Multi-measurement system of gravitational flow process in slim large-scale silo

Grudzieł Krzysztofa, Chaniecki Zbigniewa, Rybak Grzegorza, Niedostatkiewicz Maciejb, Matusiak Bartosza, Romanowski Andrzeja

aInstitute of Applied Computer Science, Lodz University of Technology, Poland

bDepartment of the Fundamentals of Building and Material Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology

Abstract

Monitoring and diagnosis is the most important issue related to the management of the industrial process. In case of bulk solids concentration changes over time enables to control the accuracy of silo unloading and leads to ensure safety of the container structure and safety of the silo surroundings. Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) provides a unique opportunity for non-invasive, real-time imaging and diagnosis of industrial processes of low permittivity media, and has been recently applied to flows in silos, pipes or vessels. However, in regard to silosprevious works focused on investigation of gravitational flow in small silo models only. This paper presents the effective practical method monitoring of flow in large-scale silo during exploitation process. Results of application of the ECT, together with the continuous measurements of weight and oscillations of material, for monitoring the loading and unloading the silo, containing the polymer granulate, are shown.

Keywords: silo mass flow; 2D ECT visualisation; dynamic vibration