The recent installation of a FT4 universal powder tester from Freeman Technology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in the USA, reflects the increasing adoption of the system by those working at the cutting edge of powder research. Sales to the academic community have tripled over the last eighteen months, with a raft of new installations at prestigious institutions around the world confirming the FT4 as a vital tool for powder characterisation.

Researchers at Rutgers are harnessing the unique testing capabilities of the FT4 to gain greater insight into the nature of powders, in order to tackle problems at every stage of the product lifecycle – from development through to manufacturing. Pharmaceuticals, a hugely important industry for the state, are the principle focus. Rutgers is proactively seeking new ways of characterising powders and is working to improve the efficiency of pharmaceutical manufacture, a critical goal throughout the industry.

Welcoming the news, Freeman Technology's managing director Reg Freeman, remarked, "Our focus has always been to understand powders in ways that relate to their use across the manufacturing industries. The FT4 is the tool that enables us to do this. Continuing in-house research further extends our knowledge base, but it is both exciting and encouraging to know that we are increasingly joined in this work by leading academics in the field."

The FT4 combines dynamic, shear and bulk testing capabilities, extending powder characterisation well beyond conventional single number measurement techniques. Excellent reproducibility makes the system very sensitive and highly differentiating. The FT4 is used throughout the powder processing industries for development, QC, process optimisation and troubleshooting applications.

About Freeman Technology
Freeman Technology specialises in providing systems for the measurement of powder flow properties and has over a decade of experience in powder flow and powder characterisation. With a significant commitment to R&D and applications development, the company delivers extensive know-how alongside its universal powder tester, the FT4 Powder Rheometer. An expert team guides and supports users in addressing their individual powder challenges, the process relevance of powder characterisation data being a key focus. The result is world-leading solutions for understanding powder behaviour, whether in development, scale-up, processing, quality control, or wherever powders have a role. In April 2007 the company received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation.

Freeman systems are installed around the world in a diverse range of industries -chemical, pharmaceutical, toners, foods, powder coatings, metals, ceramics, cosmetics and many others. Correlating the powder data they supply with processing performance enables clients to quantify and exploit operational experience to optimise their processes.