Sieve analysis: More ways to help your numbers come out right
This article updates information the author presented in a PBE article over a decade ago [August 1987] on using sieves to measure particle size distribution of dry bulk materials. The new information reflects current research and practice in the sieve-using community. Sections cover how sieve analysis is used, sample acquisition and preparation, test equipment condition, test procedure, and data reduction-presentation. Related information addresses the place sieve analysis holds among particle sizing techniques.
Sieve analysis for routinely determining particle size distribution is one of the most widely accepted test procedures in the dry bulk materials processing industry. But sieve analysis is deemed crude by some and gospel by others. [Editor's note: See the related article, "Sieve analysis: Still viable after all these years."] As a result, variations in the test results have become ammunition for the nay-sayers and foundation-shattering for those who rely heavily on the data.