Decoupling the joint effect of moisture and mass in dense phase pneumatic conveying

Electric capacitance tomography (ECT) is advantageous for online imaging of pneumatic conveying of solids. From the ECT images, the spatial distribution of the mass of the material can be displayed at a very fast speed. However, as the mass distribution and the permittivity of the solids simultaneously affect the values of the measured capacitance arrays, they cause a coupled effect on the ECT images. In situations where the permittivity of the solids is influenced by the moisture, and this influence cannot be separated from the influence of the mass, or cannot be accounted for by an appropriate means, the measurement will be erroneous, as ECT images are usually interpreted as the distribution of the mass alone. This study aims to tackle the problem by an attempt to decouple the combined influence of the mass and the permittivity. A sensor of narrow electrodes is designed for the purpose of detecting only the variations in the permittivity. Simulation and experimental results both demonstrated that the influence of the permittivity and the mass of the solids can be decoupled under certain conditions, which provide a mechanism to correct the possible errors due to the unknown variation of the solids permittivity, or moisture.