Granutools at CMF 2026: Understanding and Measuring Powder Tribocharging

Granutools at CMF 2026: Understanding and Measuring Powder Tribocharging

Aurélien Neveu,  will be presenting at CMF 2026, where he will discuss one of the most critical challenges in powder handling and processing: tribocharging and electrostatic charge buildup in powders.

Evaluating and Controlling Electrostatic Charges in Powder Processing

Electrostatic charge accumulation is a major concern across numerous industries that handle powders, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, additive manufacturing, food, and advanced materials. During powder flow, friction between particles generates electrostatic charges through a mechanism known as tribocharging. As these charges accumulate, they can significantly impact process performance and product quality.

Charge buildup can lead to several processing issues, including material adhesion to equipment surfaces, pipe clogging, increased cleaning requirements, and production downtime. Charged particles may also agglomerate or adhere to larger particles, altering the intended particle size distribution and affecting product consistency. Furthermore, electrostatic forces contribute to increased powder cohesiveness, reducing flowability and making materials more difficult to process. In some cases, electrostatic charge accumulation can even increase the risk of dust explosions, creating important safety concerns.

The growing adoption of continuous manufacturing, particularly within the pharmaceutical industry, has made the management of electrostatic charges even more critical. Unlike batch processes, continuous production environments often promote the accumulation of charges over time, making tribocharging control a key factor in ensuring consistent and reliable manufacturing operations.

Why Tribocharging Remains a Complex Challenge

Despite its industrial importance, the mechanisms governing tribocharging in powders are still not fully understood. The charging behavior of a powder depends on multiple factors, including particle size, particle shape, surface chemistry, moisture content, and environmental humidity.

In addition, powders continuously interact with processing equipment such as feeders, mixers, blades, and transfer pipes. The materials used in these components can strongly influence electrostatic charge generation, further increasing the complexity of predicting powder behavior. As a result, theoretical models alone are often insufficient to accurately forecast charge buildup during real manufacturing operations.

Presentation: Evaluation of Powder Triboelectric Properties: A Must-Have for Material Optimization

Wednesday, September 23 | Track: Future Technologies and Outside Applications

To address this challenge, advanced powder characterization techniques have been developed to provide reliable and actionable measurements of electrostatic behavior.

During his presentation, Aurélien Neveu will highlight how the GranuCharge instrument enables precise evaluation of charge generation during powder flow. The system combines a highly sensitive electrometer with interchangeable flow paths, allowing users to measure the net charge of a powder before and after passing through a defined set of pipes. By changing the pipe material, users can also investigate the influence of equipment surfaces on electrostatic charge accumulation.

This innovative characterization approach provides valuable insights into powder-process interactions and helps formulators, process engineers, and researchers better understand tribocharging sensitivity before moving to large-scale production.

Real-World Applications and Case Studies

The presentation will showcase several industrial case studies demonstrating how tribocharging measurements can support process optimization, material selection, and risk mitigation. Attendees will discover how quantitative electrostatic characterization can help predict powder behavior, reduce development costs, and accelerate the design of more robust manufacturing processes.

If you are attending CMF 2026, join Aurélien Neveu to learn how advanced tribocharging characterization is helping industries overcome electrostatic challenges and achieve greater control over powder processing operations.

Conference Speaker: Aurélien Neveu
Topic: Understanding and Characterizing Tribocharging in Powders for Improved Processability and Manufacturing Performance
Event: CMF 2026