Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC represents seven of the most recognised premium brands across the UK and Europe producing over 125 million handmade and machine-made bricks and pavers annually.
Using modernised production methods that emphasise sustainable building solutions and adhere to the most stringent production requirements, Michelmersh guarantees high-quality product standards with a low ecological footprint.
When manufacturing bricks it is absolutely critical to have the clay at the correct moisture level. Because clay is a natural product, coming directly from a quarry, the amount of moisture in the clay will be affected by recent weather and storage conditions.
This means that the moisture levels need to be constantly monitored and adjustments need to be made to the amount of water that is added. Traditionally this has been achieved by using a basic, manual test but this is a spot check, it is not a continuous method and it is open to human subjectivity.
A moisture gauge from NDC uses a non-contact near infrared (NIR) method to continuously measure the clay moisture with total precision to an accuracy of ±0.3%. The patented, dual detector design ensures a permanent, stable calibration, which is unaffected by any fluctuations in ambient temperature, light and/or humidity, common in most brickworks. Due to the accurate and reliable measurement, the result can be used as a critical control point for the process. Ultimately the measurement is used as part of an automated control loop to adjust the flow of water that is added during the manufacturing process.
We got a call from John Miller from LIMAB UK back in 2018, just as we were finding our existing moisture gauge was failing. We discussed the possibility of replacing our existing gauge with an NDC gauge and invited John to come in for a site visit and to subsequently quote us for a PrediktIR. We were very impressed with John’s product knowledge and we decided to proceed with the purchase. We have found the PrediktIR to be very reliable and we are very happy with it.
Clive Wilcocks – Engineering/Electrical Supervisor, Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC
If you would like to find out whether a NIR moisture gauge could improve your production processes and quality control procedures, then please do get in touch.
