A simple method to characterize surface area and volume for irregularly shaped particles is described. Individual particles were isolated and held stationary at the center of an electrodynamic balance. The particles were backlit at right angles from the side and bottom and the stable images were projected orthogonally onto two video imaging systems. The side video image field was reduced to a set of 20 to 30 number pairs that were used to reconstruct the image and obtain the particle's projected area, breadth, and length. Particle thickness information was obtained from the top video image field. From the projected area, breadth, length, and thickness measurements, particle surface area and volume were determined based on conventions established by Heywood. The mean surface area and volume for 21 coal particles thus found were validated by comparison with the mean values from a sophisticated 3D method developed recently and the agreement was within +-4percent.
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