Mecelec Design has designed and built a propellant measurement and dispensing machine which is used to draw propellant powder from two feed tubs, accurately measure out a desired weight and then dispense the measured quantity of powder. The machine is primarily made from Atex-approved parts and all metal surfaces contacting the media are stainless steel.
The machine is automated to measure the required number of loads of the same weight but safely keep each measured load physically separate from each other to maintain accuracy. This allows the machine to have the next load ready to be dispensed quickly after the previous one.
The nature of the propellant required that there should be no direct path from the machine to the operator, so two isolating valves operate in an alternating way to allow the load to pass through but keep the machine and the operator isolated.