The Malvern 2200/3300 Particle Sizer is a laser-based optical particle sizing device which utilizes the principle of Fraunhofer Diffraction as the means of particle size measurement. The instrument is designed to analyze particle sizes in the range of 1 to 1800 microns diameter through a selection of lenses for the receiving optics. It is not a single-particle counter but rather an ensemble average over the distribution of particles present in the measuring volume. Through appropriate measurement techniques, the instrument can measure the volumetric size distribution of: solids in gas or liquid suspension; liquid droplets in gas or other immiscible liquids; and, gas bubbles in liquid. (Malvern Handbook, Version 1.5). This report details a limited laboratory evaluation of the Malvern system to determine its operational characteristics, limitations, and accuracy. This investigation focused on relatively small particles in the range of 5 to 150 microns. Primarily, well characterized particles of coal in a coal and water mixture were utilized, but a selection of naturally occurring, industrially generated, and standard samples (i.e., glass beads) were also tested. The characteristic size parameter from the Malvern system for each of these samples was compared with the results of a Coulter particle counter (Model TA II) analysis to determine the size measurement accuracy. Most of the particulate samples were suspended in a liquid media (water or isoton, plus a dispersant) for the size characterization. Specifically, the investigations contained in this report fall into four categories: (a) Sample-to-lense distance and sample concentration studies, (b) studies testing the applicability to aerosols, (c) tests of the manufacturer supplied software, and (d) size measurement comparisons with the results of Coulter analysis. 5 references, 15 figures, 2 tables.