Methods of determining the properties of a fluid body

A method of determining the properties of a fluid body in the form of a surface-attached droplet/bubble, the method comprising:

• (a) storing, in a memory accessible by a processing apparatus, a set of data describing a plurality of droplets/bubbles of different shapes, wherein each shape is captured in said data set as a combination of two or more linear dimensional measurements, and wherein for each shape the data set includes one or more parameters describing the relationship between the physical properties of a pair of fluids capable of forming said shape when a first of said fluids is a surface-attached droplet/bubble disposed in a surrounding medium of the second of said fluids;
• (b) providing a fluid body as a surface-attached droplet/bubble of a first fluid in a surrounding medium of a different second fluid;
• (c) measuring a plurality of linear dimensional measurements of said fluid body;
• (d) providing said measurements as an input to a processing apparatus;
• and
• (e) said processing apparatus determining from said data set said one or more parameters associated with the shape described by said linear dimensional measurements;
• wherein the two or more linear dimensional measurements are normalised measurements, the two or more linear measurements are normalised against a further linear measurement of the bubble/drop, and the further linear measurement is a base diameter or base radius of the bubble drop at a surface to which it is attached;
• wherein a bubble of said gas in said liquid or a droplet of said liquid in said gas is used in step (b),
• wherein the resultant shape of the bubble/droplet is encompassed within the data set in step (a),
• wherein the one or more parameters describing the relationship between the physical properties of a pair of fluids include at least one parameter based on interfacial surface tension, said at least one parameter being determined in step (e).

A non-transitory computer program product comprising instructions encoded on a data carrier which, when executed in a computing system, implement operations that comprise:

• (a) receive as an input a plurality of linear dimensional measurements of a droplet/bubble;
• (b) access a memory storing a set of data describing a plurality of droplets/bubbles of different shapes, wherein each shape is captured in said data set as a combination of two or more linear dimensional measurements, and wherein for each shape the data set includes one or more parameters describing the relationship between the physical properties of a pair of fluids capable of forming said shape when a first of said fluids is a surface-attached droplet/bubble disposed in a surrounding medium of the second of said fluids;
• (c) determining from said data set said one or more parameters associated with the shape described by said linear dimensional measurements received as an input;
• and
• (d) providing as an output said one or more parameters;
• wherein the two or more linear dimensional measurements are normalised measurements, the two or more linear measurements are normalised against a further linear measurement of the bubble/drop, and the further linear measurement is a base diameter or base radius of the bubble drop at a surface to which it is attached.

An apparatus for determining the properties of a fluid body in the form of a surface-attached droplet/bubble, comprising:

• (a) a memory storing a set of data describing a plurality of droplets/bubbles of different shapes, wherein each shape is captured in said data set as a combination of two or more linear dimensional measurements, and wherein for each shape the data set includes one or more parameters describing the relationship between the physical properties of a pair of fluids capable of forming said shape when a first of said fluids is a surface-attached droplet/bubble disposed in a surrounding medium of the second of said fluids;
• (b) a processor programmed to receive as an input, a plurality of linear dimensional measurements of a fluid body as a surface-attached droplet/bubble of a first fluid in a surrounding medium of a different second fluid providing said measurements as an input to a processing apparatus;
• and
• (c) a program causing said processor to determine from said data set said one or more parameters associated with the shape described by said linear dimensional measurements, wherein the two or more linear dimensional measurements are normalised measurements, the two or more linear measurements are normalised against a further linear measurement of the bubble/drop, and the further linear measurement is a base diameter or base radius of the bubble drop at a surface to which it is attached.