Statistical method for determination of the specific surface of powders and bulk materials

Abstract

Calculation methods for determination of the specific surface of powders and bulk materials often follow approximation of the ideal particle surface, most often the smooth sphere. During calculations of the specific powder surface the character of the probability distribution that controls the size of powder particles is not taken into account. This is the logarithmic-normal distribution. Usually, even the dispersion of particle sizes from the average size is not taken into account, in spite of the fact that the average particle size does not correspond to the particle size belonging to the average surface or volume. The current status of these problems is described in this article. The mentioned shortcomings in the calculation of the specific surface of powder particles can be eliminated by the method of calculation that uses the statistical-mathematical tools suggested by the authors of this article. The fact that both powders and bulk materials have a logarithmic-normal distribution of the probability of particle sizes is taken into account. The method that enables the calculation of the specific surface of powders and bulk materials is the subject of this article.