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 ParticleCounters.org is the
most authoritative website on the internet about particle
counters. That's our goal. And the way we
achieve it is by finding knowledgeable professionals in the particle
counter industry who contribute to this site.
Without bias, we present information collected from a variety of
particle counter industry experts in order to help you understand and
decide which particle counters are right for your application.
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Most laser particle counter websites rely
on you to know exactly what you want. Some people do, but
many people are faced with choosing an airborne particle
counter armed with very little information.
That's where we come in. This site is made to educate, using
the knowledge of Indoor Air Quality
(IAQ), cleanroom and particle counter
industry professionals. |
 When
choosing a liquid or air particle counter,
the first objective should be to find one that performs all tasks you
need. From the navigation on the left, you can choose a
category. The information on that page will help you narrow
down your choice. If you are not sure, start with a broad
category, like all
particle counters. As you learn more, you can work
your way down through smaller categories.
If you are totally new to particle counters, here is some basic
information to start you off...
What is a
particle counter?
A particle counter
is a sophisticated
monitoring instrument that counts the amount of particulate
contamination. Modern particle counters detect contaminants
from the air, a surface or a liquid. Some examples of these
particles can be anything from oil, metal shavings, dust, smoke, ash,
mold, or other biological contaminants.  This information is very
useful to professionals for determining how pure the air is for
breathing, water treatment, producing food & drugs or
microchips in a cleanroom.
A particle counter can be as simple as a handheld
air monitoring instrument or
become as advanced as remote or multiplex manifold sequencing clean room
systems used for entire facility monitoring. Depending on the model
type, particle counters can detect as small as 0.1 microns.
Nano particle counters are being developed to count even smaller
particles.
Airborne Particle Counters
To familiarize yourself with
the three most common packages particle counters come in, let's start
with something familiar: air. The three most popular kinds of
airborne particle counters
are handheld, portable and remote.
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Handheld
Particle Counters
 A handheld
particle counter offers a convenient and portable way to test
your indoor air quality, spot check or
verify clean rooms and test air filter efficiency. Small
enough to walk around and hold in one hand, these types of particle
counters are great for quickly finding general information about the
air in one spot, then moving and checking another spot. In
this way, they can be used to locate a source of contamination.
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If you're looking for a cost effective way to test your air purifier or
air filtration system, we would suggest the entry level handhelds.
These particle
counters offer easy one touch monitoring and are very basic
to use.
If you need more advanced IAQ or cleanroom features like verifying or monitoring
particles, temperature, relative humidity, time stamp etc, we
recommend the more advanced handheld models.
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[Go to the
top right to finish this article]
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Do You Need to Buy a Particle Counter?
Are
you confused about what you need?
Don't be intimidated - we have a panel of experts
who work for most major particle counter manufacturers who will match
you up with the best instrument... at the best price.
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Portable
Particle Counters
Portable
laser particle counters are designed as a more complete
instrument with more capabilities then handheld, yet are still
mobile. These portable particle counters can be set on a bench or cart
and are used for certifying or continuously monitoring a cleanroom,
can be integrated into your current facility monitoring system or used
as a stand alone device.
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Portable particle counters offer a list of features not found in your
handheld particle counters. Some of these features include thermal
printing, filter scanning, air velocity, differential pressure,
temperature and isokinetic sampling of ambient air. Some
portable particle counters can even run other environmental sensors,
acting as a hub for a complete environmental monitoring stand alone
system. Most portable particle counters have the
ability to connect to a PC computer or network for archiving and
analysis. |
Remote
Particle Counters
A Remote
particle counter is used in a facility that needs to
continuously monitor multiple locations. Sometimes called dedicated
particle counters, each one is an inexpensive, compact unit that
continuously counts particles and sends information to a remote
terminal or area control unit. Several terminals are controlled by a
main control room. In this way, remote particle counters are
networked together and controlled from a centralized computer room.
Using a remote particle counter system makes it possible to track
facility wide contamination levels while integrating with other  systems
monitoring or control systems. These systems are often called
Facility Management Systems (FMS), Facility Monitoring Systems (FMS),
Distributed Control Systems (DCS), Building Automation Systems, or
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA).
 Whether you
are dealing with complex systems or a simple handheld instrument you
will need software to display, archive and analyze your collected
data. Software can vary from downloading and converting
handheld data to industry specific analysis based on cleanroom
classification. Software systems can sync up to Handheld,
Portable and Remote particle counters depending on model and brand.
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Now that we have discussed the types of the latest particle counters,
take a look at the categories in the left hand navigation.
Take a stab (or rather a click) at one of the categories. And
see if any of the categories may include the kind of particle counter
you need. We strive to make our website easily navigated via
equipment categories and manufactures. Don't be afraid to
jump into unfamiliar categories. We've put information all
over this site to help you make more educated decisions about particle
counters. |
We are continually striving to make this website an educational
resource to you with unbiased comparisons and reviews from
industry experts in the particle counter industry.
If you can't find an answer to your question... or if you would like
additional help from one of our industry experts... feel free
to give us a call at 1.877.688.2703 - we are here to help you
any way we can.
~ Industry Experts from ParticleCounters.org
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