The Effects Of Tubing Length On Airborne Particulate Sampling

This content is brought to you by Beckman Coulter, a Danaher Operating Company.

Most monitoring plans treat tubing as plumbing, but its length and configuration can affect what a particle counter actually detects. Tests using Hytrel tubing from 0.5 m to 3 m examined straight runs, bends, and a vertical drop under ISO 21501-4 conditions. Compared with a 0.5 m reference, one particle size showed little response to the changes, while another produced a much more noticeable difference in one configuration. Two setups using higher flow rates and wider tubing showed a different pattern altogether. With ISO 14644-21 providing additional guidance for tubing runs beyond 1 m, the findings highlight why sampling-line design deserves careful consideration when planning a monitoring system.

Examine the data to see which tubing configurations held up and where particle loss became significant.