Calibration of solids concentration optical fibre probes with solids‐polymer blocks

Abstract

AbstractOwing to the determinant effects of the local distribution of solids concentration on transport phenomena, particularly in gas‐solids flows in such processing units as gas‐solid fluidized beds and pneumatic conveying lines, its accurate measurement has received considerable attention. Despite the widespread applications of optical fibre probes for the measurement of local solids concentration, these instruments may create measurement uncertainties due to their structural designs and challenges in their accurate calibrations. Several calibration methods have been proposed in the literature, while they need to be further improved. In the present study, we calibrated in‐house, fabricated, solids concentration mixed parallel optical fibre probes by two sets of solids‐polymer blocks covering solids volume fractions in the range of 0‐0.30. The uniform blocks were produced by a twin‐screw extruder and an injection moulding machine. FCC particles, 86 μm in diameter, formed the dispersed solids in the blocks, while poly styrene and poly methyl methacrylate were separately acting as the transparent medium. They helped us investigate the effects of the refractive index of the medium and the probe tip design on the calibration curve. The blind distance (zone) in front of the adopted probes was determined, at about 0.70 mm, upon measuring their reflective curves. Two glass windows with 1.00 and 1.60 mm thicknesses were separately installed at the tip of a probe to study their effects on the calibration curve. Experimental results indicated that in the absence of a glass window, the probes' voltage readings varied nonlinearly with solids concentration, the voltage readings were higher for blocks with a higher refractive index of the transparent medium, while the normalized calibration curves were similar for both sets of solids‐polymer blocks. In addition, the extent of the uniform distribution of illuminating and reflecting fibre strands at the tip of a mixed parallel optical fibre probe can change the degree of nonlinearity of its calibration curve. The application of glass windows thicker than the blind distance decreased the degree of nonlinearity of the calibration curve, yet did not completely eliminate it.