PARTICLE SIZE

CHARACTERIZATION

1
PROPERTIES OF PARTICLES
Size
 Desirable to define size using a single number

2
NOMINAL (EQUIVALENT) DIAMETER
 Diameter of a sphere that would behave in the same
manner as the particle when submitted to a specific
operation
 Depends on the method of measurement adopted
 NOMINAL (EQUIVALENT) DIAMETER
Types
Symbol Name Basis
dA Sieve The width of the minimum square aperture through
diameter which the particle will pass
ds Surface The diameter of a sphere having the same surface area
diameter as the particle
dv Volume The diameter of a sphere having the same volume as
diameter the particle
da Projected The diameter of a sphere having the same projected
area area as the particle when viewed in a direction
diameter perpendicular to a plane of stability
dSt Stokes The free falling diameter in the laminar flow region (Rep
diameter < 0.2)
dvs Specific The diameter of a sphere having the same ratio of
surface surface area to volume as the particle.
diameter

4
Chapter 2. Characterization of Particles. Kelly & Spotiswood
NOMINAL DIAMETERS
Methods of measurement

 Sieving (dA)
 Laser difracction (dV)
 Mastersizer, PSI 500 Outotec
 Sedimentation & Elutriation (dSt)
 Beaker decantation, Cyclosizer
 Microscopic (dvs)
 Imagining, QEMSCAN

5
SIEVING
Sieve diameter (dA)

53mm 74mm

6
METHODS OF MEASUREMENT
Sieve Analysis (dA)

𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎
𝛍𝐦 ≈
𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐡 #

𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐡 # ≥ 𝟒𝟒 7
 LASER DIFFRACTION
Volume diameter (dV)

 As a laser beam passes through the suspension, light is

scattered. Detectors measure scattering and convert it to
a volumen-based particle size distribution.
 Typical Range : 0,1 mm to 3000 mm

Laser light
source sample
Scattering
detectors
Backscattering
detectors
8
Source: https://www.americanlaboratory.com/913-Technical-Articles/606-Setting-New-Standards-for-Laser-Diffraction-Particle-Size-Analysis/
 IMAGING TECHNIQUE
Volume diameter (dV)
 Equivalente diameter for photographed air bubbles

Oblate spheroid sphere

9
𝑑𝑣
SEDIMENTATION: BEAKER DECANTATION
Stokes diameter
 Sub-sieved analysis
 Particle size separation by settling velocity

 Determined the time (t) required for a

particle of a given size to travel a
distance h.
 Mix the suspension and wait for time t
 Carefully syphon out the suspension
containing particles that travelled a
distance shorter than h.
 Tedious as this process must be
carried out multiple times
10
TERMINAL VELOCITY CALCULATION
Stokes diameter

Forces
Fbuoyancy

Fdrag

At equilibrium

Fgravity

Terminal velocity 11
ELUTRIATION: CYCLOSIZER
Stokes diameter
 Sub-sieved analysis
 For size range 8 – 50 mm for particles having a S.G around
2,7. For particles having higher S.G lower limit reduced (e.g.,
4mm for galena particles )

44mm
33mm
23mm
15mm
10mm 12
MICROSCOPIC TECHNIQUE
Projected area diameter (da, dvs)
 Images are two-dimensional

13
PARTICLE SHAPE

 3D analysis
 Sphericity

 2D analysis
 Circularity (2D analysis)
 Shape factor (2D

14
PARTICLE SHAPE
Sphericity (3D)

 Ratio of the surface area of a sphere of volume

equal to that of the particle to the surface area of the
particle

𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞

𝛙= ቤ
𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞
𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞

 Example: Calculate the sphericity of a cube of side 1

unit.
 Answer 0,806
15
PARTICLE SHAPE
Circularity (2D)

 Ratio of the area to the square of the perimeter

weighted by 4p

𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚
𝐂 = 𝟒𝛑 𝟐
𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫

 Example: Calculate the circularity of a square of side

1 unit.
 Answer 0,785

16
PARTICLE SHAPE
Shape factor (2D)

 Ratio of the minor to the major axis of an ellipse

 Goes from (almost) zero to one (circle)

𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐬
𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 =
𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐬

17
 PARTICLE DISTRIBUTION
Characterization
 Several irregular particles of different size produce a
distribution of spheres of different sizes.

Original
particles
Equivalent
particles

It would be advantageous to have a method to provide condensed information about

distribution of equivalent particles in terms of a single size value. Think of P80 in grinding!
STATISTICAL AVERAGE DIAMETERS
From distribution to single value
 Obtain a single size distribution that retain properties
of the original distribution

Properties of a distribution (only two are preserved):

 Number (0)  Total surface area (2)
 Length (sum of diameters (1))  Total volume (3)
19
EXAMPLES OF DERIVATION
 Average diameter d10, u=1
 Total lenght and number of particles in the original
distribution are preserved!

𝑀 objects M objects

𝑀
Total length & ෍ 𝑑𝑛𝑖 = 𝑀 ∙ 𝑑𝑛10
same number
𝑖=1

σ𝑴
𝒊=𝟏 𝒅𝒏𝒊
= 𝒅𝒏𝟏𝟎
𝑴
EXAMPLES OF DERIVATION
 Average diameter d32, u=1
 Total volume and surface area of particles in the
original distribution are preserved!

𝑀 objects n objects

𝑀
Total volume
𝜋 3 𝜋 3
෍ ∙ 𝑑𝑛𝑖 = 𝑛 ∙ ∙ 𝑑𝑛32
6 6
𝑖=1
𝑀
Total surface 2 2
෍ 𝜋𝑑𝑛𝑖 = 𝑛 ∙ 𝜋𝑑𝑛32
area 𝑖=1

σ𝑴 𝒅
𝒊=𝟏 𝒏𝒊
𝟑

𝑴 𝟐 = 𝒅𝒏𝟑𝟐
σ𝒊=𝟏 𝒅𝒏𝒊
STATISTICAL AVERAGE DIAMETERS
Example, u=1, d10
 Average diameter d10

di = 1 2 3 4 5

∑ di 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 15
d10 = = = =3
∑ ni 5 5

di = 3 3 3 3 3
STATISTICAL AVERAGE DIAMETERS
Example, u = 1, d32
 Average diameter d32

di = 1 2 3 4 5

d32 
 di3 
(1  8  27  64  125 ) 225
  4.09
 di2 (1  4  9  16  25 ) 55

di = 4.09 4.09 4.09 4.09

 EXAMPLES OF DERIVATION
Sieving
 Average diameter d20, u=3
 Total surface area and number of particles in the
original distribution are preserved!
Number of particles retained

𝑁
𝑛1
Total surface 2 2
෍ 𝑛𝑖 ∙ 𝜋𝑑𝑛𝑖 = 𝑀 ∙ 𝜋𝑑𝑛20
area 𝑛2
𝑖=1
𝑁

Total number
෍ 𝑛ณ𝑖 = 𝑀
𝑖=1 𝑚𝑖
𝜋 3
𝜌 6 𝑑𝑛𝑖

σ𝑵 𝒎
𝒊=𝟏 𝒊 ∙ 𝒅 −𝟏
𝒏𝒊
𝑵 −𝟑 = 𝒅𝒏𝟐𝟎
σ𝒊=𝟏 𝒎𝒊 ∙ 𝒅𝒏𝒊
𝑛𝑁
STATISTICAL AVERAGE DIAMETER
General Equation

𝑞−𝑝 σ 𝑄𝑢 ∙ 𝑑 𝑞−𝑢
𝑑𝑞𝑝 =
σ 𝑄𝑢 ∙ 𝑑 𝑝−𝑢

𝑄𝑢 is the quantity of material measured by the

property 𝑢.
 If 𝑢 = 1 material is measured in terms of number
 If 𝑢 = 2 material is measured in terms of surface area
 If 𝑢 = 3 material is measured in terms of mass