Particle Counter Counting Efficiency
I recently spoke with a woman named Becky from 3M who had a lot of questions about the Lighthouse 3016 handheld particle counter. She is looking for a particle counter that can count particles from .3 microns up to 25 microns. I explained that the Lighthouse 3016 could be upgraded to include the 25 micron size for a minimal charge. After answering many of her questions, she asked one I had not heard in a while:
"While looking at the technical specs, I notice that for counting efficiency, it says 50% per JIS… what does that mean?"
I remember asking the same question several years ago, the specification seemed to imply that the unit was only doing half of it’s job. Could this be correct???
The fact is that it is the way particle counters are designed and calibrated. The lowest particle size is always 50% counting efficiency. Lets say we are calibrating the 0.3 micron size – as you run the particles through the sensor, we are looking at the reflected light from each particle. As all 0.3 micron particles are not exactly 0.3 microns (some are 0.2999, and some may 0.3001, etc), you get a 
bell curve. As you need to have a cut-off point, you select the middle of the "curve" (or the 50% area), and call that 0.3 microns. In reality, the counter is counting all of the 0.3 microns partilces. It’s more of a term than actually describing the efficiency of the counter. This confuses MANY people!!
Counter efficiency | Fotogrint Said,
July 26, 2011 @ 7:24 am
[...] Particle Counter Counting EfficiencyCounting efficiency is an expression of the probability that a particle counter will sense and thus count a particle passing through the particle counter’s … [...]
Cubic Foot Said,
September 9, 2011 @ 2:51 am
[...] #split {}#single {}#splitalign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}#singlealign {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}.linkboxtext {line-height: 1.4em;}.linkboxcontainer {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;background-color:#eeeeee;border-color:#000000;border-width:0px; border-style:solid;}.linkboxdisplay {padding: 7px 7px 7px 7px;}.linkboxdisplay td {text-align: center;}.linkboxdisplay a:link {text-decoration: none;}.linkboxdisplay a:hover {text-decoration: underline;} function opensingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = ''; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = 'none'; } function closesingledropdown() { document.getElementById('singletablelinks').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('singlemouse').style.display = ''; } Particle Size Distribution, Particle Shape, and Particle Count – Track ChangesQTY. 4 ATMOS FT24-3LO 24″X 48″ CLEAN ROOM HEPA FILTERChoosing the Right Furnace Filter – Disposable VS Reusable Furnace Filters.Modular Clean Rooms – Cleanrooms by Bionics ScientificISO 14644 Cleanroom Validating to ISO Class 8Help and advice Honeywell F57A1044 Commercial Ceiling-Flush-Mounted Self-Contained Electronic Air Cleaner with 2 Cells and Best Price Honeywell F57A1044 Commercial Ceiling-Flush-Mounted Self-Contained Electronic Air Cleaner with 2 CellsPortable Cleanroom:Self-Contained Kilolab Reactor System Tests Pharmaceutical ProcessesA ‘nano,’ environmentally friendly, and low toxicity flame retardant protects fabricParticle Counter Counting Efficiency [...]
Counter efficiency | Superprotonix Said,
September 14, 2011 @ 11:24 am
[...] Particle Counter Counting EfficiencyHigh Efficiency Passive Neutron Counter (HENC) – CANBERRA, Solutions for Special Nuclear Material Accountability and Radioactive Waste Measurements. [...]