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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. |
[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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