A mmWave Measuring Procedure for Mass Flow Monitoring of Pneumatic Conveyed Bulk Materials

In this contribution a novel measuring concept for mass flow determination of pneumatic conveyed particles is presented. Therefore, the so-called pseudo transmission measurement concept was adapted for the simultaneous determination of volume fraction and particle flow velocity within a pneumatic conveying tube. The application of two ultra wideband 80-GHz FMCW radar systems increases the measuring accuracy and is used for measurements on a continuous particle flow. Therefore, an experimental pneumatic conveying system is introduced. Flow simulations of the conveying pipe and 3-D electromagnetic simulations of the measurement method illustrate the flow behavior inside the conveying tube and the RF-measuring performance, respectively. Measurement results concerning the volume fraction determination as well as the velocity determination will be presented and discussed in detail.