Coatings, Inks & Specialty Chemical Production worked example

Pigment Usage with pigment metering rate into the mill of 23 lb / hr: a worked example

Suppose pigment metering rate into the mill falls to 23 lb / hr. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate pigment consumption and cost from pigment addition rate, dispersion or batch time, and pigment unit cost.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Pigment metering rate into the mill: 23 lb / hr (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 45)
  • Dispersion or letdown run time: 3.5 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Pigment cost per pound: 6.2 $ / lb (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Pigment Usage consumed = pigment addition rate × dispersion or addition time.
  • pigment usage consumed works out to 80.5 lb at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • pigment usage cost works out to 499 $ at these inputs.
  • dispersion or addition time works out to 3.5 hr at these inputs.
  • pigment cost per pound works out to 6.2 $ / unit at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where pigment metering rate into the mill sits at 45 lb / hr and the headline result is 158 lb, this scenario comes in 48.89% below the baseline at 80.5 lb.
  • It computes pigment pounds consumed as metering rate times dispersion run time, then multiplies by pigment cost per pound to give total pigment spend. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • pigment usage consumed: 80.5 lb (headline result)
  • pigment usage cost: 499 $
  • dispersion or addition time: 3.5 hr
  • pigment cost per pound: 6.2 $ / unit

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Pigment Usage calculator, set pigment metering rate into the mill to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.