1 - Electrical Capacitance Tomography

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss electrical capacitance tomography (ECT), an imaging method used for industrial processes such as hydrocarbon exploration, chemical manufacturing, food processing, etc. The images captured by ECT facilitate understanding the flow dynamics as well as continuous monitoring of the process. ECT is capable of imaging two- and three-phase flows such as air–oil and air–oil–water based on the electrical permittivity and conductivity differences between the material phases. An ECT sensor consists of metal electrodes mounted outside the (nonmetallic) flow pipe, which makes it noninvasive and nonintrusive in nature. In addition to that, ECT technology is much cheaper compared to other imaging methods such as X-ray CT, and MRI, which makes ECT a top choice for process tomography applications. However, ECT image resolution is limited due to the ill-posed nature of the problem. Therefore, enhancing image resolution has been the primary focus of ECT-related research works.