THE USE OF COMPUTERIZED MICROSCOPIC IMAGE-ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE EMULSION DROPLET SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS

The use of computerized microscope image analysis technique to determine the droplet size distribution in emulsion samples is described. Corrections must be applied to the two-dimensional image in order to obtain the concentrations of each range of particle sizes present in the sample. Particle size distributions of standard polystyrene latex particles and a crude oil-in-water emulsion obtained using this technique are compared with those obtained using Coulter counting and a laser diffraction method. Satisfactory agreement between all three methods is found. © 1990.