How long will it take to sort?

The answer to this question depends primarily on your goal (enrichment vs stringent purification), the nature of your cells (fragile cells or large cells need to be sorted at lower pressures and speeds with a larger nozzle), and the concentration of your sample (more dilute samples will take longer to sort).

For example, on the MoFlo cell sorter, we use the 100µm nozzle at 30psi. For primary lymphocytes we run samples at maximum flow rates of 10,000-13,000/second. For cell lines, we run samples 400- 4,000/second depending on the size of the cells. With the Aria cell sorters, we can run primary lymphocytes at 6,000-8,000/second with the 100 µm nozzle at 30psi, or at 9,000-10,000/second with the 70 µm nozzle at 60psi.

Again, for cell lines the flow rates will vary a lot depending on the size of cells. For example, if your cells are run at 10,000/second, it would take approximately 30 minutes to run a total of 18 million cells through the sorter. Using the above scenario, your theoretical yield is 18 million x 20% = 3.6 million. If you require stringent purity or your sample is of poor quality (low viability, clumping, etc), your actual yield will be lower.