See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/311985980

Acoustic and Optical Sensing Configurations for Bulk Solids Mass Flow
Measurements

Conference Paper · November 2016

DOI: 10.1109/ICSensT.2016.7796229

CITATION READS

1 421

5 authors, including:

Niall O' Mahony Trevor Murphy

Institute of Technology, Tralee Tricel Killarney
42 PUBLICATIONS   99 CITATIONS    13 PUBLICATIONS   47 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Krishna Kaushal Panduru Daniel Riordan

Institute of Technology, Tralee Institute of Technology, Tralee
15 PUBLICATIONS   84 CITATIONS    73 PUBLICATIONS   190 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Machine Learning View project

Low Frequency RFID View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Niall O' Mahony on 16 May 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Acoustic and Optical Sensing Configurations for Bulk
Solids Mass Flow Measurements
Mr. Niall O' Mahony, Mr. Trevor Murphy, Mr. Krishna Panduru, Dr. Daniel Riordan, Dr. Joseph Walsh
IMaR Technology Gateway
Institute of Technology Tralee
Tralee, Ireland
niall.omahony@research.ittralee.ie
Abstract— The emergence of trends such as the Industrial Internet
of Things (IIOT), Industry 4.0 and Process analytical technology
has heightened the demand for real-time, in-line and affordable
sensors. The mass flow rate of bulk solids is a parameter that is
invaluable to process understanding in many applications. Despite
this the availability of affordable sensors is limited. This paper will
investigate some novel methods sensing arrangements utilising
cost-effective components including optical and acoustic sensors
techniques with a comparison of these methods against a
commercial sensor for their evaluation. Experimental results
demonstrate that reliable monitoring of powder flow parameters
is achieved and that the system is able to track fluctuations of
powder flow in pipes in both freefall and pneumatic conveyance
applications.
I. INTRODUCTION
Process Analytical Technology (PAT) involves the
implementation of sensors to provide real-time data on a process
to which data analytics is applied to gain better process
understanding, better efficiency and improved product quality.
The key word here is ‘real-time’ as PAT is concerned with
observing the progression of reactions/processes (in batch or
semi-continuous processes) as well as controlling process
stability (in continuous processes) which requires real-time, in-
line or online process measurements.
The mass flow sensors examined in this research provide at-
line measurement without interfering with the process and
without the need for sample preparation. The mass flow rate of
bulk solids is a parameter that is invaluable to process
understanding in many applications. The proposed sensors will
replace off-line measurement techniques (weighing) which
require for the flow of material through the process to be
stopped. Increased globalisation and competition have increased
the need to relate process demand changes directly to parameters
such as the solids mass flow in order to achieve efficient use of
energy and raw materials. As a result, the process industry
demands sensors with lower sensor cost and better accuracy.
This research will examine the application of bulk solids
mass flowmeters in the process industry for PAT with respect to
their physical integration and handling of the sensor data. This
paper presents the design, implementation and trials of prototype
instrumentation systems for the on-line measurement of powder
mass flow in both pneumatic conveyance and freefall
applications. The paper includes the results of tests analysing
measurement data from different types of optical sensors and
Funding is received from the European Community‘s Framework
programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) under grant
agreement no. 637232.
acoustic sensing techniques to determine their suitability for
mass flow measurement applications. Tests were also carried out
for various powder materials. These techniques were
investigated in an attempt to identify a more cost effective
solution for solids mass flow measurement.
II. SENSOR REVIEW
References [1], [2] provide a comprehensive review of non-
invasive mass flowmeters. The measurement of mass flowrate
of bulk solids can be divided into 2 categories: direct
measurement and indirect/inferential measurement. Direct
measurement techniques have a sensing element that responds
directly to the mass flow rate of solids through the instrument
and include thermal, electrostatic and Coriolis methods.
Inferential meter measure a phenomenon associated with the
flow, such as a drop in static pressure at a restriction in a pipe
for example, and include acoustic emission, digital imaging,
electrical capacitance, electromagnetic waves, mechanical
vibration, optical and thermal techniques [1].
This paper is concerned with indirect methods. Inferential
sensors require both volumetric concentration and velocity of
particles to be measured. Particle concentration can be measured
using attenuation/scattering methods Particle velocity is usually
measured using Doppler, cross correlation or spatial filtering
methods.
A. Optical Mass flow Measurement
Owing to the Beer-Lambert Law, where the attenuation of a
monochromatic electro-magnetic wave is proportional to the
concentration of the absorbing species in the media, solids
concentration is inferred from the measured attenuation by the
fluid medium. Mie theory derived from this law further defines
this relationship to be exponential for dilute gas-solids mixtures.
The effects of light scattering also defined in Mie theory can also
be measured to determine particle size and concentration where
the acceptance angle or angle of view of lens of the detector is
critical to the measurement results [3].
Reference [2] provides a summary of optical sensing
techniques for particle concentration measurement which have
been developed including their inherent advantages and
limitations such as immunity to variations in parameters other
than particle size and susceptibility to errors due to fouling or
misalignment of optical widows. Solutions to measure mass
flow have also been developed as in [4] exploiting light
extinction (attenuation) and in [5] where attenuation and spatial
filtering techniques were employed. Arrays of laser light were Manual feed
used in these applications. Manual feed
B. Acoustic Mass Flow Measurement
The aerodynamic sound generated by the turbulent nature of
the solids flow depends on particle concentration, density and
Reference sensor
velocity [2]. Table 1 summarises the main techniques which Reference
have been developed [2]. The use of a microphone as a sensor is sensor
quite attractive due to their availability and low cost. Reference Sensor under test
[6] details such an cost-effective implementation for detecting
flow/no flow conditions in a gas-liquid mixture. Acoustic Suction pump and filter
Emission monitoring has also been used to measure particle flow Sensor under test
[7], particle size [8] and particle velocity [9].

III. . EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

Evaluation tests were conducted on a laboratory-scale test rig
under various conditions to assess the operability and
performance of the measurement system. 3 flow situations were Collection hopper
setup: freefall, pneumatic conveyance in a horizontal orientation Collection hopper
and pneumatic conveyance in a vertical orientation as shown in
Fig. 1. Reference sensor Manual feed
Particulate material was manually fed into the rig. Coarse Suction pump
and filter
was used as the particulate as this research is primarily
concerned with dense media (one of the applications dealt with
process tungsten carbide cobalt powder). In order to quickly Sensor under test
verify correlation between the outputs of the sensors, the solids
feed rate was varied during each test, starting from low and
progressively increasing to significant flow (approx. 2000g/min, Collection hopper
volumetric concentration estimated at 50%, air velocity of 20
m/s as measured by airflow meter for pneumatic conveyance
configurations).

TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF ACOUSTIC SENSING TECHNIQUES. Figure 1. Experimental apparatus for (a) freefall, (b) vertical pneumatic
conveyance and (c) horizontal pneumatic conveyance.
Parameter Description Limitations
measured A commercial microwave sensor is used as a reference sensor
Measure the attenuation Requires specific in this work which measures both the amplitude and frequency
of the incident beam frequency of shift of the microwave signal to infer mass flowrate [11], [12].
when sound energy is sound source for The sensor can achieve a typical accuracy of 2% when
Particle concentration

transmitted across the each particular calibrated for a specific flowrate range for a homogenous
pipe. application material of fixed particle size. The sensor was calibrated for a
wide range of flow rates with coarse sand which can vary
Measure acoustic Output is
resonance which is substantially significantly n particle size (approx. 62.5-2000 µm) to an
proportional to speed of related to particle accuracy of 10%.
sound propagation which size and sensitive
varies with density of only to particles The sensors were tested by comparing their output to that of
fluid and hence smaller than 100 a microwave sensor which was calibrated across a wide range of
concentration µm solids mass flowrates to an accuracy of 10%. The sensor can
achieve a typical accuracy of 2% when calibrated for a specific
Cross correlation: the Requires sensing flowrate range for a homogenous material of fixed particle size.
Particle velocity

transit time taken by the configuration and A weighed amount of particles was passed through the apparatus
particles moving from the dedicated signal for each test as a reference for long term flow rate, while the
upstream sensor to the processor to microwave sensor was used as a reference for transient flow
downstream sensor reliable identify a conditions. After each test the mass flow profiles were checked
correlation for correlation and the correlation equation computed where
pattern. applicable. Since the particle velocity is constant for each test,
particle volumetric concentration is proportional to feed
rate/mass flow output of the reference sensor.
IV. OPTICAL SENSOR DESIGN
As was noted in Section II.A, most optical mass flow sensing
developments have utilized laser light. This paper will examine
the use of broadband light for the measurement of mass flow by
attenuation/ scattering techniques. Three types of optical
configurations shown in Fig. 4 were tested. The two types of
fibre-optic photoelectric sensors used in the experiment are
listed in Table 2 with specifications of optical equipment:
b) The light intensity at the receiver of the NIR sensor
(Fig. 4 (c)) was found to attenuate across the spectrum
of measurement as can be seen in Fig. 2.
c) The readings from the colour sensor increased with
particulate flow when used in the reflective
configuration as can be seen in Fig. 2. The amplitude
of the response of the output increases as insertion
depth was increased (Fig. 4 (d)).
NIR Specrometer Readings for flow/no flow

TABLE 2. FIBRE OPTIC EQUIPMENT USED. 80000

Spectrometer reading
Sensor Probe 60000 No flow
Type Model Spectral Type Range Angle Flow
40000
sensitivity (mm) of view
NIR Hamamats 640-1050 25° 20000
Transmission

Not specified

Spectro u RC- nm [14]

0
meter SWNIR
C9408MA 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
[13] Pixel (corresponds to wavelengths 640-1050nm)

Multi- Wenglor 450-700 Tranm 600 30°

Spectral P1XF001 nm ission [16] Figure 2. Light attenuation as measured by Near Infrared (NIR)
Colour [15] Spectrometer.
Sensor Reflec 50 68°
tion
[17] Colour sensor output (colour assignment)
Red
5000 Orange
The sensors perform measurement of light at the receiver at Yellow
4000
Light Intensity

multiple wavelengths. Broadband white light was used as a light Green

source in all instances. These sensing configurations will be 3000 Blue
Violet
tested to evaluate their estimation of mass flow rate given certain 2000
assumptions. Future work could entail further tests on the effects
of parameters such as particle size, density and homogeneity of 1000
the mixture. 0
A. Experimental Results 41:16.8 41:25.4 41:34.1 41:42.7
a) The light intensity in the through-beam/transmission Time (mm:ss.0)
configuration for the Colour sensor (Fig. 4 (b))
showed no attenuation due to mass flow. Figure 3. Light amplification in reflection configuration

Figure 4. (a) pipe assembly, Optical configurations: (b) transmission (Colour sensor), (c) transmission (NIR sensor) and (d) reflection (Colour sensor).
B. Discussion of Results
Light attenuation proportional to solids concentration was
perceived at the NIR sensor and Colour sensor with reflection
probe as expected. Such attenuation was not recorded by the
colour sensor using the transmittance probe however. The paper
argues that the wide area of the optical lens and resulting wide
field of view meant that the total effects of scattering and
reflection of light within the pipe canceled each other out. In
order to minimise reflections, the pipe was lined with black tape
and the light source (integrated in the colour sensor) was set to
its lowest gain setting.
Light of any particular wavelength was not found to be
affected by scattering through the particles distinctively by
neither the Colour sensor nor the NIR sensor. The instruments
used measure only in the visible to very near infrared region of
Figure 6. CFD Analysis of particle flow through developed prototype.
the spectrum. NIR, MIR and Raman spectroscopy has been
investigated by [18] who demonstrated a multivariate spectral
response at higher wavelengths that could be analysed with
partial least square regression (PLSR) to predict mass flow rate
with a mean squared prediction error (MSPE) of less than
0.00087 in real time for their black powder application.
Investigation of higher wavelengths for this paper’s application
may be entailed in future work.
V. ACOUSTIC SENSOR DESIGN
In this section, an instrumentation system for on-line flow
metering of bulk solids using a microphone is designed and
implemented. The housing for the microphone (shown in Fig. 5)
was fabricated using a 3d printer. The diaphragm/striking plate
is sloped so as to discourage clogging, prevent turbulence and
prevent particles from bouncing off the plate, hitting it multiple (a) (b)
times and affecting the measurement. The support armatures Figure 7. Plots of (a) Velocity magnitude an (b) static pressure within pipe.
holding the apparatus in the centre of the pipe are also tapered
for these reasons. The cone structure magnifies the sound Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software was
detected by the microphone of particles hitting the striking plate employed to inspect the flow direction of material in contact
in a similar manner to a megaphone, i.e. by improving the with the inner features of the pipe using particle trace
coupling efficiency between the internal microphone and the simulations. This aided in the identification of the most suitable
air/solids mixture. An external microphone was mounted at the orientation for the striking plate within the design (Fig. 6).
same position laterally along the pipe as the internal The microphones used in this prototype is sensitive to 18
microphone. This microphone can be used to filter out noise kHz and is quite large (diam. 12mm x 20mm). Smaller
from external sources if necessary and also be used in microphones could possibly be used in future work enabling the
experiments to differentiate from noise internal and external to size of the entire structure to be reduced, minimizing the
the pipe. The sound data was recorded and sampled using a PC intrusive nature of the design. The design could be fabricated
at a rate of 44100 Hz- the sound level units are arbitrary (i.e. not using sheet metal if a more robust prototype was to be
calibrated as would be with a sound level meter) but the relative developed.
readings provided will suffice for initial validation of the design.

A. Experimental Results & Discussion

In order to measure sound only produced by particle flow
(i.e. filter out sound at other frequencies) it was first necessary
to analyse the spectrum produced by a Fast Fourier Transform
in PC software. This was done for both freefall and pneumatic
flow conditions. As can be seen in Fig. 8, the low frequency
noise due to the motor of the suction pump in the conveyance
system can effectively be filtered out with a band pass filter
centred on the frequency of sound due to solids mass flow.
Figure 5. 3-D printed Prototype including (a) striking plate and cone and (b)
housing for Microphone.

Figure 8. Spectrogram of sound signal on internal and external microphone
for coarse sand in (a) freefall, (b) freefall (filtered), (c) pneumatic conveyance
and (d) pneumatic conveyance (filtered).
The analysis was repeated for different powder materials. As
Table 3 shows, the frequency of sound due to solids mass flow
can be seen to increase with particle size. This information can
be used to set the minimum sampling rate and parameters for the
band pass filter in interface electronics/software. The magnitude
of the output is attenuated for finer particles. Further testing was
carried out using coarse sand for easier interpretation of the
signals.
TABLE 3. PARTICLE SIZE VS. SOUND FREQUENCY.
Material
Particle size Frequency
(um) (kHz)
Fine sand 62.5-125 6.5
Sand and grit 62.5-3000 4.5,7.5,11
Wholemeal Flour 100-2000 2, 7
Sugar sprinkles 1000 3, 7
Coarse sand 500-2000 10
Typical test results of particle flow under different
conveying velocity conditions are shown in Fig. 9. Calculating
the root mean square (RMS) of the signal over a certain window
of samples effectively translates it into an analog output that
shows good correlation with the reference sensor. The output of
the internal microphone within the 3d printed cone apparatus
was found to have more noise than the external microphone,
however when a wider window size for the RMS equation is
used, the signal was found to show better correlation with the
mass flow sensor output with more prominent peaks and valleys.
Fig. 10 shows how even better correlation can be achieved by
applying an exponential correlation equation.
Each microphone in this apparatus has its own advantages.
The internal microphone is more sensitive to sound produced
from solids mass flow due to the sound being directed from the
striking plate by the cone structure. It is also less sensitive to
noise external to the pipe.
Figure 9. Comparison of Internal and External Sound levels.
Figure 10. Evaluation of correlation equation.
The external microphone’s output is less noisy as it is not as
exposed to turbulent conditions allowing for a narrower window
to be used in the RMS function meaning better responsiveness
to dynamic flow conditions. The magnitude of the output is less
however which limits the minimum flow rate which can be
measured especially for finer powder material. Future work in
this research could include testing different materials for the
striking plate, different geometries for the cone structure,
different powder materials, different sensing hardware and
different pipe sizes.
For each test, the outputs from the microphone and the
reference sensor were compared and a correlation equation was
estimated. The tests were then repeated using the same
correlation equation to perform out of sample validation and
ensure repeatability. As shown in the results in Table 4, the
maximum relative error in the measured mass flow rate with
reference to the actual mass the relative error is does not exceed
10% for either gravity or pneumatic conveyance conditions for
the internal microphone The accuracy displayed by the external
microphone is less. The results demonstrate that the system
performs well for the on-line measurement of particle flow
parameters for a reasonable range of pneumatic and gravity
flow.
Pneumatic flow in a horizontal orientation was not tested as
the coarse sand powder tended to build-up in the pipe due to
limited suction in the system used. These tests did not include
external noise sources, e.g. from nearby equipment on the plant
floor and hence no improvement in performance was seen when
noise cancellation between the two microphones in the design REFERENCES
was applied. Such an investigation may be included in future
[1] Y. Zheng and Q. Liu, “Review of techniques for the mass flow rate
work with an analysis of the possible advantageous effects of measurement of pneumatically conveyed solids,” Measurement, vol. 44,
performing noise cancellation. no. 4, pp. 589–604, May 2011.
[2] Y. Yan, “Mass flow measurement of bulk solids in pneumatic pipelines,”
TABLE 4. TEST RESULTS FOR ACOUSTICS SENSING ARRANGEMENT. Meas. Sci. Technol., vol. 7, no. 12, pp. 1687–1706, Dec. 1996.
[3] D.S. Ensor and M. J. Pilat, “The Effect of Particle Size Distribution on
Avg. flow Avg. flow Light Transmittance Measurement,” Am. Ind. Hyg. Assoc. J., pp. 287–
Actual Sensor Sensor 292, May 1971.
(Internal (External
Test

Mass accuracy accuracy

mic) mic) [4] Y. Zheng, Y. Li, and Q. Liu, “Measurement of mass flow rate of
(g) (%) (%) particulate solids in gravity chute conveyor based on laser sensing array,”
*Time (g) *Time (g)
Opt. Laser Technol., vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 298–305, Mar. 2007.
[5] Y. Ichikura and K. Watanabe, “Measurement of particle flow by optical
1 305.20 280.50 8.09 285.80 6.36 system,” in Industrial Electronics, Control, and Instrumentation, 1995.,
Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE IECON 21st International Conference on,
1995, vol. 2, pp. 1173–1178.
2 277.10 290.40 4.80 320.15 15.54
Average % error for [6] “A method and a device for determining the mass flow rate and the
presence or absence of a liquid flowing in a pipe,” 19-Sep-2014.
gravity flow: 6.45 10.95
[7] G. M. Dethorey and A. L. Ferrin, “Method and device for measuring a
flow of granular solid materials,” EP0974816 A1, 26-Jan-2000.
3 311.40 293.23 5.83 334.29 7.35
[8] Y. Hu, X. Huang, X. Qian, L. Gao, and Y. Yan, “Online particle size
measurement through acoustic emission detection and signal analysis,” in
4 341.10 366.45 7.43 313.85 7.99 Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC)
Average % error for Proceedings, 2014 IEEE International, 2014, pp. 949–953.
pneumatic flow (vertical): 6.63 7.67 [9] S. Tallon and C. E. Davies, “Non-invasive Velocity Measurements in
Flows of Bulk Solids Using Sound,” IPENZ Conf. 98 Sustain. City Vol.
VI. CONCLUSION 5 Chem. Eng. Mater., p. 33, 1998.
The acoustics based sensing based particulate mass flow [10] M. Meribout, N. Al-Rawahi, A. Al-Naamany, A. Al-Bimani, K. Al-
Busaidi, and A. Meribout, “Integration of impedance measurements with
measurement system has good dynamic response to track acoustic measurements for accurate two phase flow metering in case of
fluctuations in solids mass flowrate in real time. The method high water-cut,” Flow Meas. Instrum., vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 8–19, Mar. 2010.
involves quite simple and cost effective instrument design. The [11] “Type ‘MIC- Flow Meter’ for Solids | MIC-Flowmeter | Solid Flow
accuracy of the accumulated mass flow readings (to within Measurement | Products | Hense Wägetechnik GmbH.” [Online].
±10%) for each test also demonstrate that the system is reliable Available: http://www.hense-
for the on-line continuous flow measurement of bulk solids mass waegetechnik.de/en/produkte/durchlaufwaagen/mic-flowmeter.php.
[Accessed: 11-Dec-2015].
flow rate in both pneumatic and freefall flow conditions.
[12] Jeff C. Siblik, “Low-Cost Flow Measurement and Sensing.” The
Volumetric flow metering of two phase flows in liquid media to Aberdeen Group, Hanley-Wood, Inc., 1999.
an accuracy of 5% has been achieved in existing research [13] HAMAMATSU, “Mini-spectrometer RC series C9407MA, C9408MA,
implementing a dedicated pattern recognition algorithm using a C9409MA, C9410MA.” Oct-2007.
neural network relying on the physical properties of the fluid [14] “What is the field of view (FOV) of Ocean Optics optical fibers?,” Ocean
dynamic without requiring prior knowledge of properties of the Optics. [Online]. Available: http://oceanoptics.com/faq/field-view-fov-
pipes in the flow loop [10]. Future work could entail ocean-optics-optical-fibers/. [Accessed: 22-Jun-2016].
implementing such algorithms to improve accuracy and enable [15] “Produktdetail - Einzelner Artikel darstellen,” 31-Aug-2015. [Online].
the design’s intrusive nature to be minimised. Available:
https://www.wenglor.com/index.php?id=1031&no_cache=1&tx_wsshop
Several optical configurations using broadband light were loader_pi1%5Bartikel%5D=FL2004&L=0&cHash=58866f687b69edde9
also evaluated. It was found that the angle of view of the 97659f000076994. [Accessed: 22-Jun-2016].
focusing lens has an effect due to the effects of scattering. The [16] “Produktdetail - Einzelner Artikel darstellen,” 31-Aug-2015. [Online].
range of the reflective probe was also found to effect Available:
https://www.wenglor.com/index.php?id=1031&no_cache=1&tx_wsshop
measurements, i.e. particles close to the probe have a far greater loader_pi1%5Bartikel%5D=FL2004&L=0&cHash=58866f687b69edde9
effect on the magnitude of the output. The reducing cost of 97659f000076994. [Accessed: 22-Jun-2016].
sensors and advancements in embedded computing capabilities [17] “Produktdetail - Einzelner Artikel darstellen,” 31-Aug-2015. [Online].
have facilitated the implementation of sensors for the real-time Available:
in-line measurement of process parameters. When coupled with https://www.wenglor.com/index.php?id=1031&no_cache=1&tx_wsshop
process modelling and control, mass flow sensors can be used to loader_pi1%5Bartikel%5D=FL2004&L=0&cHash=58866f687b69edde9
97659f000076994. [Accessed: 22-Jun-2016].
dramatically reduce over-costs derived from even slight
[18] E. A. Hosani, M. Meribout, A. Al-Durra, K. Al-Wahedi, and S. Teniou,
deviations from the optimum process. “A New Optical-Based Device for Online Black Powder Detection in Gas
Pipelines,” IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 63, no. 9, pp. 2238–2252,
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Sep. 2014.
Funding is received from the European Community‘s
Framework programme for Research and Innovation Horizon
2020 (2014-2020) under grant agreement no. 637232.

View publication stats