(42d) Particle-Impact Sensor for Determining Mass Flux in a Spouted Bed

We describe the development of an accelerometer-based sensor to measure the mass flux of particles in the upper spout and fountain of a spouted bed. This sensor employs an impact probe aligned vertically along the axis of the bed, and the probe is precisely positioned with three-axis control into the spout and fountain. The accelerometer is mounted atop the probe and measures impacts from particles moving upwards. The sensor was developed to validate a CFD simulation of the system, and we illustrate how these comparisons are made. In some cases, a sensor such as this meets the need of obtaining particle fluxes with very little intrusion into the bed and in cases in which optical access is obscured (e.g., inside a furnace during the pyrolysis of acetylene for particle coating). This sensor is limited to the spout region and differs from horizontal, wall-mounted probes that have been developed for various purposes. We also discuss issues such as signal-processing and measurement requirements as well as efforts to obtain solids velocity profiles within the spout.