Pulsed Ultrasound Velocimetry Research Articles

Towards in-line rheology measurement of protein melts during high moisture extrusion by pulsed ultrasound velocimetry

Towards in-line rheology measurement of protein melts during high moisture extrusion by pulsed ultrasound velocimetry

Radial flow velocity profiles of a yield stress fluid between smooth parallel disks

In rock grouting, idealized 2D-radial laminar flow of yield stress fluids (YSF) is a fundamental flow configuration that is used for cement grout spread estimation. A limited amount of works have presented analytical and numerical solutions on the radial velocity profiles between parallel disks. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no experimental work that has presented measured velocity profiles for this geometry. In this paper, we present velocity profiles of Carbopol (a simple YSF), measured by pulsed ultrasound velocimetry within a radial flow model. We describe the design of the physical model and then present the measured velocity profiles while highlighting the plug-flow region and slip effects observed for three different apertures and volumetric flow rates. Although the measured velocity profiles exhibited wall slip, there was a reasonably good agreement with the analytical solution. We then discuss the major implications of our work on radial flow.

In-line rheometry of particulate suspensions by pulsed ultrasound velocimetry combined with pressure difference method

The in-line rheometer concept based on the combination of the ultrasonic velocity profiling (UVP) technique and pressure difference (PD) measurements was utilized for investigating the influence of particle concentration and size distribution on the rheology of particulate suspensions in pipe flow under realistic industrial process conditions. Well defined model suspensions were used, consisting of 11 mu m and 90 mu m diameter polyamide particles suspended in rapeseed oil at concentrations ranging from 1 to 25 % by volume. The variation of concentration and particle size distribution had the expected effects on the shear viscositiy of the investigated uni-modal and bimodal suspensions. The in-line results showed that the investigated suspensions exhibit Sisko flow behavior and demonstrated that the UVP+PD method can be used to determine the flow behavior of complex fluids and suspensions, even at high solid concentrations, under industrial conditions in-line. The obtained in-line results were in good agreement with measurement data obtained using a conventional rotational controlled-stress rheometer. Limitations of commercially available transducer technology were identified and other possible sources of inaccuracy of the UVP+PD method were investigated. Several improvements of the UVP+PD measurement method were proposed.