Patent ID: 6734965
Filing Date: 2004-05-11
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
A method of determining mass distribution within an ensemble of particles, comprising:directing a beam of excitation light into the ensemble, the beam propagating along an optical path within the ensemble; generating laser induced fluorescence (LIF) from particles along the optical path with the excitation light, the particles scattering and thereby attenuating the excitation light propagating along the optical path; comparing the amount of light exiting the ensemble against the amount of light entering the ensemble to determine the extent to which the excitation light is attenuated by the ensemble; detecting LIF originating from various points along the optical path with a detector to generate respective LIF signals; detecting scattered excitation light originating from various points along the optical path with a detector to generate respective scattered excitation light signals, wherein the scattered excitation light undergoes additional scattering as it propagates away from the optical path and towards the detector used to detect scattered excitation light; and computing the mass distribution of the particles along the optical path using said LIF signals and said scattered excitation light signals, while accounting for the attenuation of the excitation light propagating along the optical path and while accounting for said additional scattering of the scattered excitation light.