Sediment particle size determination

Before beginning a size determination, it is customary to look at the material, preferably under a microscope. This examination reveals the approx size range and distribution of the particles, and especially the shapes of the particles and the degree of aggregation. If microscopic examination reveals that the ratios between max and min diameters of individual particles do not exceed 4, and indirect technique for particle size distribution based on sedimentation or elutria-tion may be used. Sedimentation techniques for particle size determination were first used by Hall (Ref 2) in 1904, He showed that the rate of fall of individual particles in a fluid was directly related to the particle size by the hydrodynamic... 

The classical approach for particle size determination, or more correctly for particle size selection - which is still used for solids like soils, sediments and other technical materials like coal, and also for biological materials - is sieving analysis. The raw material is milled, generally after drying, see Section 2.1, and if the required particle size is obtained, typically ranging from <0.1 to a few mm, it is allowed to pass sieves with different apertures to discard coarse particles and remaining materials. For materials consisting of numerous different particles microscopical inspection is used. 

EXAMPLE 2.2 Use of the Sedimentation Equation for Particle Size Determination. A titanium dioxide pigment of density 4.12 g cm 3 is suspended in water at 33°C. At this temperature, the density and viscosity of water are 0.9947 g cm-3 and 7.523 10-3 P, respectively. A particle size analyzer (SediGraph, Micromeritics Instruments Corp., Norcross, GA 30093) plots the following data for cumulative weight percent versus equivalent spherical radius ... 

Most probable settling velocity from sedimentation data Particle-size determination from sedimentation equation Sedimentation in an ultracentrifuge Solvation and ellipticity from sedimentation data Diffusion and Gaussian distribution Temperature-dependence of diffusion coefficients... 

In addition, maximum expansion occurred at pH = 12.5 in the PCS experiments compared with approximately 10.5 observed in the sedimentation and viscometry experiments. Since PCS is carried out at much lower particle concentrations, interactions between the charged particles at the higher concentrations are probably involved. Similar comparisons with non-expanding carboxylic latex particles were carried out in an effort to separate interparticle charge effects from true particle expansion in interpreting apparent particle sizes determined by hydrodynamic methods. 

Figure 16. Good-hue and Smith Sedimentation Tube for Particle - size Determination.

The particle size determined by sedimentation techniques is an equivalent spherical diameter, also known as the equivalent settling diameter, defined as the diameter of a sphere of the same density as the irregularly shaped particle that exhibits an identical free-fall velocity. Thus it is an appropriate diameter upon which to base particle behavior in other fiuid-fiow situations. Variations in the particle size distribution can occur for nonspherical particles (43,44). The upper size limit for sedimentation methods is estabHshed by the value of the particle Reynolds number, given by equation 11 ... 

Gravitational sedimentation methods of particle size determination... 

Because of the relatively wide range of particle sizes, particle-size determinations are made by a combination of electron-microscope examination and sedimentation analysis. Because of the small field observable in an electron microscope, it is impractical with this instrument to determine... 

Multiple techniques can be used to measure the particle size distribution, for example electrozone sensing, sedimentation, laser diffraction, and microscopy. With the exception of microscopy, they all require calibration and the results depend on the technique. For example, in a round-robin study reported in Reference 4, the commonly used electrical sensing zone technique (Coulter Counter) was compared to microscopy and sedimentation. The average particle size determined by the electrical sensing zone method was by about 25%... 

The dry samples of silica-coated alumina were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Specific surface area was determined by nitrogen adsorption (BET). Particle-size determination was made by low-angle forward scattering of light from a laser beam (Leeds and Northrup s Microtrac particle sizer) and by monitoring sedimentation with a finely collimated beam of low-energy x-rays and a detector (Micromeritics Sedigraph 5100). 

The sedimentation technique is reliable for particle size determination when rf is in a size range of 2-50 pm. The falling rate of smaller particles is affected by Brownian motion resulting from collisions with the molecules of the liquid and other interactions between particles. Stokes law is valid only for laminar or streamline flow (i.e., when there is no turbulence). The Reynolds number (Re) is a measure of when the process transitions from turbulent to laminar flow ... 

Hochella Jr, Using FIFTF and aTEM to determine trace metal-nanoparticle associations in riverbed sediment. Environ. Chem. 7(1), 82-93 (2010). doi 10.1071/EN09111 T. Schauer, Symmetrical and asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation for particle size determination. Part. Part. Syst. Charact 12(6), 284—288 (1995). doi 10.1002/ppsc. 19950120606... 

Field-flow fractionation (FFF) is a relatively new analytical technique applicable to the separation of fine particles, polymers and macromolecules in solutions. Recent efforts concerned with Sedimentation field-flow fractionation (SdFFF) is to separate a wide variety of particulate species and to apply it to the particle size measurement. That is because SdFFF has advantages that it employs the fractional collection sorted by the particle mass, and has a high resolution over a wide range of particle size compared to other methods of sub-micrometer particle size determination. 

In particle-size measurement, gravity sedimentation at low soHds concentrations (<0.5% by vol) is used to determine particle-size distributions of equivalent Stokes diameters ia the range from 2 to 80 pm. Particle size is deduced from the height and time of fall usiag Stokes law, whereas the corresponding fractions are measured gravimetrically, by light, or by x-rays. Some commercial instmments measure particles coarser than 80 pm by sedimentation when Stokes law cannot be appHed. 

Aerosol Dynamics. Inclusion of a description of aerosol dynamics within air quaUty models is of primary importance because of the health effects associated with fine particles in the atmosphere, visibiUty deterioration, and the acid deposition problem. Aerosol dynamics differ markedly from gaseous pollutant dynamics in that particles come in a continuous distribution of sizes and can coagulate, evaporate, grow in size by condensation, be formed by nucleation, or be deposited by sedimentation. Furthermore, the species mass concentration alone does not fliUy characterize the aerosol. The particle size distribution, which changes as a function of time, and size-dependent composition determine the fate of particulate air pollutants and their... 

The types of sedimentation encountered in process technology will be greatly affected not only by the obvious factors—particle size, hquid viscosity, sohd and solution densities—but also by the characteristics of the particles within the shiny. These properties, as well as the process requirements, will help determine both the type of equipment which will achieve the desired ends most effectively and the testing methods to be used to select the equipment. 

Gravitational Sedimentation Methods In gravitational sedimentation methods, particle size is determined from settling velocity... 

Mechanical analyses determine the particle-size distribution in a soil sample. The distribution of coarse particles is determined by sieving, and particles finer than a 200 or 270-mesh sieve and found by sedimentation. 

SHARPLESMICROMEROGRAPH- A commercially available air sedimentation device introduced in 1953 (Ref 6) that provides rapid particle size distribution determinations for powdered materials by the application of Stokes law for particles falling thru a static column of gas... 

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