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handbook of modern sensors

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368 11 Flow Sensors<br />

(A)<br />

(B)<br />

Fig. 11.7. Ultrasonic flowmeter. (A) position <strong>of</strong> transmitter–receiver crystals in the flow; (B)<br />

waveforms in the circuit.<br />

measuring the upstream–downstream velocity difference allows us to determine the<br />

velocity <strong>of</strong> the flow.<br />

Figure 11.7A shows two ultrasonic generators positioned on opposite sides <strong>of</strong><br />

a tube <strong>of</strong> flow. Piezoelectric crystals are usually employed for that purpose. Each<br />

crystal can be used for either the generation <strong>of</strong> the ultrasonic waves (motor mode) or<br />

for receiving the ultrasonic waves (generator mode). In other words, the same crystal,<br />

when needed, acts as a "speaker" or a "microphone."<br />

Two crystals are separated by distance D and positioned at angle with respect<br />

to flow. Also, it is possible to place small crystals right inside the tube along the flow.<br />

That case corresponds to = 0. The transit time <strong>of</strong> sound between two transducers<br />

A and B can be found through the average fluid velocity v c :<br />

T =<br />

D<br />

c ± v c cos , (11.17)<br />

where c is the velocity <strong>of</strong> sound in the fluid. The plus and minus signs refer to the<br />

downstream and upstream directions, respectively. The velocity v c is the flow velocity<br />

averaged along the path <strong>of</strong> the ultrasound. Gessner [4] has shown that for laminar<br />

flow v c = 4v a /3, and for turbulent flow, v c = 1.07v a , where v a is the flow averaged<br />

over the cross-sectional area. By taking the difference between the downstream and<br />

upstream velocities, we find [5]<br />

T =<br />

2Dv c cos <br />

c 2 + v c cos 2 ≈ 2Dv c cos <br />

c 2 , (11.18)<br />

which is true for the most practical cases when c ≫ v c cos . To improve the signalto-noise<br />

ratio, the transit time is <strong>of</strong>ten measured for both upstream and downstream<br />

directions; that is, each piezoelectric crystal works as a transmitter at one time and<br />

as a receiver at the other time. This can be accomplished by a selector (Fig. 11.8)<br />

which is clocked by a relatively slow sampling rate (400 Hz in the example). The

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