How small is a micron ?
Have we ever wondered how small is a micron? 1micron is 1/25,000 of an inch or 1/1,000,000 of a meter. And we could only see anything more than a 40 micron!
Small particles, either in the air or settled out into a liquid stream, are perfectly capable of sticking between adjacent machinery surfaces and causing wear, or of collecting together to block a liquid passage and so interfere with flow.
A human hair measures 80 to 100 microns in diameter, pollen is approximately 30 micron, and a house dust mite is 9 micron which is invisible with our naked eyes.
Figure 1.1 shows diameter of particles and aerosols of impurities in air. The kinds of impurity carried in the atmospheric air vary widely in size, with the greater proportion being invisible to the naked eye. Such small particles, either in the air or settled out into a liquid steam, are perfectly capable of sticking between adjacent machinery surfaces and causing wear, or of collecting together to block a liquid passage and so interfere with flow.
The separation of such contaminants from working or process fluids is very largely a task for filtration. Connect us for a discussion if you are having some contaminants issue with your process fluids.
Source: Filters and Filtration Handbook 5th Edition by Ken Sutherland
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