Technology by Mettler Toledo continues to replace time-consuming legacy methods

When a manufacturer of sprayed concrete technologies needed to reduce quality control (QC) drying time for one of its specialized products, METTLER TOLEDO helped it get its time-per-test down from four hours to just 15 minutes.

TamShot 80 AF, UK-based Normet’s additive for wet mix “shotcrete” processes in tunneling and mining, can reduce concrete setting times without risking a caustic work environment. However, the extensive drying time required for the company’s legacy quality control methods meant the popular product often waited long periods before quarantined batches could be released for sale.

In the face of increased demand for its effective product, David Galloway, one of the company’s UK-based QC chemists, checked into using a METTLER TOLEDO halogen moisture analyzer to replace their old oven-based method. To meet regulations, results from the new analyzer would have to be cross-validated against Normet’s oven-drying reference method. Ensuring the test was equivalent required that Galloway partner with METTLER TOLEDO product manager Claas Boerger to see if they could define a method that would match reference values while also delivering the desired time savings.

With Boerger’s help, Galloway found METTLER TOLEDO halogen technology ideal for monitoring TamShot’s moisture content. It significantly reduced Normet’s original sample drying times of four hours at 105⁰C, delivering similar results at slightly higher temperatures in about 15 minutes. That meant a time savings of 3 hours and 45 minutes per sample for results that remained within an acceptable standard deviation of 0.49%.

All told, thanks to its METTLER TOLEDO halogen moisture analyzer and expert method-development assistance, Normet is able to test TamShot 80 AF much more rapidly while obtaining the kind of results that keep the product strong, reliable, and sought-after.