Furthermore, when measuring in more complex, industrial fluids, problems of particle sedimentation inside the cavities cause velocity of sound and Doppler angle variations, which can distort the measured profile significantly [4] and [13]. More consequences of particle build-up and density changes inside cavities are the negative effects of temperature and fluid concentration gradients. This also causes velocity of sound variations and it has been shown that temperature gradients can cause errors in velocity profile estimation across the measurement line [18].
It is possible to measure through solid material layers and pull back the transducer from the liquid–wall interface, thus eliminating both the cavity and the near-field problem. However, ultrasonic beam refraction and absorption causes errors in parameters such as the Doppler angle and sound speed, and this significantly reduces the penetration depth in attenuating fluids. It has been shown by Messer and Aidun [19] that the physical ultrasonic beam shape changes when measuring through material layers. If the acoustic properties of the pulses emitted and received by the transducer change, for example due to propagation through solid interfaces, more errors due to increased sample volume dimensions (widening of ultrasonic beam) are introduced into the velocity measurement, which leads to inaccurate results especially within the near-wall region which is of highest interest. Several methods for correcting the measured velocities in the near-wall region have been proposed, but with limited success [20] and [21].
Apart from the transducer design and installation difficulties, current commercial UVP instruments are only capable of estimating velocities across the ultrasonic beam axis using only one algorithm, usually integrated in the Digital Signal Processor (DSP), which limits the overall control for more accurate measurements. Existing systems also employ simple and standard filters for noise reduction caused by low signal-to-noise ratios or other artifacts during measurements, which result in noisy data and erroneous velocity estimations.
The main objective of this research work was to optimise the UVP system for accurate complex flow measurements by evaluating a specially designed delay line transducer and implementing advanced signal processing techniques. Results were compared with that obtained using the existing standard UVP system as well as using the new delay line transducer combined with new software.