CBI Pro-Akademia

A STUDY OF THE POSSIBILITY OF USING 3D MODELLING AND 3D PRINTING FOR ELECTRICAL CAPACITANCE TOMOGRAPHY SENSOR

Date added: 2019-04-01
Type: Article

Abstract

Nowadays, the optimization of energy consumption and resources is one of the most urgent topics in
worldwide industry. The energy consumption monitoring and control in various multiphase flow industrial
applications, where a proper flow characteristic and an optimal phase mixture control is crucial, is hard to
perform due to the physical and chemical complexity of the processes. The Electrical Capacitance Tomography
(ECT) is one of the relatively cheap non-invasive measurement methods that can help in the monitoring and
control of optimal energy and resources dozing in industrial processes. ECT diagnostics systems use unique
sensors that can non-intrusively detect spatial capacitance changes caused by spatial changes in the electrical
permittivity of industrial process components. One of the latest ECT extensions is a three-dimensional
measurement strategy that uses a multilayer structure of the capacitance sensor. In this paper, the authors
propose a novel approach to the 3D ECT sensors fabrication process that uses 3D computer modelling and
3D printing to easily get any sensor shape, electrode layout, scale and shielding strategy. This study compares
the measurement abilities of a 3D ECT sensor fabricated using a traditional hand-made technique with the 3D
printed device. The results have proven the potential of the new 3D print-based sensor regarding its significant
fabrication time reduction as well as the improvement of the overall 3D ECT sensor measurement accuracy
and stability.

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