Founded in 1997 by former employees of the Chemnitz University of Technology, Parsum GmbH is now an internationally recognised provider of PAT solutions for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The company set out with a patented measuring method and the conviction that there was high demand in research and industry for the option of measuring particle sizes directly within processes, thereby making it possible to monitor, control and regulate processes.
The well-known technique of fibre-optic spatial filter anemometry was developed so that not only the velocities of particles could be measured, but also their sizes. Unlike traditional particle size measuring methods that involve sampling and laboratory analysis, Parsum has always used inline measurement right from the start, meaning that the measured results are immediately and continuously available. Several patents have been granted for this method in Germany, Europe and the USA.
In 1998, Parsum installed the first measuring instruments in probe form at a fine-chemicals manufacturer in Germany, with the aim of determining the powder quality within a grinding process. The probe design with no mechanically moving parts and no need for adjustment became an important success factor, and the design has remained the same to this day. The design also means that the probes can be installed in existing systems without a great deal of effort.
In addition to the fine chemicals, foodstuffs and raw materials sectors, the IPP 70 probe model has also been offering GMP-compliant solutions for the pharmaceutical industry since 2007.