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Mining and Minerals

Bettersize instruments are widely used in the research, production, and application of mining and mineral processing, helping producers improve efficiency, product quality, and overall profitability.

Bettersize particle size analyzers, together with powder characterization instruments, provide comprehensive physical property and granulometric analysis for mineral deep processing. These systems deliver critical data such as particle size distribution, particle shape, flowability, bulk density, and tap density, supporting cost reduction, process optimization, and precise control of product grade specifications.

A wide range of industrial minerals and metal ores are mined from natural deposits and processed for industrial applications. For all mined materials, particle size distribution measurement plays a critical yet technically demanding role throughout extraction and beneficiation. After blasting or cutting, ores are transported to mills for secondary crushing and grinding, where particle size must be carefully controlled to prepare the material for downstream separation and final use.

Comminution: Preparing Minerals for Separation：

In most ores, valuable minerals are mixed with gangue and must be liberated before separation. Comminution, or size reduction, is typically the first processing step, followed by classification to separate particles by size. Oversized particles may be returned for further grinding, while properly sized material proceeds to the next stage of mineral concentration. Effective comminution ensures that particles are sufficiently small so that each particle consists primarily of a single mineral phase, which is essential for achieving high separation efficiency.

Gravity Separation：

Gravity separation relies on differences in particle mass and density to separate minerals. Common methods include jigs, sluices, spirals, shaking tables, hydrosizers, cyclones, and fine particle separators. Because particle volume directly affects weight, particle size plays a decisive role in gravity-based separation processes. Jigging uses pulsed water flow to stratify particles, where heavier and larger particles settle more quickly. Uniform particle size is essential to ensure separation by density rather than by size. Sluices and spirals depend on the balance between viscous drag and buoyancy, both of which are strongly influenced by particle size. Shaking tables use vibration and gravity to separate particles by size and specific gravity, and narrow particle size distributions generally result in better separation performance.

Froth Flotation

Froth flotation separates minerals based on surface chemistry. Air bubbles introduced into a slurry selectively attach to hydrophobic particles, carrying them to the surface for recovery, while hydrophilic gangue remains in suspension. Particle size has a strong influence on flotation efficiency. Excessively fine particles may be entrained in the bubble flow regardless of surface chemistry, reducing selectivity, while overly coarse particles tend to detach from bubbles or sink, lowering recovery rates. Maintaining an optimal and well-controlled particle size range is therefore essential for effective flotation.

Electrostatic and Magnetic Separation：

Electrostatic and magnetic separation techniques exploit differences in particle response to electric or magnetic fields. These forces act differently depending on particle mass and surface properties, meaning particle size strongly influences separation behavior. Smaller particles generally experience greater displacement and may carry higher induced charges due to their larger surface-area-to-volume ratio. Without proper size control, these effects can lead to separation by size rather than by composition. As a result, a narrow particle size distribution often contributes to improved separation accuracy and consistency.

Final Product Control and Shipping：

Before shipment, mineral products are commonly graded and sold either for direct use or for further processing. End users typically require well-defined particle size ranges, and in some cases specific particle shapes, to ensure optimal performance in their applications. Accurate control of particle size and shape at this final stage is therefore critical to product quality, customer satisfaction, and market value.

Reliable Measurement Throughout the Process:

Bettersize particle size analysis systems are fully capable of measuring particle size, supporting users in achieving optimal size control at every stage of mineral processing—from comminution and separation to final product grading and shipment. By delivering precise, repeatable, and application-relevant data, Bettersize instruments help mining and mineral producers optimize processes, reduce operational costs, and consistently meet product specifications.

Bettersizer 2600

Functional redundancy as an indicator for evaluating functional diversity of macrobenthos under the mussel raft farm near Gouqi Island

DOI: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.740024 Read Article

Zhejiang Ocean University | 2024

Biological traits analysis (BTA) helps to evaluate the effects of different environmental variables on the traits-based functional composition of macrobenthos. However, research on functional traits of macrobenthos under mussel farming is limited. We investigated the spatial and temporal response of the benthic system in terms of taxonomic and functional diversity to environmental variables of farming and natural stressors resulting from suspended mussel farming near Gouqi Island of eastern China Sea. The functional traits of macrobenthic assemblages under mussel farming were characterized by “medium adult body size”, “vermiform body form”, “high flexibility”, “infauna”, “semi-motile”, “gonochoristic”, “surface deposit-feeders”, “carnivores”, “semi-motile burrowers”, and “tube-dwellers”. Functional redundancy was stable in response to mussel farming stresses among seasons, whereas species diversity showed efficient to evaluate natural variables. Functional diversity was significantly affected by farming stressors rather than natural variables, Further analysis using multivariate methods together with continuous monitoring were highlighted to evaluate the impacts of mussel farming. Our results reinforce the importance of macrobenthic species and functional traits analysis to evaluate human stresses driven impacts in offshore ecosystems. By analysing the environmental variables with different sources, independently, we concluded the main effects of human pressures on macrobenthic community. Such distinction could be particularly effective to isolate variable environmental descriptors and evaluate their effects on functional diversity, making the current approach promising for the evaluation of ecological effects of anthropogenic stressors in aquaculture areas.

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Bettersizer 2600

Degradation characteristics and utilization strategies of a covalent bonded resin-based solid amine during capturing CO₂ from flue gas

DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125621 Read Article

China University of Petroleum | 2024

In this study, various types of degradation as well as attrition which are possibly encountered in a circulating fluidized bed temperature swing adsorption (CFB-TSA) process, were conducted experimentally to evaluate the stability of a resin-based solid amine sorbent. Other characterizations methods, such as elemental analysis (EA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) etc. were applied to further reveal the degradation mechanisms. The results showed that thermal degradation occurs from 140–160 °C due to the decomposition of amine group. The CO₂-induced degradation occurs from a higher temperature of 160–180 °C accompanied by the production of urea. Hydrothermal stability is good below 130 °C, but the ionic impurities in steam crystalized on particle surface can accelerate the degradation. Oxidative degradation is the most harmful, which starts at a lower temperature of 70–80 °C with the formation of aldehyde. The existence of H₂O in atmosphere can alleviate the oxidative and CO₂-induced degradations. The employed sorbent has a very low attrition index of 0.05, which is 1–2 orders lower than typical commercial fluidized bed catalysts. Based on the results of stability evaluation, some design suggestions for proper utilization of this sorbent or other similar resin-based sorbents have been provided in an industrial CFB-TSA process.

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Bettersizer 2600

De-branching of starch molecules enhanced the complexation with chitosan and its potential utilization for delivering hydrophobic compounds

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2023.109498 Read Article

Shihezi University | 2024

The current study aimed to prepare the complexes between debranched-waxy corn starch and chitosan polymers (DBS-CS), and then investigated their corresponding structural characteristics, rheological property and potent application in Pickering emulsion. The results indicated that the existence of chitosan significantly inhibited starch short-range molecular rearrangement for all DBS-CS samples, which was manipulated by both debranching treatment and chitosan content. Interestingly, this is the first study to reveal that the outstanding peak at 1.8 ppm in 1H NMR spectrum for sample DBS-CS was gradually shifted towards a lower-field region following an increased chitosan content. Moreover, the debranching treatment shifted the crystallinity pattern from A-type to B-type and the relative crystallinity of DBS-CS decreased gradually with the increased content of CS. All samples had a pseudoplastic fluid and shear-thinning behavior with an enhanced shear resistance following the complexation. The DBS-CS was applied in a Pickering emulsion for showing a greater emulsifying stability and a lower gel strength than native NS-CS prepared emulsion. Importantly, the encapsulation ability of curcumin in the DBS-CS emulsion was significantly improved, followed by an increase of 15.45% for its corresponding bioavailability compared to the control. Therefore, this study might highlight a potential carrier for delivering the bioactive substances in a green pattern.

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Bettersizer 2600

Heat-induced aggregation behavior of wheat gluten after adding citrus pectin with different esterification degree

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2023.109420 Read Article

Gansu Agricultural University | 2024

Wheat gluten aggregation during heat treatment is beneficial to the final quality of gluten-based products. Exogenous pectin can affect gluten aggregation. However, the effect of pectin with different degrees of esterification on the heat-induced aggregation behavior of gluten and its possible mechanism are still unclear. Thus, the heat-induced aggregation behavior of gluten after adding pectin with different esterification degree was studied in this study. When the temperature was raised from 25 °C to 95 °C, pectin affected gluten aggregation and was related to the degree of esterification. Specifically, the results of rheological properties and particle size indicated that low-ester pectin improved the viscoelasticity of gluten and promoted gluten aggregation. Thermal properties revealed that enthalpy of gluten added with low-ester pectin (37%) increased from 92.96 J/g to 95.40 J/g during heating process. Structurally, the fluorescence intensity and surface hydrophobicity of gluten added with low-ester pectin (37%) were lower than those added with high-ester pectin (73%). In addition, low-ester pectin (37%) significantly increased the disulfide bond content (from 15.31 μmol/g to 18.06 μmol/g) and maintained β-sheet content of gluten compared with gluten alone at 95 °C, indicating that low-ester pectin was more likely to induce gluten aggregation. However, scanning electron microscope showed that the gluten added with low-ester pectin (46%) exhibited a denser network structure at 95 °C than that added with low-ester pectin (37%). These results will provide a theoretical base for the regulation of gluten aggregation and the quality of gluten-based products by pectin with different esterification degree.

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Curated Resources

Application Note

$Calcium Carbonate Powder particle size analysis with laser diffraction$

2021-09-14

Measuring Particle Size Distribution of Calcium Carbonate Powders with Laser Diffraction Method

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$Gypsum particle size measurement by laser diffraction$

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Measuring Particle Size Distribution of Gypsum Using Laser Diffraction

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