Frequent causes of quality defects in steel cord conveyor belts

The specific surface area of a particle population is a particularly important product property alongside the size distribution and particle shape. The surface area per unit mass is very often, and very successfully, determined by the Blaine through-flow method. Deviations in specific surface area of up to 34 % with respect to the surface area of the test substance were found during investigations using a system with closed base. This is caused by, among other things, inaccurate setting of the porosity of the particle bed, possible inhomogeneity of the powder due to the plunger pressure or generation of fine dust during the compression. A modification to this through-flow method is proposed as part of this work. Simpler operation and a significant reduction in the error during measurements can be achieved by using the new plunger.