Application of ECT to solid concentration measurements during granular flow in a rectangular model silo

The paper presents results of concentration changes in cohesionless sand during dynamic mass flow in a rectangular model silo composed of a bin and hopper. Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) was used. Sensors were located outside the silo along both the periphery and height. Local horizontal one-dimensional and cross-sectional two-dimensional evolutions of solid concentrations in dry sand during silo discharge were determined. The first ones were estimated from the raw data and the latter were obtained with the aid of the reconstructed data using a Linear Back Projection algorithm (LBP) to solve an inverse problem. Experiments in a model silo were carried out with two different initial sand densities and wall roughness grades. The measured results with ECT were compared with corresponding ones obtained with a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method. (C) 2010 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.