Introduction; Choosing The Correct Analysis Mode - Malvern Mastersizer Series Getting Started

Introduction

This chapter describes the analysis of the measurement data. There are three steps
involved; choosing the analysis mode, choosing a "presentation" and finally telling
the software to calculate the result. It should be remembered that the
measurement data is never changed during the analysis. This allows the operator
to re-analyse the measurement data using different choices of analysis mode or
presentation.
Normally you would probably choose the analysis mode and presentation before
you made the measurement so that when the measurement was complete you
would only have to select the Next button to analyse the result. However for this
demonstration it will give you a better understanding of the way the system
operates by selecting the options now.
Again you will gain most benefit if you were to analyse actual data on the system.
It is recommended that you read through this chapter once then go through a
second time following the instructions to analyse the data you measured in the
previous chapter.
By the end of this chapter you will gain the practical knowledge that is needed to
choose the correct analysis mode and presentation.

Choosing the correct analysis mode

The analysis model tells the computer what the expected shape of the result graph
will be. There are five choices available; polydisperse, multimodal, monomodal,
very polydisperse, and compressed range.
. Polydisperse model does not assume anything about the shape of the re-
sult graph.
. Multimodal model assumes that there will be one or more distinct peaks
in the results graph - indicating that there are several distinct sizes of parti-
cles.
. The monomodal model assumes that there will only be one peak in the re-
sult graph - indicating that there is only one size of particle.
. Very polydisperse is similar to polydisperse but is used for a few special
circumstances. (Mastersizer X only).
. Compressed range analysis has a reduced upper size limit and is meant
for use with dry powder and spray measurements. (For Mastersizer S only).
G E T T I N G S T A R T E D
C H A P T E R 5
P a g e 5 . 1