Resonant pressure wave setup for simultaneous sensing of longitudinal viscosity and sound velocity of liquids

Abstract

Increasing demands for online monitoring of liquids have not only resuted in many new devices relying on well-established sensing parameters like shear viscosity but also initiated research on alternative parameters. Recently, the longitudinal viscosity has been evaluated as a promising candidate because the devices arising enable the bulk of the liquid to be probed rather than a thin surface layer. We report on a multi-purpose sensor which allows simultaneous measurement of the sound velocity and longitudinal viscosity of liquids. The device embodiment features a cube-shaped chamber containing the sample liquid, where one boundary surface carries a flush-mounted PZT transducer. In operation, the transducer induces standing, resonant pressure waves in the liquid under test. We studied the influences of sound velocity and longitudinal viscosity on the generated pressure waves by means of the Navier–Stokes equation for adiabatic compressible liquids and exploited both parameters as the basic sensing mechanism. Furthermore, a three-port network model describing the interaction of the transducer and sample liquid was developed in order to be applied for extracting the parameters of interest from the raw measurement data. Finally, we demonstrate the device and method by carrying out and discussing test measurements on glycerol–water solutions.