The suspended particle size distribution in slurries can, in principle, be estimated from measured ultrasonic wave attenuation across a frequency band in the 10s of MHz range. The procedure requires a computational model of wave propagation which incorporates scattering phenomena. These models fail at high particle concentrations due to hydrodynamic effects which they do not incorporate. This work seeks an effective viscosity and density for the medium surrounding the particles, which would enable the scattering model predictions to match experimental data for high solids loading. It is found that the required viscosity model has unphysical characteristics leading to the conclusion that a simple effective medium modification to the ECAH/LB is not possible. The paper confirms the successful results which can be obtained using core-shell scattering models, for smaller particles than had previously been studied, and outlines modifications to these which would permit rapid computation of sufficient stability to support fast particle sizing procedures.
History
School
Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
Chemical Engineering
Published in
Ultrasonics
Citation
CHALLIS, R.E. and PINFIELD, V.J., 2014. Ultrasonic wave propagation in concentrated slurries - the modelling problem. Ultrasonics, 54 (7), pp. 1737-1744.
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Publication date
2014
Notes
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Ultrasonics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Ultrasonics, 54 (7), 2014, DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2014.04.003