Measurement of particle size based on digital imaging technique

To improve the analysis methods for the measurement of the sediment particle sizes with a wide distribution and of irregular shapes, a sediment particle image measurement, an analysis system, and an extraction algorithm of the optimal threshold based on the gray histogram peak values are proposed. Recording the pixels of the sediment particles by labeling them, the algorithm can effectively separate the sediment particle images from the background images using the equivalent pixel circles with the same diameters to represent the sediment particles. Compared with the laser analyzer for the case of blue plastic sands, the measurement results of the system are shown to be reasonably similar. The errors are mainly due to the small size of the particles and the limitation of the apparatus. The measurement accuracy can be improved by increasing the Charge-Coupled Devices (CCD) camera resolution. The analysis method of the sediment particle images can provide a technical support for the rapid measurement of the sediment particle size and its distribution.