Particle size measurement sieving methods

Various techniques and equipment are available for the measurement of particle size, shape, and volume. These include for microscopy, sieve analysis, sedimentation methods, photon correlation spectroscopy, and the Coulter counter or other electrical sensing devices. The specific surface area of original drug powders can also be assessed using gas adsorption or gas permeability techniques. It should be noted that most particle size measurements are not truly direct. Because the type of equipment used yields different equivalent spherical diameter, which are based on totally different principles, the particle size obtained from one method may or may not be compared with those obtained from other methods. 

Various grades of sorbitol are available that differ in their pcuticle size distribution. Most of the particle size measurements reported for sorbitol are by sieve methods [1,7,26,27], and permit direct comparison with the vendor s specifications. For the samples used in this study, the vendor specified sieve limits for the various grades are listed in Table 1. 

Schweyer (1942) compared various methods of particle-size measurement (except centrifuging). He found excellent agreement between pipette and hydrometer methods. He considers the former the best method for determining the particle-m/.c distribution of sub-sieve material by sedimentation, and prefers the hydrometer as a rapid control procedure. 

The measurement of particle size is a key issue in the formulation of many pharmaceutical products. Particle size distribution is known to directly influence physical properties of powders, such as dissolution rate, powder flow, bulk density, and compressibility. Conventional methods of particle size measurement include sieve analysis and laser diffractometry. ... 

The most difficult part of particle size estimation is related to the determination methods themselves. Particle size determination is complicated by size distribution, the presence of particle associations, and the shape of particles. If particles are not spherical, more than one parameter is needed to describe them and if the shape of the particle is irregular, numerous parameters are needed to express their dimensions. The method used for particle size determination (sieving, light scattering, microscopy, etc.) determines what dimensional aspects are measured. In addi-... 

Washington (1992) has discussed the concepts and techniques of particle size analysis and its role in pharmaceutical sciences and other industries. There are many different methods available for particle size analysis. The techniques most readily available include sieving, optical microscopy in conjunction with image analysis, electron microscopy, the Coulter Counter and laser diffractometers. Size characterization is simple for spherical particles, but not for irregular particles where the assigned size will depend on the method of characterization used. Table 6.2 lists particle size measurement methods commonly used and the corresponding approximate useful size range (Mullin 1993). 

The major gaseous components were analyzed by a gas chromatograph equipped with a TCD and a molecular sieve 13X column. The specific surface areas of carbon produced were measured by the BET method(ASAP 2010, Micromeritics). The morphology and particle size of the formed carbon were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy(S-4200, Hitachi... 

The frozen-drop technique was naturally adopted in measuring molten metal droplet size before any other methods became available. Similarly to the methods for normal liquids, the freeze-up and collection of molten metal droplets may be carried out in many different ways. For example, metal droplets can solidify during flight in gaseous or liquid medium in a spray chamber. 13H51 The solidified particles are subsequently sieved to obtain the size distribution. 

Particle size is one of the principal determinants of powder behavior such as packing and consolidation, flow ability, compaction, etc., and it is therefore one of the most common and important areas of powder characterization. Typically, one refers to particle size or diameter as the largest dimension of its individual particles. Because a given powder consists of particles of many sizes, it is preferable to measure and describe the entire distribution. While many methods of size determination exist, no one method is perfect (5) two very common methods are sieve analysis and laser diffraction. Sieving is a very simple and inexpensive method, but it provides data at relatively few points within a distribution and is often very operator dependent. Laser diffraction is a very rapid technique and provides a detailed description of the distribution. However, its instrumentation is relatively expensive, the analytical results are subject to the unique and proprietary algorithms of the equipment manufacturer, and they often assume particle sphericity. The particle size distribution shown in Figure 1 was obtained by laser diffraction, where the curves represent frequency and cumulative distributions. 

The sizing methods involve both classical and modem instrumentations, based on a broad spectrum of physical principles. The typical measuring systems may be classified according to their operation mechanisms, which include mechanical (sieving), optical and electronic (microscopy, laser Doppler phase shift, Fraunhofer diffraction, transmission electron miscroscopy [TEM], and scanning electron microscopy [SEM]), dynamic (sedimentation), and physical and chemical (gas adsorption) principles. The methods to be introduced later are briefly summarized in Table 1.2. A more complete list of particle sizing methods is given by Svarovsky (1990). 

Corn stover was harvested from south Hungary in the fall of 2001. The selected and washed straw was air-dried to an average 90% dry matter (DM) content. The air-dried material was ground and sieved, and the fraction with a particle size of 2-5 mm was used. The composition of this material and also the washed, solid fibrous fraction remaining after pretreatment was determined using Kaar s (19) method. To measure the total ash content, approx 0.5 g of dried sample was placed in a crucible, ignited at 550°C for 3 h, cooled in a desiccator, and weighed. 

The fineness of the pigment is characterized by the maximum particle size (mentioned in the catalogues as sieve residue according to standardized DIN or ASTM testing methods) and the average particle size D50 measured preferably by laser beam diffraction methods. These methods are not yet standardized and the readings depend very much on the equipment and the testing conditions. Furthermore the particle size distribution can be characterized by the "span , i.e. the width of the distribution curve. 

According to Heywood [1] sieving is the Cinderella of particle size analysis methods it does most of the hard work and gets little consideration. This was reiterated by Leschonski [119] who also quotes the chairman of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy as stating, in 1903, that screening is not a scientific means of measurement. 

---