Sizing of microdrops

Abstract

Several techniques for determining the size of small fluid microdrops with diameter ranging from 5 µm to 30 µm have been developed and evaluated using an automated variation on the Millikan oil drop experiment. The average diameter of a large sample of monodisperse fluid drops was determined by measuring their terminal velocity in air, or if charged, their motion under the influence of an electric field, as well as by measurement of the magnitude of their Brownian motion. The diameter of individual drops was determined optically, by direct observation using an imaging system based on a coupled device (CCD) camera. The technique used to analyze the image data is based on a best fit technique taking the point spread function (PSF) of the lens into account, and yields results accurate to 1% (based on a single image) without the need for any calibration. By combining this technique with terminal velocity measurements, the density of the fluid can be determined to similar accuracy.