Articles Archive for February 2012

An earlier blog included a rare picture of me in a hard hat, during a visit to a cement customer site in Italy. At the time I couldn’t give any more details about the visit because we were still working to develop the story.
Now, I can – because the news is out A good day for me because it makes me both proud and happy to see such a useful and interesting customer story published.
Improving cement manufacture
The original picture was taken at the Sacci S.p.A site in Tavernola which is …

One of our chromatography applications experts, Wei Sen Wong, is looking forward to presenting the practicalities of high temperature gel permeation chromatography (HT-GPC) at this week’s Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Joint International Polyolefins/FlexPack Conference.
Held in Houston, Texas, February 26-29, 2012, the International Polyolefins/FlexPack Conference has been in existence for over 35 years. This year’s theme is “Global Advances in Plastics Engineering”, with over 600 experts from around the world and over 65 companies expected to attend from Industry and universities. Malvern Instruments is also an exhibitor at the event …

Wheras a low solubility is an advantage for most applications of polymers,  it can be a problem when you want to analyze them.
Used for products ranging from cling film, drinking straws, carrier bags and food packaging, to crates, boxes, and bottles, we routinely benefit from the properties of  organically derived thermoplastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene that mean that they are not soluble in most solvents at ambient conditions. However, trying to analyze polymers that are difficult to dissolve and keep in solution  can be tricky, requiring the operator to work with dangerously hot, and often unpleasant …

Imagine trying to do anything while experiencing changes in gravity every 25 seconds – from lunar (0.16g), to Martian (0.38g), to near-zero (weightlessness). Now imagine trying to do that non-stop, more than 90 times in a row. Feeling sick at just the thought? Well, that’s why the plane that carries out NASA’s parabolic flights earned the nickname; ‘vomit comet’.
Spraytec measures up
Recently, our very own Spraytec laser diffraction droplet size measurement system was shown to be robust enough to handle everything the infamous ‘vomit comet’ could put it through and still …

I’m privileged to have been able to travel on behalf of Malvern over the years. 82 countries at the last count, including Singapore, Malaya (as it was then; Malaysia now of course), Hong Kong and Germany which I had previously visited as a child.  I even found myself in Singapore on the day it unilaterally declared independence from Malaysia, way back when! On that day, I remember swimming in the Gilman Barracks swimming pool and listening to the Rolling Stones, ‘Get off my Cloud’.
All this traveling has allowed me to …

For many people, Valentine’s Day on 14 February is a time for celebrating partnerships – and finding a great partner is indeed a cause for celebration.
In business, working with like-minded people to produce just the right solution for a customer is both rewarding and highly productive. So it is with great pleasure that I report Malvern’s new partnership with International Innovative Technologies (IIT), a specialist powder solutions company based in Gateshead, in the north of England.
Introducing IIT
IIT specializes in the design and manufacture of patented low-energy powder milling technology and …

The importance of quality ingredients was made very apparent to me recently when I added some milk I had accidentally left out of the fridge to my morning cup of tea. The sour, metallic taste that resulted returns to my mouth just at the memory.
Appropriate analysis required!
Particle size analysis of raw materials is often a necessary but routine task where speed and efficiency are critical to decision-making and the smooth operation of a manufacturing process. Additionally, regulatory agencies place a high significance on the characterization and validation of raw materials …

Ever had a good idea that comes from a mistake, misunderstanding or mishearing something?
Well, Jill Konrath (of SNAP Selling fame) gave an excellent and inspiring motivational talk at our 2012 Kickoff meeting held in Fort Lauderdale.  After her Rick Perry moment (she’d already talked on similar sorts of faux pas in her blog), she referred to the; “‘Malvern Maximizer’ – or whatever it is you make.”  I instantly copyrighted (or is it trademarked?) this new product in my head before she would get a chance to seize on her flash …

In his blogs; ‘Why has laser diffraction endured?’ and ‘Evolution of particle sizing techniques’, my colleague Paul Kippax found himself wondering what Leonardo da Vinci would have thought of laser diffraction. Well, as he was someone who firmly believed that to truly understand something under observation it is important to investigate it from multiple perspectives, I feel da Vinci would have also approved of the idea of multi-detection Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC).
Our work here at Malvern really does rely heavily and reflect and build upon, many of the great man’s …

Hi. My name is Lisa Makein and this is my first blog. I am Product Technical Specialist for Chemical Imaging here at Malvern and, as such, I recently delivered a web seminar on component specific particle sizing using the Morphologi G3-ID.
So, for my first blog I thought I’d stick to my area of expertise and – for those of you who didn’t attend the live seminar – summarise this presentation. It included a full demonstration of the instrument in use.
Morphologi G3-ID for component specific particle sizing
Originally presented to global online …