EVALUATION OF NUMBER BASED PARTICLE SIZE ANALYSERS
Audet, D.R., Rossiter, D.S. and Sipos, G.
Alcan recently evaluated particle size analysers reporting number distributions based on counts rather than derived from volume distributions. Several new analytical techniques have been developed and have matured over the last decade. This work identified those that are close to being viable alternatives to techniques presently in use.
Electrical Sensing Zone instruments are the most commonly used technique for counting particles with Bayer process samples. Their main disadvantages (slow, labour intensive, high operator skill requirement) prompted examination of available alternatives. Of the new instruments investigated, the Single Particle Optical Sensing (SPOS) instrument accurately reported number distributions in a single operation for a significant saving of time in measurement and data handling. Both instrument types show similar resolution, as demonstrated by analysis of a sample mixture with a bimodal distribution.
Direct comparison of Bayer samples analysed by both SPOS and Elzone further demonstrated the applicability of SPOS for Bayer application.