In August 2023 NZI took ownership of a new model 3000E Mastersizer. This is a significant investment in replacement equipment for NZI to retain our Quality certification.
The Mastersizer uses the technique of laser diffraction to measure the particle size and particle size distribution of materials. It does this by measuring the intensity of light scattered as a laser beam passes through a dispersed particulate sample.
The NZI lab run tests on our clay slip using the Mastersizer on a daily basis. This ensures that the product produced from the clay will perform to the standard expected for strength and reliability and continues to meet our quality standards.

The old Mastersizer had come to the end of it's useful life

There was a decent level of excitement in the lab as the box arrived from Australia

Patrick and Brendon carefully moved the machine into place

Murray spent several hours ensuring the machine performed as expected

Murray also checked the results against previous tests and control samples

Peter Q set up the export files for further analysis

And then it was up and running

Jo-Anne has been running tests on a daily basis

And Margaret has also been testing as well