New powder recovery system aims to cut material and labour costs of metal AM
March 15, 2018
The 3D-ReKlaimer™ Metal Powder Recovery System offers fully automated powder recovery (Courtesy Kason)
Kason, headquartered in Millburn, New Jersey, USA, has released a new metal powder recovery system for metal Additive Manufacturing processes, which is reported to make it easier for users to recover and recondition of used powders to exact particle sizes. The 3D-ReKlaimer™ Metal Powder Recovery System offers fully automated powder recovery, and has the potential to reduce material, operational and labour costs.
The system is said to be suitable for the recovery of metal powders used in a wide range of Additive Manufacturing processes. The unit is capable of accepting bottles of used powder connected manually, or removing used powder from the build chamber using its integral vacuum conveying system, which automatically transfers used powders into a filter receiver or hopper located above the screening chamber of the 3D-ReKlaimer system.
The 610 mm diameter Vibroscreen® vibratory screener uses multi-plane, inertial vibration to force on-size metal powder particles to pass through apertures in the screen, and oversized particles to travel across the screen surface into a sealed container. A Kasonic™ ultrasonic anti-blinding device, supplied as standard, transmits ultrasonic frequencies in the direction of the screen, allowing sifting as fine as 25 µm/500 mesh with no screen blinding.
Screened powders ready for reuse can then be discharged into bottles for manual connection to the inlet of a metal AM system, or transferred automatically via an integral pneumatic conveyor into a filter receiver or hopper located above the AM system’s inlet. Kason states that the system is self-contained, pre-engineered and capable of serving multiple Additive Manufacturing stations.
To prevent contamination of powders, the closed-loop system can be purged with inert gas to isolate contamination-sensitive powders from ambient air and moisture. The system is also dust-tight, preventing contamination of either the powder or the plant. Kason also offers optional HEPA filtration and ground resistance monitoring for enhanced emission containment and operator safety.
