The discharge of powders from hoppers usually takes place in open atmosphere. However, in powder pressing industries (e.g. manufacturing of pharmaceutical tablets, detergents, ceramics, powder metallurgy etc.) there are handling operations where powders are filled into closed cavities such as dies. During this process the air pressure is increased as powder is delivered into the die. At the same time typical tablet production equipment creates a suction effect. A critical orifice measurement apparatus was developed to study powder flow initiation from an arching state into an enclosure where the air pressure is reduced. It was shown that a very small reduction of pressure changed the critical orifice diameter significantly. Dimensional analysis was carried out to relate powder properties (particle size and density) and processing parameters (geometry of the system and differential pressure necessary to break the arch). A relationship was developed to calculate the pressure difference necessary to initiate powder flow. The relationship has two empirical parameters which are calibrated by performing simple experiments using the testing rig developed. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.