Ultrasound Based Dynamic Reference Reflection Technique for Simultaneous Specific Gravity and Temperature Estimation

Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Mechanical Engineering

Major Professor

Rasim Guldiken, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Ashok Kumar, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Abdul Malik, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Wilfrido Moreno, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ajit Mujumdar, Ph.D.

Keywords

Acoustic Impedance, Acoustic Thermometry, Characterization, Density, Time of Flight

Abstract

This work is driven by the need for a noninvasive density estimation device for pipeline infrastructure due to the increased risk of volatility in the high energy density fuels that are available in the market. Ultrasound based techniques have proved to be a viable alternative to traditional u tube resonance or nuclear techniques due to their robustness and safety offering. The major update that this work intends to make to the existing technology is development of a system wherein the transducer or the electronic components remain isolated from the flow field.As a result, this work dives headfirst into the fundamentals of acoustics to investigate the viable material properties that can be leveraged to make density and/or specific gravity of fluids. After honing in on reflection coefficient and acoustic impedance as relevant parameters, the focus is turned to building a device that can be used to estimate acoustic impedance. On the second attempt to perfect the design, attention is focused on improvement of signal quality to enable operation under minimal gain thus eliminating noise and later this device design leads up to a new discovery wherein the preconceived notion of sound interaction at solid-fluid boundary is corrected and an empirical relation is derived for this interaction. Using this relation we are able to estimate the specific gravity of multiple liquids within wide range of bulk modulus with an average error of 0.62%. Furthermore, the dependency of acoustic properties on temperature is validated experimentally and a safe operational temperature range with minimal calibration requirement is defined to be 0oC to 40oC for the second device iteration through trial and error. In the process a technique for acoustic thermometry based on amplitude of reflection is realized and the guideline regarding future work is established.

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