Method for Volume of Irregular Shape Pellets Estimation Using 2D Imaging Measurement

Abstract

Growing population and decreasing amount of cultivated land conditions the increase of fertilizer demand. With the advancements of computerized equipment, more complex methods can be used for solving complex mathematical problems. In the fertilizer industry, the granulometric composition of products matters as much as the quality of production of chemical composition products. The shape and size of pellets determines their distribution over cultivated land areas. The effective distance of field spreading is directly related to the size and shape parameters of a pellet. Therefore, the monitoring of production in production lines is essential. The standard direct methods of the monitoring and control of granulometric composition requires too much time and human resources. These factors can be eliminated by using imaging measuring methods that have a variety of benefits, but require additional research in order to assure and determine the compliance of real-time results with results of the control equipment. One of the fastest, most flexible and largest amount of data providing methods is the processing and analysis of digital images. However, then we face the issue of the suitability of 2D images to be used for the evaluation of granulometric compositions, where processing of digital images provides only two dimensions of a pellet: length and width. This study proposes a method of evaluating an irregular pellet. After experimental research we determined < 2% of discrepancy when compared to the real volume of a pellet.