Development of an Ultrasonic Tomography System for Monitoring Particle Deposition in Elbow Pipelines

This work has been done on the study of deposition and blockage within elbow shaped pipelines through the analysis of liquid-particle flows using ultrasonic tomography. Even though UT is effective in real time flow detection, deposition and blockage within elbows is rarely covered in existing literature, as most studies are done on straight pipes. Consequently, this paper proposes the development of a sensor jig that will make accurate transducer placement easier. The system was built around an Arduino Uno to generate two pulses at 40 kHz with a 100 Hz frequency. The system also has signal generation and conditioning circuits as impotent blocks. A 3D printed jig was made to position the sensors on an acrylic pipe elbow with 60 mm outer diameter and 3 mm thick walls optimally. The readings from 0.2 V to 2.8 V proved the system effective for industrial pipeline monitoring and maintenance.