Evaluación Morfológica de Pellets de Polietileno mediante Análisis de Imágenes Digitales

Abstract

In this paper, a method to characterize six types of commercial polyethylene pellets by digital image analysis is proposed. By using the ImageJ software, the size and shape of the particles (assumed as cylinders) are defined. For each type of pellet, two alternative procedures are proposed to calculate the diameter and height of each cylinder from photographs of the lateral surfaces of the particles. By comparing the obtained values with a) direct measurements of diameter and height and b) diameters derived from photographs of the pellets front face (found with Image J), it is concluded which of the procedures is more reliable. Then, the procedure is validated by comparison of the calculated volume equivalent diameters with experimental values. The results show that it is possible to use digital image analysis to characterize particles whose morphology is close to that of an ideal cylinder.