the multi-award winning JS Melbourne Controls has developed the Hydro De Wetter which is specifically designed to overcome these issues and provide a totally thorough mix.

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for the Perth Powder Handling & Processing Seminar, which is being held in Perth, WA on the 26th July, 2007.

This is a one day seminar, which runs from 9.00am to 5.00pm (approx) and features five very interesting and informative presentations by experts in these individual fields. The program includes:

1/- Conveyor Systems - The importance of proper conveyor system maintenance inspections
2/- Product Testing & Its Importance Relevant to Silo/Hopper Design
3/- Abrasion Resistant Materials & Their Application in the Industry
4/- Product Sampling
5/- The use of Impact Weighers in the bulk materials handling idustry

Full details of each presentation, costs and inclusions, details of the venue and online registration form are available here.

Perth Seminar Sponsors:

Planning is also underway for an event in Melbourne in September 2007. Further details of this event, including agenda and costs, will be released on the web site soon.

Register your interest now and get booking priority once all details are finalised and released. Delegates who pre-registered their interest, also receive a 10% discount off the attendance cost.

2006 was a milestone year for A & D Mercury Pty Ltd representing the companys 60th year of service to the Australian Measurement industry. Originally founded as Mercury Scale Company in 1946 by Mr. Gwyn Adams and Mr. Bert Brice, the company has occupied the same location in the Adelaide suburb of Thebarton to the present day.

The earliest days of the company focused on the design and production of mechanical weighing scales using the engineering facilities located within the factory. A service centre was established to support the product range that was sold and this philosophy of product support and after sales service has been retained by the company throughout it’s history. Mechanical machines continued to be standard fare for Mercury Scales, including a boom period during the 1960’s when trade standards were established and metrication was introduced into Australia.

We are very pleased to welcome Australian Dust Control,Bulk Handling Global, Dust Collector Rentals, Graintech Engineering, Melbourne Controls, Nu-Con Ltd and Rendertech as elite GOLD Members on PowderHandling.com.au. Click on their logo to view their profiles.

The community of suppliers on PowderHandling.com.au continues to grow. I would like to welcome the latest companies to list:

A Conveyor Transfer Point is the location on a conveyor where the material is loaded or unloaded.

Correctly designed transfer points should load the material on to the centre of the belt at a uniform rate in the direction of belt travel and ideally, at the same speed the belt is moving. Additionally, it is important that the material is loaded with minimum impact on the belt and that the belt is properly supported. It is also important that the transfer point design minimises belt wear, product spillage and dust.

Conveyor component specialist Kinder & Co., understand the problems that can be associated with conveyor transfer points and has engineered a complete range of products, specifically designed to help overcome some of the most common problems. As many of the problems associated with belt conveyor transfer points can be attributed to the original design, these products can not only be used on new conveyor installations, but in most cases, can also be retrofitted to problematic existing systems.

The rating for our top 10 suppliers, is based on the number of times each companys listing on the Suppliers Directory of the PowderHandling web site has been viewed by users of the web site.

The current 10 most popular companies on the Suppliers Directory are:-

The rating for our top 10 equipment searches, is based on the number of times each equipment category on the Equipment Directory of the PowderHandling web site has been viewed by users of the web site.

The current 10 most popular equipment categories are:-

If you have any newsworthy items such as new product announcements, recently received orders, completed projects, new appointments etc., please email your contributions to us. Relevant items may also be included in the “News & Events” section of the web site. Please note that inclusion of any contribution is solely at the editors’ discretion and editorial content may be modified without notification.