Chemical Engineering Interview Question:

How can one determine the particle size distribution for a given bulk solid?

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While there are high-tech methods of performing such an analysis (laser-diffraction and video imaging system are available), the simplest way is to use a sieve stack. For example, to analyze a particular solid, one would stack several different mesh sizes into a cylinder with the largest mesh opening on the top and progress down through the cylinder to finer mesh. The cylinder would contain a pan on the bottom. Before beginning, weight the test sample, each piece of mesh, and the pan. Then, the sample is loaded into the top of the test cylinder and the cylinder is exposed to a combination of movements (shaken) to allow the solids to pass through the appropriate mesh sizes.
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