Comparative study of electrostatic sensors with circular and probe electrodes for velocity measurement of pulverised coal

This paper presents recent progress on the velocity measurement of pulverised coal in pneumatic pipelines using electrostatic sensors in combination with correlation signal processing techniques.A comparative study of electrostatic sensors with circular and probe electrodes was conducted on a 94 mm bore horizontal pipeline in a 4 MW furnace.The advantages and limitations of both sensors are discussed.Experimental results demonstrate that both sensors are capable of providing pulverised coal velocity measurement with excellent repeatability and dynamic response.     

Mass flow measurement of pneumatically conveyed solids using radiometric sensors

This paper describes the design and experimental evaluation of a novel radiometric instrumentation system that has been recently developed for the measurement of velocity, concentration and mass flow rate of solids in a pneumatic pipeline. The system employs a novel multi-beam, micro-sensing field interrogating the entire pipe cross-section to accommodate the irregularity of the solids velocity profile and inhomogeneity of the solids distribution within the pipeline. Experimental results obtained on a pneumatic conveyer circulating ilmenite powder demonstrate that the system is capable of detecting various velocity profiles and solids distributions across the pipe section and providing an absolute mass flow rate of solids within a good agreement to the reference reading from load cells.     

Review of certain key issues in indirect measurements of the mass flow rate of solids in pneumatic conveying pipelines

On-line mass flow measurement of particulate solids in pneumatic conveying pipeline is a technically challenging area, where mass flow measurement presents a range of problems. These problems are not normally relevant to a single phase flow, but are always involved in gas–solids two-phase flows, like inhomogeneous distribution of solids over the pipe cross section, irregular velocity profiles, variations in particle size, moisture content, and deposition of fine particles on the inner wall of the pipeline. These variables may affect the response of a solids flow meter in ill-defined ways. All of these make the design and the calibration of solids’ mass flowmeter more difficult. Based on a review of non-invasive mass flow measurements of particulate solids, this paper summarizes and highlights several key issues, which often rely on structures of sensors or measurement methods, in indirect mass flow metering of pneumatically conveyed solids. They are: (i) spatial filtering effect; (ii) averaging effect; (iii) measurement resolution and sensitivity of array structures in tomography sensors.     

离子交换聚合金属材料在匀速流中的传感实验研究

离子聚合物金属复合材料IPMC(Ion-exchange polymer metal composite,IPMC)具有驱动和传感功能。本文利用IPMC的传感能力，设计了一种海流速度信息传感器，基于3种模型分别使用ANSYS和MATLAB软件对不同条件的情况进行仿真，并设计测试系统进行实验，分析验证了片状IPMC在均匀流速下的传感能力。研究结果表明：片状IPMC的初始稳定电压以及测量灵敏度均与材料面积正相关；随着流速的增大，IPMC达到稳定输出电压的时间缩短，且材料输出电压在达到稳定前与时间呈现二次多项式函数关系，函数最大值即为实验所测得的稳定输出电压；各组次实验的重复性良好。     

组合支撑方式下气动多维力多点测量研究

飞行器的设计通常需以其模型在风洞试验中所获取的气动载荷为依据.对于大尺寸、大长径比的飞行器模型,其测试空间受限,常规支撑装置与测量方法难以满足风洞试验的尺寸与动态特性要求.针对上述问题,以压电传感器为核心测试元件,提出了一种结合张线支撑和尾部支撑的组合支撑方式,开发了一种支撑装置与测试元件一体化的气动多维力测试系统.分...     

PC-based gas-solids two-phase mass flowmeter for pneumatically conveying systems

The development and performance of a PC-based instrumentation system for measuring the mass flow rate of gas-solid flow in a pneumatically conveying system have been discussed in this paper. A laboratory scale pneumatic conveyor incorporating facilities for calibration has been fabricated for this purpose. The test section is a vertical plexiglass tube of diameter 12.7 mm with an upward flow direction and sand has been used as the solid phase. The principle of measurement is based on inferential technique. Instantaneous velocity and concentration of the bulk solids are measured using a pair of electrodynamic sensors and a capacitance sensor, respectively. Several modifications of the existing technique of measurement have been suggested.     

金属颗粒的电容式速度测量方法研究

针对金属材料在静电场中呈现出的特殊性,设计了一种用于检测管道中金属颗粒速度的电容式传感器.首先,基于多电极理论建立了电容传感器测量金属物质的数学模型,在此基础上,使用COMSOL Multiphysics有限元分析工具建立了传感器三维仿真模型,并对其空间灵敏度分布特性进行了分析.然后,基于该传感器的空间滤波效应对金属颗...     

自驱动关节臂坐标测量机模块化关节设计

传统的关节臂测量机工作时是依靠工作人员牵拉实现运动和测量,存在路径规划不佳、主观性误差大、测量效率低等问题很难适应智能制造对在线自动测量系统的新要求。本文提出了利用含有无刷电机、谐波减速器及精密轴系的模块化关节构成自驱动关节臂坐标测量机的构想,并对模块化关节进行了构型设计,建立了单关节扭矩估算模型,在此基础上选择了关节2的电机和谐波减速器,设计了关节模块的测控电路,研制了单关节部件样机并进行了重复性实验。其中单方向测量数据表明,为保证较小的测量重复性误差,关节在运动时应尽量避免速度或加速度突变的运动形式;双方向测量的数据表明,当控制电机运动速率小于1.53rad/s时,测头因回弹产生误触发信号的概率较小,此时最大误差数据为±2.11″。上述实验也验证了模块化关节设计方案的可行性,为后续自驱动关节臂坐标测量机整机研制提供了理论和实验依据。     

Development of an air velocity and flow measurement system by using a novel circular disc

In this paper, development of a sensor using a circular disc for air velocity measurement based on the drag force equation is proposed. The air velocity measurement sensor is basically designed with a load cell in order to determine the drag force. The circular disc is used for creating a drag force, and by using load cell, the drag force that acts on the circular disc is measured. As the circular disc's drag coefficient can be considered constant at Reynolds numbers between 10³ and 10⁶, it can be possible to obtain the explicit equation of drag force. The remaining components of drag force equation are obtained by measurement. The proposed air velocity measurement sensor is characterized by wind tunnel measurements. All measurements were performed in an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration laboratory – the Wind Tunnel of Turkish State Meteorological Service. The characterization measurements were performed at air velocities between 1 m/s and 20 m/s. The correction factors were calculated and a calibration curve for the proposed air velocity measurement sensor was obtained. The calibration curve's linearity was higher than 0.99 and a comparison the results from a Micromanometer with Pitot-Tube shows that for the designed working range, the sensor has an acceptable performance for time-averaged air velocity measurements according to the requirements of the World Meteorological Organization.     

小流量电液伺服阀叠合量气动测量台的研制

为了提高小流量电液伺服阀叠合量的测量效率,实现叠合量气动测量过程的自动化,分析了电液伺服阀叠合量气动测量方法的原理及特点,采用压力式和流量式气动测量方法实现阀芯自动对中和叠合量自动精确测量。从机械结构设计和控制系统方案上提出了自动化策略,研制了一套小流量电液伺服阀叠合量气动测量台,实现叠合量高精度测量的全过程自动化。通过实验和工程实践验证,该测量台的叠合量测量精度达到±0.5 μm,且重复精度达到±0.5 μm。     

Study and industrial evaluation of mass flow measurement of pulverized coal for iron-making production

This paper described a measurement system for mass flow measurement of pulverized coal in a blast furnace coal injection system. The system mainly consists of a volumetric concentration sensor and a velocity sensor. The concentration sensor is a capacitance sensor which has two pairs of concave electrodes placed axially on a piece of pipe of oxide of aluminum with different orientation to get being less affected by flow regime; the velocity sensor is also based on capacitance sensing principle, but uses “passing time difference method” which records the time at which each flowing cloud of coal powder passes through upstream and downstream sensor and then calculates the time difference to get the transit time for the cloud to travel between the two sensors. Both of the experiments in the laboratory and on the spot showed the measurement system has industrially acceptable performance.     

Thermo-mechanical analysis in pulsed laser cladding of WC powder on Inconel 718

The increasing interest towards intelligent systems has led to a demand for the development of zero-defect strategies, with a paradigm shift from off-line and dedicated to in-line metrology with integrated robotic systems. However, a major barrier preventing the systematic uptake of in-line metrology is the lack of evaluation of system capability in terms of accuracy, repeatability and measurement time, when compared to the well-established coordinate measuring machine (CMM). In this study, a robotic Laser Radar (LR) solution is assessed in the context of automotive dimensional inspection of Body-In-White (BIW) applications. The objective is both to understand the effect of robot re-positioning error on measurement accuracy and repeatability and to compare measurement results against a CMM. Eighty-one surface points, six edge points, twenty-five holes and sixteen slots were selected from an industry standard measurement plan. Whilst LR exhibits a lower measurement accuracy than twin-column CMM, its repeatability is well within the specification limits for body shell quality inspection. Therefore, as a real-time in-line metrology tool, it is a genuine prospect to exploit. This research makes a significant contribution toward in-line metrology for dimensional inspection, for automotive application, for rapid detection and for correction of assembly defects in real time, with subsequent reduction of scrap and number of repairs/re-works.     

Study on electrodynamic sensor of multi-modality system for multiphase flow measurement

Accurate measurement of multiphase flows, including gas/solids, gas/liquid, and liquid/liquid flows, is still challenging. In principle, electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) can be used to measure the concentration of solids in a gas/solids flow and the liquid (e.g., oil) fraction in a gas/liquid flow, if the liquid is non-conductive. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) can be used to measure a gas/liquid flow, if the liquid is conductive. It has been attempted to use a dual-modality ECT/ERT system to measure both the concentration profile and the velocity profile by pixel-based cross correlation. However, this approach is not realistic because of the dynamic characteristics and the complexity of multiphase flows and the difficulties in determining the velocities by cross correlation. In this paper, the issues with dual modality ECT/ERT and the difficulties with pixel-based cross correlation will be discussed. A new adaptive multi-modality (ECT, ERT and electro-dynamic) sensor, which can be used to measure a gas/solids or gas/liquid flow, will be described. Especially, some details of the electrodynamic sensor of multi-modality system such as sensing electrodes optimum design, electrostatic charge amplifier, and signal processing will be discussed. Initial experimental results will be given.     

气缸冲击动力学建模与仿真分析

将气缸在行程末端的冲击问题看成一个由细长活塞杆、质量负载、活塞以及端盖组成的振动系统。首先应用弹性体的一维波动方程建立细长活塞杆纵向振动变形的数学模型,用模态叠加方法解析了冲击力、接触位移以及接触时间。然后利用非线性有限元软件LS-DYNA对气缸冲击过程进行数值仿真计算分析,详细研究了当驱动负载质量以及活塞初始冲击速度不同时,活塞冲击接触面接触合力和接触作用时间的变化情况。对比分析了理论解析解与LS-DYNA数值解,验证了解析解的准确性,得出了冲击力分别随速度和负载的变化规律;进一步对冲击振动响应进行了频率分析,并研究了气缸冲击力的变化原因。研究结果为气缸的设计和使用提供了理论和实际参考。     

DETERMINATION OF CONCENTRATION AND TEMPERATURE BY A FABRY-PEROT CAVITY FORMED BY TWO FIBER BRAGG GRATINGS

A sensing system based on a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by two fiber Bragg gratings for simultaneous measurements of temperature and liquid concentration is reported. Detailed analysis and discussion of the spectral transmission characteristics of the device are provided based on Coupled-Mode Theory. Through numerical simulation of spectral transmission, reflection spectra are shown to be influenced by the grating and Fabry-Perot cavity lengths, and sensing properties of temperature and liquid concentration are studied. A fast Fourier transform based demodulation method that simultaneously demodulates temperature and liquid concentration signals of the device was studied. The use of the fast Fourier transform provides absolute measurements with high sensitivity. The temperature sensitivity was 0.0104 nm/°C, the resolution was 1°C, the error of repeatability was 4%, the hysteresis was less than 0.010 nm, and the sensitivity of the measurement on liquid reflection was 0.01%.     

Experimental and numerical study of the flow characteristics of a novel olive-shaped flowmeter (OSF)

A novel differential pressure flowmeter with an olive-shaped flowmeter (OSF) is proposed and investigated both experimentally and numerically. The streamline, pressure and velocity are obtained and numerically analysed. The results indicate that the proposed OSF exhibits less permanent pressure loss than the orifice plate flowmeter (OPF). The pressure also tends to be more stable in the OSF, which ensures high measurement accuracy and repeatability. The OSF is superior to the OPF in terms of relative pressure loss, streamline distribution, pressure distribution and velocity distribution. In the experiment, an oil pump transported diesel oil into the measurement pipe, through the check valve, filter, pressure-regulating container, and flow-regulating valve, before it was finally returned to the fuel tank. The experimental results showed that the pressure loss of the OSF was only about 14.94% of that of the OPF under the same conditions. The pressure loss curve of the OPF increased rapidly by up to 2,700 Pa with each 1 m³/h increase in the flow rate, whereas that of the OSF increased only slightly.     

A system to estimate coarse particle velocities at the pipe wall in settling slurry flow

Understanding and modelling of coarse particle (settling) slurries in laminar flow in pipes is still not complete. Better analytical procedures will enable more efficient pipeline operation which could result in significant power savings in the transport of coarse materials. The depth and velocity of the settled bed significantly affect the pressure gradients required to pump these slurries and knowledge of these parameters is of importance. Existing measurement techniques that can be used for monitoring of these complex fluid systems are either very expensive, not easy to implement or mostly used under controlled laboratory conditions. A new measurement system was developed that is capable of detecting the deposition of solids, the depth of a settled bed and the velocity of coarse particles at the pipe wall, around the pipe circumference. Particle velocities were determined by cross-correlating modulated signals from pairs of electrodes mounted flush with the pipe wall, in contact with the slurry. Tests were conducted using a mixture of acetal beads in water, at bulk velocities between 0.5 and 4 m/s. Estimated particle velocities from the cross-correlation analyses were compared with those obtained using a 30 fps video camera combined with visual inspection, and found to be within ±6%, thus validating the viability of the system. Particle velocity resolution using the cross-correlation technique is limited by block size, sample rate and the measurement distance between electrode pairs. Further test work with a range of real slurries (different particle sizes, solids concentrations and rheologies) needs to be conducted, along with more extensive verification of the results, to establish the limits of the system. Initial testing and evaluation of the system, which is capable of coarse particle flow monitoring in real time, showed significant potential for development of a new commercial sliding bed detector that can be used in a wide range of industrial applications in which particles are transported hydraulically.     

Measurement of friction force in pneumatic cylinders

Although the performance and reliability of pneumatic cylinders depend to a great extent on the friction generated at the seals, the friction characteristics have not been widely studied. Both the literature and manufacturers' catalogues rarely discuss the friction characteristics of pneumatic cylinders, and the lack of friction models limits the design, optimisation, and analysis of pneumatic cylinder systems. In seeking to improve the characteristics of pneumatic cylinders and to clarify the friction phenomenon, this paper describes friction force measurement tests carried out in pneumatic cylinders of six different diameters, from 32 to 100 mm. An experimental apparatus was designed to assess the effect of a broad range of operating conditions, where the velocity and pressure of the cylinder chambers are controlled independently. Measurements of friction force are shown for velocities of up to 0.5 m/s and pressures of up to 0.8 MPa. The data obtained will be useful for developing a suitable friction model, and the experimental apparatus will allow study of the effects on the friction force of different types of seal, lubricant, and cylinder barrel.     

基于自适应滤波的气/固两相流固体颗粒速度测量方法

本文把自适应滤波应用于气固两相流固体颗粒速度测量。对安装于方形气力输送管道上的静电传感器输出信号,采用自适应滤波计算流动噪声在上下游静电传感器间的渡越时间,结合传感器对的安装尺寸,测得管道中固体颗粒的流速。采用自适应时延估计缘于它的诸多优点,基于参数模型估计理论,算法相对简单,对各种统计特性的信号和干扰噪声适应性强,能在较强的干扰背景下获得较好的时延估计。为验证理论的可行性,分别利用仿真信号和方形管道实验平台的实测信号进行了实验,结果表明自适应滤波适用于气力输送管道中固体颗粒的速度测量。     

Concentration measurement with thermal probe for pulverized coal in the pneumatic pipeline of power plant

The concentration measurement of pulverized coal in a pneumatic pipeline is a challenging issue in power plant. A thermal probe manufactured with abrasion-proof steel was developed for coal concentration measurement in such a situation. The probe generates 15 W of heat. This method is based on the heat transfer between the thermal probe and the gas–solid two-phase flow. Experiments were conducted in a horizontal pneumatic pipeline to assess the accuracy of the thermal probe, where the gas was air and the solid was pulverized coal with mean diameter of 65 µm. The wall temperature of the thermal probe was found to be dependent on both coal powder concentration and air velocity. A new heat transfer correlation was proposed in terms of the modified Reynolds and Nusselt numbers for the gas–solid two-phase flow across the thermal probe. In the range of coal powder concentration from 0.1 to 0.65 kg/kg, the standard deviation is 0.01 kg/kg for the thermal probe. The thermal probe has potential application for concentration measurement of pulverized coal in the pneumatic pipelines of power plants.