Bettersize Instruments announces the issuance of United States Patent No. 12,680,936 B2. The patent protects a method utilizing optical path difference for the analytical calculation of particle size gradation and solid content in two-phase flows. This patented Differential Path Measurement technology is the core operational framework of the DeepSizer 300, a specialized laser particle size analyzer for continuous underwater and atmospheric monitoring.

Overcoming Dynamic Background Interference

Traditional submersible optical sensors struggle with highly variable water conditions and rapid test window lens contamination, which inevitably corrupts data in liquid-solid two-phase flows. Because a pure background baseline cannot be established in active rivers or ports, standard instruments rely on fixed penalties that fail as natural conditions shift.

The methodology detailed in US Patent 12,680,936 B2 resolves this by dynamically altering the measurement area to collect scattered light intensity and extinction values at both a long optical path (L₁) and a short optical path (L₂). By mathematically subtracting the short path signal from the long path signal, the DeepSizer 300 strips away the entire shared background variable—including the severe optical noise of a fouled lens.

Long Optical Path

Short Optical Path

This algorithmic environmental compensation yields a pure scattered light intensity signal, allowing the instrument to execute accurate Mie scattering theory inversions and solid content calculations without ever requiring a pure medium measurement step.

Operational Impact for Field Hydrology

By isolating true particle data from background interference, the DeepSizer 300 provides critical advantages for field engineering teams: