Single-particle optical counter, measurement

Single-particle optical counters cannot be easily used for measuring high aerosol concentrations. Whitby and Liu (1967) have shown that if many small particles are in the illuminated sensitive volume of this type of instrument at the same time, significant errors are introduced because the particles are considered by the detector to be fewer in number and greater in size. Thus there is a practical upper limit on the aerosol concentration that can be measured by such an instrument, being on the order of 1000 to 10,000 particles per cubic centimeter. 

Single Particle Optical Counter Principle and Application, Aerosol Generation, Measurement, Sampling, andAnalysis, Ed. Liu, B. Y. H., Academic Press, New York, 1976. 

Whitby, K. T., and Willeke, K., Single Particle Optical Counters Principles and Field Use, in Lundgren, D. A. et al. (Eds.), Aerosol Measurement, University Presses of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 1979. 

Hess, C. F., Non-intrusive optical single-particle counter for measuring the size and velocity of droplets in a spray, Applied Optics, 23, 4375-4382 (1984)... 

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