[Rockhounds] Elutriation

[Jim Murowchick]

Flint-
RE: tube diameters--yeah, I was thinking about it after I sent the
description, and it seems like the the diameters should increase downstream,
so the fastest flow would would occur with the largest or densest particles
in the first U, and by the time the fines were collecting, the flow would be
slower and they could settle out.

As for not working, apparently it did. It was used to make mineral separates
from small samples of mixed mineral grains. There's a similar apparatus that
uses recirculating heavy liquid to concentrate zircons for analysis
(radiometric dating).

Since I haven't seen these things in labs all over the place, I suspect that
they are not as efficient or easy to use as sieves or other methods of
mineral separation. But for tinkerers, DIYers, and unfunded academics, it
might work well enough.  I have a project coming up that might be able to
make use of it.

Jim


On 1/7/09 5:36 PM, "Flint Smith" <flint...smith at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Well, that looks horrible.
> 
> Basically, it's a series of pipe sections connected to larger sections above
> using reducers.  At each junction there's a ball valve to redirect flow to a
> collection container.
> 
> (Is there a different name for a pipe reducer when you use it to make a pipe
> bigger?)
> 
> 
> 
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