I do not want to change the chemical properties of fine materials.
Dilip Kumar Pal - what do you mean? Ebrahim Sangsefidi is asking about how to separate the material that passes through the 200 mesh - your answer makes no sense.
I agree with Ian, settling velocities is the simplest method to isolate very fine grain sizes. If all you are interested in is particle size distribution a laser particle size analysers can do that for you.
Ebrahim,
Fabel & Ian has suggested best way to separate these three fractions. I think laser particle size analyser would provide better result than normal settling method.
You can also check this book 'Techniques in Archaeological Geology" by Ervan Garrison
Sedimentation technique using settling velocities can be done by the pipette method, if you do not have an instrument such a Sedigraph or a Laser
You should run hydrometer analysis on the fine fraction to complete the grain size distribution curve. The clay fraction is the percent finer than 0.002 mm, or the percent passing 0.005 mm if the unified soil classification system is used. You can first get the percent of fines(passing No200 sieve),then get the percent of clay and subtract it from the percent of fines to get the percent of silt. There is no such classification as coarse clay and fine clay.However, you can separate the clay fraction according to particle size.
Ebrahim, While we didn't actually do it, we considered using a device intended for bitumen particle size measurement, as bitumen emulsion, for a similar task. The plan was to disperse the fine aggregate in water and then use device, considering the aggregate particles like bitumen particles suspended in a water-based emulsion.
As I said, we didn't actually try this, but the bitumen emulsion lab people saw no reason for it not to work. Assuming you have access to an emulsion lab, it would be worth a try.
Cheers, Greg
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