Method and apparatus for detection of particle size in a fluid

A particle imaging system, comprising:

• a first imaging device including:
• a lens;
• and
• a digital detector;
• an encapsulating section including an inlet configured to receive particles and an outlet configured to allow particles to exit the encapsulating section;
• and
• a laser source configured to produce a first laser beam and a second laser beam, wherein the digital detector is configured to accumulate a metric of an intensity of an accumulated light that passes through the lens, the accumulated light is diffracted from the particle and contains light from the first laser beam passing through the lens and accumulated by the digital detector at a first time and contains light from the second laser beam passing through the lens and accumulated by the digital detector at a second time occurring after the first time.

A method of determining particle size, comprising:

• producing a first laser beam and a second laser beam from a laser source;
• separating the second laser beam from the first laser beam by a distance;
• and
• passing the first laser beam through an encapsulating section, the encapsulating section configured to allow a particle to flow therethrough;
• accumulating, by a digital detector, a first metric of a first intensity of a first light that passes through a lens of an imaging device, the first light diffracted from a particle that passes through the first laser beam at a first time;
• accumulating, by the digital detector, a second metric of a second intensity of a second light that passes through the lens of the imaging device, the second light diffracted from the particle that passes through the second laser beam at a second time occurring after the first time, and wherein each of the first light and the second light pass through the lens;
• and
• classifying a particle size based upon the first metric and the second metric.