Particulate Systems, a brand of Micromeritics Instrument Corporation, has completed the full acquisition of the H.E.L. Limited Subsieve Autosizer. The agreement was finalized on March 18, 2015.
Capitalizing on H.E.L.’s extensive knowledge and experience in laboratory automation, the SAS has taken the well-established air-permeability particle sizing technique and brought it into the 21st century. The SAS analyzer is an improved successor to the Fisher Model 95 Sub-Sieve Sizer offering the same superior analytical results in addition to new easy-to-use automated functions together with electronically recorded data.
The air-permeability technique generates average specific surface area (SSA) data of a sample powder. The SAS uses the principle of pressure drop across a packed bed of powder. By varying the sample height and porosity of the bed while controlling the flow rate of air through the sample, average surface area and particle size can be determined as a function of pressure drop in accordance with the Kozeny-Carman equation.
SSA measurement is important in the manufacture of many processed materials. SSA has been found to be a useful parameter for a variety of industries to include pharmaceutical, paint, toner, and geological applications. The Subsieve Autosizer has particular applicability to the pharmaceutical quality control where quick and reproducible SAS derived surface areas can be used to control batch-to-batch variation in important properties such as bioavailability and drug delivery.
Patrick Wommack, General Manager for Particulate Systems, comments, “Completing the acquisition of the SAS is another example of how Micromeritics and Particulate Systems are committed to providing our customers with additional analytical solutions which are synergistic with our core product line.”