Image analysis of particle size: effect of light source type

Agitation of two immiscible liquids or solid-liquid suspension is a frequent operation in chemical and metallurgical industries. The sizes of particles, bubbles or droplets can be determined by the Image Analysis Technique. It is known that the quality of captured images depends significantly on the original image background that is mainly affected by the type of the light source. The aim of this contribution is to investigate the effect of light source type on image quality. The four types of light sources were tested: 1) 1000 W halogen lamp, 2) 72 W LED bar panel, 3) 60 W LED chip, and 4) 90 W LED chip. The illumination intensity and image background quality were investigated for each tested light sources. The effect of the shutter speed on evaluated particle sizes was tested using monodisperse spherical calibration particles having diameter of 1.19 mm. The difference observed between particle sizes evaluated by image analysis for given light source and declared calibration particle diameter was used as a measure of light source quality.