Attenuation measurements with ultrasonic diffraction grating show dependence upon particle size of slurry and viscosity of base liquid.

How can using an ultrasonic diffraction grating lead to slurry characterization? The diffraction grating, which is formed by machining triangular grooves on the flat surface of an aluminum unit, has send and receive transducers fastened to the unit at an angle of 30°. The ultrasonic beam strikes the back of the grating, in contact with the slurry, and reflects a beam to the receive transducer; m = 0 and m = 1 beams are transmitted into the slurry. The angle of the m = 1 beam changes with frequency and, at the critical frequency f, it reaches 90°.

Design of ultrasonic attenuation sensor with focused transmitter for density measurements of a slurry in a large steel pipeline.

To design an ultrasonic sensor to measure the attenuation and density of slurry carried by a large steel pipeline (diameter up to 70 cm) is the goal of this research. The pitch-catch attenuation sensor, placed in a small section of the pipeline, contains a send unit with a focused transducer that focuses the ultrasound to a small region of the receive unit on the opposite wall. The focused transducer consists of a section of a sphere (base ∼12 cm) on the outer side of the send unit and a 500 kHz piezoelectric shell of lead zirconate titanate epoxied to it.

Particle size and density of a slurry from ultrasonic backscattering measurements at a solid interface.

The pivotal experiment was performed with a setup in which a plastic cylinder was mounted on the top of a horizontal Rexolite plate and a transducer mounted directly below the cylinder; a single layer of stationary 1588-μm acrylic spheres was placed in the cylinder filled with water. Two well-separated signals were received by the transducer operating in the pulse-echo mode: (1) a signal due to the reflection from water at the interface and (2) a time-delayed signal resulting from the backscattering from the spheres of diameter D. The important observation was that the time delay was equal to 2 D/c using standard notation.

Ultrasonic diffraction grating spectroscopy and the measurement of particle size.

The results of measurements using ultrasonic diffraction grating spectroscopy (UDGS) are found to be dependent upon the particle size of the slurry. This illustrates the emergence of a new technique for measuring particle size. Theoretical calculations are underway to describe and predict them as well.

Ultrasonic diffraction grating spectroscopy and characterization of fluids and slurries.

The ultrasonic diffraction grating is formed by machining triangular grooves, 300 microns apart, on a stainless steel surface. The grating surface is in contact with the liquid or slurry. The ultrasonic beam, traveling in the solid, strikes the back of the grating and produces a transmitted m=1 beam in the liquid.

Measurement of viscosity and shear wave velocity of a liquid or slurry for on-line process control.

An on-line sensor to measure the density of a liquid or slurry, based on longitudinal wave reflection at the solid-fluid interface, has been developed by the staff at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The objective of this research is to employ shear wave reflection at the solid-fluid interface to provide an on-line measurement of viscosity as well. Both measurements are of great interest for process control in many industries.