Detection of Flow and Bubble Size via Sound

Description

The transition towards digital chemical process industry implies an adequate availability of cheap measurement techniques e.g. to monitor the state of flow and particle size. In this work, an acoustic signal monitoring technology was developed to track the particle size in a bubble column enabling a real time detection of rising bubbles. A self-assembled hydrophone enabled a direct sound detection inside the liquid. The sound spectrum was analyzed using python scripts (Fig. 1) and transformed to a monitoring platform. At the moment, an online detection of small particles (up to e.g. 8 mm), medium sized particles up to (30 mm) and large bubbles (larger than 30 mm) enabled a first characterization of the flow inside columns of different diameter (DN50-DN450). A further analyzation of the sound of respective bubble sizes combined with machine learning will lead to enhancement of the size detection. A transition to other apparatuses, such as distillation columns, extraction columns, two-phase pumps, is easily possible and enables a further investigation and detection of flooding, flow regime and gas accumulation.

Period	13 Jun 2022
Event title	Workshop "Sensorik für die Digitalisierung chemischer Produktionsanlagen"
Event type	Conference
Location	GermanyShow on map