Assuming spherical particles, the mean based on counts of 10.2 μm is equivalent to 15 μm based on volume, see supplementary data for further details. TCA synthesised by Whittington et al. (1997) where a median particle size of 11 μm was cited [7]. Silvia et al. also mentioned that as the reaction time is increased from 30 to 120 min the median particle size increases from 6 μm to 10 μm. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the number of particles with size less than 10 μm in diameter decreased throughout the reaction due to lime disappearing and agglomeration of fine TCA sub-particles