Particle Counters - Which One Should You Choose?
Posted on April 4, 2008 - Filed Under Computers and Technology
What is a particle counter?
Well, first things first. What exactly is a particle counter and what does it do? A particle counter is a laser based instrument that detects and counts the number of particles in a particular media such as air, liquids/chemicals, gases and surfaces. The information is used to establish how clean the particular media is, for water treatment, producing food and drugs or microchips. All types of particles can be detected, but you will need a different particle counter depending on whether you want to detect particles in the air, in liquid or on a surface.
When you start to choose a particle counter, you should first and foremost try to find one that performs all the tasks you need it to. So, here is a basic guide to the type of particle counters and where to find them.
Airborne Particle Counters
Also known as Aerosol Particle Counters, these are used to determine the air quality by counting and sizing the number of particles in the air, for example the amount of pollutants inside a building or in the ambient air. They are mainly used for understanding the cleanliness level in a controlled environment such as a cleanroom.
Airborne particle counters can be handheld, portable and remote.
Handheld particle counters
A handheld particle counter is one that is small, easily transported and used. They are often used to spot check an area as they allow you to walk around with them and hold them in one hand. Handheld particle counters are great for quickly finding general information about the air in one spot and then comparing this with the air in another spot. These commonly run at a flowrate of 0.1CFM (2.83 L/min).
For a great handhold particle counter that we can supply, we would recommend the Handilaz Mini. You can find out more details about this on our site.
Portable particle counters
A portable particle counter is designed to have more capabilities than a handheld, yet still be mobile. This counter can be placed on a desk, bench or trolley and are used for certifying, regular checks or continuously monitoring a cleanroom or other environment. The additional features offered by a portable particle counter include faster sampling times, filter scanning and temperature/relative humidity sampling.
You will be able to connect a portable particle counter to a PC for archiving or analysis. We would highly recommend the LASAIR II 310A/310B/510A or LASAIR II 350L and 550L and you can find more details of these at our site (details below).
Remote particle counters
A remote particle counter or dedicated particle counter is used to continuously monitor a fixed location typically inside a cleanroom or mini environment. This counter will continuously count particles and send information to a facility monitoring system or remote terminal. In this way, several particle counters can be networked together and controlled from one location.
The facility monitoring system can integrate into a database and send alarms or emails to notify key personnel when conditions inside the cleanroom have exceeded pre-determined environmental limits.
We can provide remote particle counters such as the RNET, AIRNET and ISOAIR PLUS. Please go to our site for more information.
Liquid particle counters
Liquid particle counters are used to determine the quality of the liquid passing through them. The size and numbers of the particles can establish whether the liquid is clean enough to be used for the designed application such as drinking water or cleaning solutions, corrosive liquids, power generation equipment, manufacturing parts, ink or parenteral fluids.
We can supply a number of liquid particle counters. Please go to our site to look at our range.
Gas particle counters
Some particle counters are designed to count particles suspended in gas. Gases can be inert or volatile and may be dry or have water vapour suspended in them. As such, gas particle counters have special counters stored inside a containment vessel, which makes sure that no leaks will happen and all the gas is carefully controlled. Gas instruments employ mass flow controllers to provide constant, volumetric flow rates, which ensures that the measurements are taken at the right times. Particle sizing can differ with pressure and the composition of gas, so gas particle counters must account for these variables.
In addition to gas particle counters, High Pressure Gas Diffusers (HPGD) can be used in conjunction with particle counters such as the LASAIR II.
PMT GB can provide these specialist instruments - please go to our site at http://www.pmtgb.com for more details.
I hope that this article has given you a brief introduction to the world of particle counters. Please feel free to contact us on 01684 312950 or info@pmtgb.com for more details.
PMT (GB) Ltd (http://www.pmtgb.com) are dedicated to the provision and service of instrumentation and solutions associated with Particle, Microbial, and Electrostatic contamination.
Tags: counters, measuring, particle, PMT
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