Case Study: MARTIN® NTS™ 180NF Clears Powder Bridging in Hopper Unloading

Situation

At a client’s facility, they routinely unload dry powders from hoppers as part of their production workflow. These fine materials have a tendency to bridge or arch inside the hopper, interrupting flow and forcing our operators to manually intervene—raising both safety and efficiency concerns.

Problem

Dry powder consistently bridged at the hopper outlet, halting flow and causing costly delays. Our operators often resorted to mallets or rods to break up the blockage, risking injury and inconsistent results.

Solution

To address this, the application experts at MARTIN® advised the client to install the NTS™ 180NF, a linear non-impacting pneumatic vibrator. This unit delivers linear vibration without the shock or noise of impacting devices. It’s well-suited for delicate or cohesive materials like dry powders, effectively breaking up flow obstructions without damaging the hopper walls. This resulted in greater operational safety and efficiency as well as uninterrupted flow of material.