The Study of Electrical Capacitance Tomograph (ECT) Optimization for Number of Electrod

Abstract

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a method for determination of the dielectric permittivity distribution in the interior of an object from external capacitance measurements. The principle is based on capacitance measurements which are done by placing electrodes around the dielectric medium which is made of PVC and the dielectric material is put inside the pipeline and capacitance value is measured. The result is directly using the capacitance data measured from the electrode sensors. These measurements are affected by the pipe wall and external inter electrode capacitances. Nowadays, various pipes are used in process, and it is difficult to know what type of flow inside the pipe. Systems have to be developed whereby it is able to view objects within these pipes without interrupting the flow, but the number of sensors used are different and the quality of visual is depend on the number of sensor used .This project is to investigate into the comparison between two such sensors in term the number of sensor and which number of sensors is better. Firstly, this project compares two types number of electrode which is 12 and 8 sensor from simulation using Matlab. The experiment has two difference developed hardware design which is 12 sensors and 8 sensor of electrode in order to assess the comparison of performance between two numbers of electrodes. Then, after finish developed the hardware, data can be collected from the actual sensor using LCR Meter to measure the capacitance value by using methods of electrode pair. First, the data output of the system is collected when there is no flow inside the pipeline or empty pipeline. Second, data is collected when the pipeline is filled with polystyrene. Thus, the data obtain from the hardware also can be compared. Finally, the design of hardware for 12 sensors and 8 sensors is using Catia software.