Non-invasive characterization of fluid foodstuffs based on ultrasonic measurements

Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2004 · Food Research International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2004.03.005· OSTI ID:15008153

Bamberger, Judith A; Greenwood, Margaret S

The food industry can benefit from a highly sensitive, non-invasive, self-calibrating, on-line sensor for characterizing liquid or slurry in process vessels during mixing, settling, stationary, or flowing conditions by measuring the density, sound speed, and attenuation of ultrasound. The sensor system was developed by staff at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The sensor transducers are mounted directly on the stainless steel wall and the pipeline wall becomes part of the measurement system. Multiple reflections within the stainless steel wall are used to determine the acoustic impedance of the liquid, where the acoustic impedance is defined as the product of the density and the speed of sound. The probe becomes self-calibrating because variations in the pulser voltage do not affect the measurements. By basing the measurement upon multiple reflections, the sensitivity of the measurement is significantly increased

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 15008153
• Report Number(s): PNWD-SA-6348; TRN: US200426%%68
• Journal Information: Food Research International, Vol. 37; Other Information: PBD: 1 Jul 2004
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ACOUSTICS
ATTENUATION
FOOD
FOOD INDUSTRY
IMPEDANCE
PIPELINES
PROBES
SENSITIVITY
STAINLESS STEELS
TRANSDUCERS
ULTRASONIC WAVES
VELOCITY
SLURRY DENSITY MEASUREMENT
LIQUID DENSITY MEASUREMENT
SPEED OF SOUND MEASUREMENT
SLURRY CONCENTRATION MEASUREMENT
WEIGHT PERCENT SOLIDS MEASUREMENT
SUSPENSION CHARACTERIZATION
ATTENUATION MEASUREMENT
ULTRASONIC SENSOR
ON-LINE SENSOR
PROCESS CONTROL
NON-INVASIVE
REFLECTION COEFFICIENT
ACOUSTIC VELOCITY MEASUREMENT
FOOD PROCESS MEASUREMENT