CPC G01N 15/1429 (2013.01) [G01N 9/02 (2013.01); G01N 2015/1043 (2013.01); G01N 2015/1087 (2013.01)] | 16 Claims |
1. A differential emissivity imaging device for measuring evaporable particle properties, comprising:
a) a heated plate with an upper surface oriented to receive falling evaporable particles, the evaporable particles having a particle emissivity and the upper surface having a plate surface emissivity;
b) a thermal camera oriented to produce a thermal image of the upper surface;
c) at least one memory device including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the imaging device to:
i. identify individual evaporable particles from the thermal image by identifying differences between the particle emissivity and the plate surface emissivity,
ii. determine a plate surface radiative temperature and a droplet radiative temperature as a function of a time until the droplet is evaporated,
iii. determine a surface area of the droplet, and
iv. calculate a mass of the individual evaporable particle via heat conduction using the surface area and the time; and
d) an output interface to communicate the evaporable particle properties including the mass to an output device.
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