Dry blending aid

Abstract

A method of monitoring and evaluating the dry-blending of powders and granular materials via the use of non-dissolvable particulate matter such as mustard seed as a blending aid. The mustard seed is blended into the total batch of dry blend materials and the mustard send can subsequently be extracted by a process of sieving from a known volume of sample taken of the mixture since the mustard seed is larger than the other particles that are being blended. The weight and or sight count of the extracted mustard seed present in the sample is determined and compared with the amount of seed that should be present in a perfect blend to determine if the dry blend materials are thoroughly mixed.

1 . A dry blending aid for monitoring and evaluating the blending of materials comprising:
 a known amount of non-dissolvable particulate matter for addition to a known amount of material to be mixed, and   said particulate matter is not affected when exposed to moisture.   
     
     
         2 . A dry blending aid for monitoring and evaluating the blending of materials according to  claim 1  wherein the particulate matter are of a uniform size of between 1.5 and 2.0 mm. 
     
     
         3 . A dry blending aid for monitoring and evaluating the blending of materials according to  claim 1  wherein the particulate matter is mustard seed.