Development of a Signal Prediction Based ECT-System for Precise Flow Velocity Measurement

Anton Fuchs and Bernhard Brandstätter

Christian Doppler Laboratory for Automotive Measurement Research Located at the Institute of Measurement and Measurement Signal Processing,

Kopernikusgasse 24/4, A-8010, Graz, Austria, Email: brand@ieee.org

ABSTRACT

The mass flow measurement of particulate solids with fractions of quartz, transported with high velocities, requires a non-invasive measurement principle. For mass flow measurements of high density bulk solids, the application of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is efficient as well as cost effective. Conventional ECT systems for flow velocity measurement rely on the measurement of inhomogeneities, excited by transportation processes, leading to erroneous measurements of about up to ten percent. In this paper a novel method of determining the flow velocity of powders with high precision is developed. The method relies on predicting the signal effected by perturbations of the relative permittivity inside a closed tube, caused by periodic injections of fluids, on the basis of capacitance tomography images.

Keywords Powder, Flow Velocity, Disturbance, Prediction