A Procedure for Blending and Mass Balancing fine particle size data

An increased interest in the development of new techniques for fine grinding has resulted in a growing concern over the accuracy of size distributions for extremely fine particles. Since most particle size analyzers have lower detection limits, care must be taken when comparing size distributions which have not been properly mass balanced. An automated technique has been developed in which a completely mass balanced size distribution can be obtained using an Elzone 80XY particle size analyzer. A computer program is used to blend the data from successively smaller orifice tubes, and to determine the weight percent of material finer than the lower detection limit of the analyzer. This result is then used to correct the distribution for the missing fine material. Experimental results indicate that size distributions obtained using this procedure are reproducible and compare favorably with those obtained using other size analysis techniques.