FlowCam^® - Flow Imaging Microscopy Blog

The FlowCam has been used in marine and freshwater applications since its invention in 1999. Since then, it has been found to be valuable across many industries to evaluate microparticles of importance in medicine, manufacturing, and environmental disciplines. Rarely do we see these applications cross paths - where man-made particles are being analyzed in marine and freshwater environments. One example of this intersection is the study of microplastics, and the problems they cause for our oceans and marine life. 

An interview with Steve Bowen, Director of Sales, Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies

What is particle analysis?

Particle analysis involves taking a sample of a substance and analyzing the individual particles of the sample. The basic goal is to determine the constituents of a mixture and to differentiate between particles in the sample. Typical measurements of particles that are of interest include: particle size distribution, particle count, various measurements of particle shape, and particle concentration.

This year, in lieu of their annual conference and exhibition, Powder & Bulk Solids hosted a virtual conference: The Powder Show: Digital Flow.

Steve Bowen, Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Technologies Director of Sales, presented a short webinar at this event, titled "Measuring Sphericity & Aggregates of Powders Dispersed in Fluids". The talk is still available to view, alongside other presentations, on The Powder Show website.

On Tuesday, October 13th, at 3pm CDT, Yokogawa Fluid Imaging Sales Director, Steve Bowen, will be presenting a webinar on Flow Imaging Microscopy at the NAPIM (National Association of Printer Ink Manufacturers) Fall Technical Conference, part of InkWeek 2020.

Register for the conference here.

Metal Additive Manufacturing (also known as 3-D printing) requires carefully engineered compound metal powders in order to make high-quality end products. Authors Farzadfar et al. have determined a process for manufacturing a bimodal powder that has both the desired particle density and still flows freely.

Hunting Energy Services (HES), Subsea Technologies Division, is a manufacturer of subsea hydraulic products for the oil and gas industry. Their suite of hydraulic valve products includes applications for drilling control, production control, and Intervention Workover Control Systems (IWOCS).

A research group at Iowa State University is studying the use of Magnetic Ionic Liquids (MILs) as a tool to isolate foodborne pathogens in liquid suspensions. Previously, they showed the ability of MILs to capture a species of Salmonella.

Their new work, published in the current issue of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, extends the previous work on MILs to the capture of several Gram-negative bacteria of importance to food, agricultural and clinical testing, including subspecies of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7.

What CAN'T be run through the FlowCam? The list below shows the majority of substances that have been imaged and analyzed on the FlowCam over the course of our 20 year history. Is your application on the list? If not, send us a sample, and we'll add it! Keep reading below to learn more about some of our favorite applications.

High-performance liquid chromatographyis a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify each component in a mixture. It relies on pumps that pass a pressurized liquid solvent containing the sample mixture through a column filled with a solid adsorbent material. Each component in the sample interacts slightly differently with the adsorbent material, causing different flow rates for the different components and leading to the separation of the components as they flow out of the column.

We use our Flow Imaging Microscopy blog as a platform to bring you relevant news and academic research, as well as highlighting developments and new uses of FlowCam technology. This year we published 68 blog posts on a large variety of subjects. Keep reading to see the countdown to the most popular post of 2019.