Available Technologies

Background

Powder handling technology is used in various fields such as chemical, food, and pharmaceuticals production. In recent years, such powder handling is researched even for applications in space environments to collect lunar regolith in order to use them as a source of water and oxygen on the moon.　
To transport powder vertically upward, pneumatic conveying systems are commonly used with bucket elevators and screw conveyors. However, such system requires large-scale equipment and dust control as well as uses liquid and gas in the process thus cannot be used in diverse environments such as outer space.

Description and Advantages

Researchers at Kyoto University focused on a powder transportation system that can convey powder vertically using only vibration of a tube, and have developed a new enhanced powder transportation system. The simple mechanism allows for easy control, compact size, and excellent dust proofness. Furthermore, the new system can transport non-spherical particles, which has been difficult with the conventional powder transportation system, leading to expansion of applications.

Fig. Powder vertical transport system using multiple tubes (1 m long each)