Electrical sizing of particles in suspensions. 3. Rigid spheroids and red blood cells.

The processes involved during the passage of a suspended particle through a small cylindrical orifice across which exists an electric field are investigated experimentally for an approximate prolate spheroid in the form of two tangent, rigid spheres (ragweed pollen particles) and for fresh, human red blood cells. Oscillograms of current pulses produced by both types of particles are presented and discussed in terms of particle shape and orientation and the effects of the hydrodynamic field. It is concluded that all the particles enter the orifice with their major axes aligned parallel to the orifice axis (electric field), but that during their passage some are rotated by the hydrodynamic field.

Electrical sizing of particles in suspensions. II. Experiments with rigid spheres.

Experimental verification is provided for the theoretical expressions (see preceding article, I. Theory) describing the electrical processes that take place during the passage of an aqueous suspension of rigid, nonconducting spheres (ragweed pollen) through an orifice across which there exists an electrical field, for a large range of orifice dimensions; the instrumentation developed is considered in some detail. The effective length of an orifice as deduced from conductivity measurements is shown to be essentially the same as that predicted theoretically.