BFI VDEh-Betriebsforschungsinstitut GmbH

The BFI has a laboratory for sample preparation and standard and special analyses, as well as a large technical centre where, among other things, investigations into the treatment of liquid media, input materials and residual materials are carried out. In addition, wear tests and flow investigations are conducted here, and new measurement and plant systems are designed, constructed and tested. The respective analyses are carried out under standard conditions or adapted to the respective sample matrix as special analyses.

With this infrastructure, we offer you the following services:

• Chemical analyses such as elemental analysis (XRF), moisture, ash analysis, metal analysis (spark spectrometer) and acid and metal concentration (titration) in liquid media, as well as other typical organic and inorganic components in liquid media in the steel, non-ferrous and metalworking industries (AOX, organic, particle and ion concentration, magnetisable substances and others)
• Physical properties such as density, angle of repose, grain size distribution and particle size and shape (Camsizer, sieve tower), specific surface area (BET surface area), cold compressive strength, permeability, reducibility (TGA), true density (gas pycnometer)
• Sticking/clustering index – sticking/clustering/RUL system
• Cold compressive strength – compression testing machine
• Magnetic components – Davis tube
• Grindability – Bond test
• Carbon structure and mineral phases – Raman microscope
• Fluidisation behaviour of dusts and granulates
•  Pneumatic conveyability (on a pilot plant scale)
•  Characterisation of pyrolytic decomposition products

• Measurement of flatness, roughness and surface topography based on different measuring principles (tactile, laser triangulation, chromatic confocal point sensor technology in conjunction with air-bearing precision measuring table for recording large-area topographies, confocal microscopy, fringe projection, deflectometry, scattered light sensor technology, visual impression / WaveScan)
• Light microscopy including metallographic sample preparation
• Evaluation of coating properties (coating thickness, adhesion, hardness/microhardness, mechanical properties/microindentation, etc.)

• Simulation of different tribological stresses to determine wear behaviour (abrasion, surface disruption, adhesion, tribocorrosion) under defined conditions using various tribometers
• Tribometer for evaluating material behaviour under combined stresses (wear – corrosion – (high) temperature – thermal shock)
• Indentation and scratch tests with a nanoindenter for investigations in the near-surface area
• Evaluation of friction behaviour (friction force measurements)
• Evaluation of corrosion behaviour (stress tests, current density-potential curves, etc.)
• Component testing technology (different bearing types)
• Abrasion during pneumatic conveying
• High-temperature corrosion, scale formation and descaling behaviour
• Pickup behaviour of e.g. tape on roll

• Crushing – jaw crusher, ball mill, disc mill, centrifugal ball mill
• Screening – zigzag wind sifter
• Agglomeration – extruder, pelletising disc, tablet press, granulator
• Mixing – intensive mixer, mixing drum
• Conveying/injection – pneumatic injection devices (including dense phase conveying) on an industrial scale
• Magnetic separation – drum magnetic separators, wet and dry
• Eddy current separation – for non-ferrous metals

We have a wide range of pilot plants available for technical trials. These can be used directly or adapted to the requirements of your investigations. This allows us to validate the results obtained in the laboratory environment on a larger scale. For the majority of mobile pilot plants, the results from the technical trials can be scaled up to on-site trials and transferred to a larger scale.

You can find an excerpt of the mobile and pilot plants here.