Mass Calibration of the Coulter Counter Model ZM

Abstract

The calibration of electrical sensing zone instruments is normally achieved by using spherical particles with a certified size. An alternative and more fundamental procedure, known as mass or self-calibration, is to use particles of the material under test.This work concerns the mass calibration technique, in particular the equations used to calculate the mass calibration constant. It is demonstrated that some of the published expressions are inconsistent. An expression particularly suitable for the Coulter Counter Model ZM has been derived and validated. Some experiments were also performed using irregular particles, in order to compare both calibration methods.