NON CONTACT CAPACITIVE TECHNIQUE
FOR BIOMASS FLOW SENSING
BY
RUMANA TASNIM
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the
requirement for the degree of Master of Science
(Electronics Engineering)
Kulliyyah of Engineering
International Islamic University
Malaysia
JUNE 2013
ABSTRACT
Flow sensing technology from today’s application perspective has gained significant
research interest in studying the flow sensing behavior of biomass materials over past
few years. In order to facilitate the requirements of real-time flow measurement, a
capacitance technique for biomass flow sensing has been developed in this research
which is based on an operational amplifier based capacitive bridge circuit connected
with sensing electrodes. The research objective is fulfilled via simulation and
experimental validation through hardware implementation of a flow sensing set up.
The experimental results have specified the measurement system which is able to
sense flow variation as a change of dielectric permittivity of different biomass
materials under room condition. The novelty of this research lies in the use of simple
structured capacitive sensing circuit along with two different types of measuring
electrodes for analyzing biomass flow sensing behavior. As a whole, this work aims to
investigate and analyze biomass flow sensing behavior in order to open up a branch of
research for practical implementation.
ii
‫ﺧﻼﺻﺔ ﺍﻟﺒﺤﺚ‬
‫ىف العقود القليلة املاضية اكتسبت تكنولوجيا االستشعارمن وجهة نظرالتطبيق االهتمامات‬
‫البحثية يف دراسة سلوك تدفق مواد الكتلة احليوية‪ .‬من أجل تسهيل متطلبات قياس التدفق يف‬
‫الوقت احلقيقي‪ ،‬قد مت تطويرنظام قياس السعة الستشعارتدفق الكتلةاحليوية يف هذاالبحث‬
‫الذي يقوم على أساس تشغيلي معتمداعلى مضخم الدائرة الكهرباية متصال مع نوعني‬
‫خمتلفني من األقطاب الكهربائية لالستشعار‪ .‬حققت اهداف البحث عن طريق احملاكاة‬
‫والتجربة املعملية‪ .‬مت التحقق من صحة نتائج احملاكاة جتريبيا من خالل تنفيذ وضبط التجربة‬
‫العملية‪ .‬النتائج املعملية اثبتت انتظام القياس قادر على قراءة االختالفات الطفيفة ىف تدفق‬
‫الكتلة احليوية حتت الظروف العادية‪ .‬ويالحظ توافق نتائج احملاكاة والنتائج املعملية التجريبية‬
‫تقريبا‪ .‬قيمة هذا البحث تكمن يف استخدام دوائرالسعةاحلرارية صممت خصيصا لالستشعار‬
‫جنبا إىل جنب مع قياس اقطاب القياس‪ .‬وهذه العملية هتدف إىل حتقيق وحتليل تقنية‬
‫االستشعار لتدفق الكتلة احليوية من أجل التحفيز على البحث بشأن التنفيذ العملي‪.‬‬
‫‪iii‬‬
APPROVAL PAGE
I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion it conforms
to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and
quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science Electronics Engineering.
………………………………
Sheroz Khan
Supervisor
………………………………
Musse Mohamud Ahmed
Co-Supervisor
I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable
standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a
thesis for the degree of Master of Science Electronics Engineering
………………………………
Anis Nurashikin Nordin
Internal Examiner
………………………………
Ye Chow Kuang
External Examiner
This dissertation was submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
Master of Science Electronics Engineering.
………………………………
Othman O. Khalifa
Head, Department of ECE
This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Engineering and is accepted as a
fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science Electronics
Engineering.
………………………………
Md Noor Bin Saleh
Dean, Kulliyyah of Engineering
iv
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own investigations, except
where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently
submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.
Rumana Tasnim
Signature………………………………
Date……………………………
v
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT ANDAFFIRMATION
OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
Copyright © 2013 by International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights reserved.
NON CONTACT CAPACITIVE TECHNIQUE FOR BIOMASS FLOW
SENSING
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the
copyright holder except as provided below.
1.
Any material contained in or derive from this unpublished research may
only be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.
2.
IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print
or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3.
The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieval system
and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other
universities and research libraries.
Affirmed by Rumana Tasnim
……………………….
Signature
………………………
Date
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the name of Allah (S.W.T.), the most gracious and merciful
Alhamdulillah, all the praises go to Allah Subhanahu WaTa'ala for showering His
great blessings on me to carry out and complete this dissertation successfully
throughout the years of my achievement toward searching knowledge.
At the outset, I gratefully acknowledge my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sheroz Khan
for his guidance, incessant encouragement and unwavering support.
I owe a great deal of appreciation and gratitude to my co-supervisor, Dr. Musse
Mohamud Ahmed for his constructive comments throughout the research work. My
sincere thanks are due to my lecturers in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department; Prof. Dr. Othman O. Khalifa, Prof. Dr. A.H.M. Zahirul Alam, Assoc.
Prof. Dr. Anis Nurashikin Nordin, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ibn Ibrahimy and
Assist. Prof. Dr. Teddy Surya Gunawan,
This acknowledgment would not be complete without mentioning the invaluable
support offered by Tawfik, Nazmus, Atika and Javeed that helped me overcoming
some difficulties encountered during research work.
I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to Forest Research Institute Malaysia
(FRIM) for providing biomass materials to conduct the experiments. Thanks to
everyone who helped me keenly conducting this research. All of your kindness and
support means a lot to me.
Words are not enough to express my sincere gratitude towards my father Iqbal
Hossain, my mother Ummey Salma and my sister Rosedana Tasnim for their
unconditional love, devoted support and continuous encouragement throughout the
journey.
Last but not the least, I express my indebtedness to this glorious institution,
International Islamic University Malaysia.
Jazakallah Khayran
vii
To my revered father Iqbal Hossain and beloved mother
Ummey Salma
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract (Arabic)........................................................................................................... iii
Approval page ............................................................................................................... iv
Declaration page ............................................................................................................ v
Copyright page .............................................................................................................. vi
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... vii
Table of contents ........................................................................................................... ix
List of tables .................................................................................................................. xi
List of figures ............................................................................................................... xii
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... xvi
List of symbols ........................................................................................................... xvii
CHAPTER ONE:INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ........................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Problem statement and its significance .............................................................. 4
1.3 Research objectives ............................................................................................ 5
1.4 Research methodology ....................................................................................... 6
1.5 Research scope ................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Dissertation outline ............................................................................................ 7
CHAPTER TWO:LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................ 9
2.1 Significance of flow measurement and relevant applications ............................ 9
2.2 Overview of measurement principles of gas/solid flow ................................... 11
2.2.1
Contact Type Measurement……………………………………………12
2.2.2
Non-Contact Type Measurement………………………………………15
2.2.2.1
Optical Sensing Technique………………………………………..15
2.2.2.2
Microwave Technique…………………………………………….17
2.2.2.3
Ultrasonic Technique……………………………………………...19
2.2.2.4
Electrostatic Technique……………………………………………21
2.2.2.5
Capacitive Sensing Technique…………………………………….23
2.3 Capacitive sensing technique for gas-solid two phase flow............................. 24
2.4 Synopsis of research issues synopsis of research issues .................................. 35
2.5 Research focus ................................................................................................. 37
2.6 Summary .......................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER THREE:METHODOLOGY................................................................. 39
3.1 Basics on Capacitive Sensors ........................................................................... 39
3.1.1 Determination Of Capacitance In A Capacitive Sensor .......................... 42
3.1.2 Capacitive Position And Displacement Sensor………………………...45
3.2 Capacitive sensing technique ........................................................................... 49
3.3 System structure ............................................................................................... 50
3.3.1 Sensing Part……………………………………………………………50
3.3.2 Processing Part…………………………………………………………54
ix
3.4 Circuit analysis and simulation ........................................................................ 57
3.5 Summary .......................................................................................................... 62
CHAPTER FOUR:RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION .......................... 63
4.1 Experimental procedure ................................................................................... 63
4.2 Experimental observation................................................................................ 65
4.3 Results and discussion on type of electrodes, location and biomass flow ....... 66
4.4 Analyzing conformity between simulation and experimental results .............. 86
4.5 Summary ........................................................................................................ 100
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ..................... 101
5.1 Conclusion...................................................................................................... 101
5.2 Recommendation............................................................................................ 105
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 106
PUBLICATIONS ..................................................................................................... 110
APPENDIX A: Capacitance and voltage output graphs as a function of various
biomass flow rates .................................................................................................... 110
APPENDIX B:Experimental and simulation Results’ Plots ................................ 126
APPENDIX C:Circuit Derivation .......................................................................... 129
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table No.
Page No.
2.1
Performance Evaluation of Contact Type Gas Flow
Measurement Meters
13
3.1
Sensors based on the principle of quantity of interest to
measurement events
40
3.2
Properties of biomass test materials
52
3.3
Dielectric constant of biomass materials
54
4.1
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order (for wood flow sensed by CA)
90
4.2
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order (for wood flow sensed by SA)
92
4.3
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order (for fodder flow sensed by SA)
93
4.4
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order (for fodder flow sensed by CA)
94
4.5
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order (for corn flour flow sensed by CA)
96
4.6
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order(for corn flour flow sensed by SA)
97
4.7
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order(for wheat flow sensed by SA)
98
4.8
Experimental and simulated output voltages arranged in
ascending order(for wheat flow sensed by CA)
100
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No.
Page No.
1.1
Research methodology flow chart
6
1.2
Research scope flow chart
7
2.1
Gas flow meter
14
2.2
Schematic of optical measurement
17
2.3
Block Diagram of Sensor Set up
18
2.4
Ultrasonic flow sensor
19
2.5
Electrostatic sensor associated with transducer circuit
22
2.6
Capacitance transducer (DC 13) and solids concentration
meter (DMC 170)
25
2.7
Interface circuit of concentration sensor
26
2.8
(a) The architecture of Semi cylindrical capacitive sensor
and (b) Interface circuit
27
2.9
Schematic of electrode structure on pipe section
29
2.10
Electrode Arrangements (a, b)
30
2.11
Schematic diagram of the capacitive sensor interface
circuit
32
2.12
System structure of velocity measurement based on a pair of
electrostatic sensors
33
2.13
Electrodes, insulation material and connection terminals
34
3.1
Capacitive Sensor
42
3.2
Changes which can affect capacitive transducer (Area of the
plate, distance between the plate, and type of dielectric)
43
3.3
Parallel Plate of Capacitive Sensor
44
3.4
Simple geometries (a) Disk (b) Sphere (c) Coaxial cylinders
44
3.5
A variable distance capacitive displacement sensor
45
3.6
Position sensing relative to a fixed conductor
46
xii
3.7
Sensing by dielectric movement
47
3.8
Block Diagram of research work
49
3.9
Layout of the particle flow test rig. (Sensing Part)
52
3.10
Test materials (Corn flower, fodder, wood, wheat)
53
3.11
Schematic of Electrode shapes (a) Circular (b) Semi circular
54
3.12
Electrode Structure
55
3.13
Circuit arrangement with sensing part
57
3.14
Processing part
58
3.15
PSPice Simulation Circuit for balanced condition
59
3.16
PSPice Simulation result for unbalanced condition
59
3.17
PSPice Simulation circuit for unbalanced condition
60
3.18
PSPice Simulation result for unbalanced condition(Cx=30pF)
60
3.19
PSPice Simulation result for unbalanced condition(Cx=45pF)
61
3.20
Simulated Output Voltage Vo as a function of Change in
Capacitance, Cx
61
4.1
(a) Experimental set up (b) Circular and semi circular shaped
electrodes
64
4.2
Voltage Output as a function of wood flow (333gm/min)
68
4.3
Capacitance as a function of biomass flow (333gm/min)
68
4.4
Bar graph of wood flow (333gm/min) for circular electrode
CA
69
4.5
Bar graph of wood flow (333gm/min) for circular electrode
CB
70
4.6
Bar graph of wood flow (333gm/min) for Semi-Circular
electrode SA
70
4.7
Bar graph of wood flow (333gm/min) for Semi-Circular
electrode SB
71
4.8
Bar graph of biomass flow (333gm/min) for Semi-Circular
electrode SC
71
4.9
Voltage Output as a function of corn flour flow range
74
4.10
Capacitance as a function of corn flow (600gm/min)
74
xiii
4.11
Bar graph of corn flour flow (600gm/min) for circular
electrode CA
75
4.12
Bar graph of corn flour flow (600gm/min) for circular
electrode CB
75
4.13
Bar graph of corn flour flow (600gm/min) for semi-circular
electrode SA
76
4.14
Bar graph of corn flour flow (600gm/min) for semi-circular
electrode SB
76
4.15
Bar graph of corn flour flow (600gm/min) for semi-circular
electrode SC
77
4.16
Voltage Output as a function of wheat flow
78
4.17
Capacitance as a function of biomass flow (600gm/min)
78
4.18
Bar graph of wheat flow over one minute (600gm/min) for
circular electrode CA
79
4.19
Bar graph of wheat flow over one minute (600gm/min) for
circular electrode CB
79
4.20
Bar graph of wheat flow over one minute (600gm/min) for
semi-circular electrode SA
80
4.21
Bar graph of wheat flow over one minute(600gm/min) for
semi circular electrode SB
80
4.22
Bar graph of wheat flow over one minute (600gm/min) for
semi circular electrode SC
81
4.23
Voltage Output as a function of fodder flow
82
4.24
Capacitance as a function of fodder biomass flow
(1000gm/min)
83
4.25
Bar graph of fodder flow (1000gm/min) for circular
electrode CA
83
4.26
Bar graph of fodder flow (1000gm/min) for circular electrode
CB
84
4.27
Bar graph of fodder flow (1000gm/min) for semi circular
electrode SA
84
4.28
Bar graph of fodder flow (1000gm/min) for semi circular
electrode SB
85
4.29
Bar graph of fodder flow (1000gm/min) for semi circular
electrode SC
85
xiv
4.30
PSPice Simulation circuit for unbalanced condition (due to
wood) with equivalent CX=CA=83.3 pF
88
4.31
PSPice simulation result for CX=83.3pF
89
4.32
Experimental and Simulation voltage for wood flow across
CA
90
4.33
PSpice simulation circuit for unbalance condition (with CX
=62.2pF)
91
4.34
PSpice simulation result for CX=62.2pF
91
4.35
Experimental and Simulation voltage for wood flow across
SA
92
4.36
Simulation voltage for 77.6pF
93
4.37
Experimental and Simulation voltage for fodder flow across
SA
94
4.38
PSpice simulation result for CX=91.1pF
95
4.39
Experimental and Simulation voltage for fodder flow across
CA
95
4.40
Simulation result for CX=91.6pF
96
4.41
Experimental and Simulation voltage for Corn Flour flow
across CA
97
4.42
Experimental and Simulation voltage for Corn Flour flow
across SA
98
4.43
PSpice simulation result for Wheat Flow (CX=90.4pF)
99
4.44
Experimental and Simulation voltage for Wheat flow across
CA
99
4.45
PSPice Simulation result for CX=83.3 pF
100
4.46
Experimental and Simulation voltage for Wheat flow across
SA
100
xv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ADC
Analog-to-Digital Converter
SNR
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
IC
Integrated Circuit
RPM
Rotation per Minute
CDC
Capacitance-to-Digital Converter
OP AMP Operational Amplifier
SPICE
Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit
xvi
LIST OF SYMBOLS
f
-
Frequency
C
-
Capacitance of the capacitor
ε
-
Dielectric constant or permeability
εr
-
Relative dielectric constant
εo
-
Free space dielectric constant
x
-
Distance between the plates
A
-
Area of the plates
V
-
Velocity
xvii
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND
Flow sensing and measurement is a challenging engineering task and various flow
sensing techniques are used by flow meters and sensors having their own merits and
demerits. Accurate flow sensing and measurements require knowledge of the
properties of the flow materials (gas, liquid, gas/solid, gas/liquid) when being
measured, the measurement range, and the dimensional information on the flow pipe.
Additionally it needs the technology details of the flow meters or sensors employed.
Based on the principle of measurement, flow meters or sensors could be volumetric,
mass, inferential, velocity flow meters etc. Volumetric flow measurement describes
the volume of gas or liquid that passes a perpendicular cross-section per unit of time,
assuming negligible temperature and pressure variations. Exactly the same way, mass
flow measurement determines the mass of the gases/solids/fluids crossing the
perpendicular section of a fluid guide per unit of time. Inferential flow meters measure
flow using a measureable physical phenomenon associated with fluid flow through
differential principle; although less accurate, but their low cost and easy installation
make such meters preferential choices for some applications.
The sensing behavior and measurement of biomass flow has a typical and
complicated nature of the flow medium in industrial process. Further, the process gets
complicated because of the variable operating conditions of such process control
plants. This significant application has taken root in the form of gas-solid flow in
pneumatic conveying systems, and its online measurement has proven to be a
1
challenging research pursuit. Such flow measurements have got wide-spreading
applications in various industries namely power generation, chemical, steel making
and food processing. The most influential drivers in the academic research and
industrial applications for gas-solid flow measurement are energy, environmental
regulation and measurement efficiency in waste management area. Particularly in
coal-burning plant, solid phase concentration and solid mass flow-rate of pulverized
coal flow measurement are frequently required to attain production measurement and
process control. Furthermore, the sensing and measurement of the biomass/coal
mixture flow for blended biomass in pneumatic pipelines at coal power station is
another familiar scenario. This is a crucial issue for industrial manufactures to ensure
product quality, stabilize technique process, improve comprehensive automation level
and reduce environmental pollution. However, due to the complexity in flow nature of
pulverized coal, biomass/coal mixture or blended biomass, it is not simple and easy to
establish an accurate flow model.
The development of suitable instrumentation for such application frequently
poses exigent difficulties particularly in the light of inconsistency of plant operating
conditions due to this multifaceted flow medium. Several contact type measurement
techniques namely solid flow meter, venture meter have shown maximum 4%
accuracy at full scale, high revenue loss during maintenance, inconvenient
repeatability and poor robustness. Different flow sensing techniques appear to
demonstrate dissimilar perceptions of the flow which in turn affects the signal
generated by each different probe as well as on signal analysis. Non-contact
techniques like optical based means, capacitive, inductive and electrostatic sensing for
gas-solid flow measurement and such flow measurements have been introduced
decades ago and being explored as well as developed by researchers worldwide. The
2
term ‘gas-solid mass flow’ indicates the amount of conveyed material mass per unit
time through a conveying pipe. In order to conduct the flow measurement, generally
velocity profile and volumetric concentration of the flow particles being conveyed are
required to be measured. In view of that, the sensing techniques should be developed
so as to perceive the flow nature of flow materials which have not yet well-researched.
None of the above mentioned technologies have come within the reach of attaining an
excellent level of measurement accuracy and precision due to the lack of research
activity toward sensing techniques to perceive the flow behavior. However, the
capacitive sensing technique is advantageous and favorable over other measurement
techniques and it is currently being used numerously in industries due to its’ special
features like low production cost, simplicity in structure, non-contact, non-invasion,
radiation free and maintenance free nature, high precision, good linearity, quick
response, noninterference of the flow field and direct electric signal output.
Non-contact capacitive sensing technique generally works on the principal of
making changes in the dielectric material content (dielectric constant) that results into
changes in capacitance values for the coupling plates being used. Such sensors are
constructed from electrodes with dielectric in between them. In flow sensing
technique, those electrodes are fitted around pipe wall while the flow particles are
used as dielectric. The excitation voltage combined with detection circuits transform
capacitance variations into an equivalent voltage signal, frequency or pulse width
variation. The conversion of capacitance variation into suitable output depends on the
processing circuit used for the purpose. The physical parameters of the process
straightforwardly or obliquely affect the capacitance between two electrodes. This
variation in capacitance is due to the geometric variations of the plates used or the
variation in the dielectric properties of the material in between the electrodes.
3
In order to facilitate the real-time measurement, a capacitance sensing
technique for blended biomass flow is developed in this research. A series of
strategically designed experiments with known mass flow rate are conducted. Two
types of sensing electrodes are used on the basis of circular and semi-circular shaped
electrode. To be precise, this research aims to develop a novel non-contact flow
sensing technique using an external electronic measurement circuit along with sensing
electrodes. The biomass fuels to be tested include wood, corn flour, fodder and wheat.
A ground grain (corn flour) will be used to replicate a biomass of finer particles.
Furthermore, the sensing behavior of those materials under different test conditions
will be evaluated and analyzed for online measurement.
1.2
PROBLEM STATEMENT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
To enhance industry control quality level as well as uphold enterprise economic
benefit accurate sensing and measurement of biomass flow is a major concern. The
development of suitable instrumentations for sensing and measurement of biomass
flow has shown to be not an easy issue. Most of the existing sensing technologies
provide measurement with its own shortcomings, affecting the results of the
measurement process. Among the sensing techniques capacitive and electrostatic
sensors has demonstrated better reliability. The measurement problem regarding the
measurement of very small capacitances is mentionable since cable capacitance and
stray capacitance cause inaccuracy. Also, power line interference and interface circuit
drift are other issues of concern for research in this work. The problems highlighted to
resolve for this research work are summarized below:
4

Complexity in existing measurement circuit model as well as electrode
arrangement used for flow piping arrangement

Effect of stray capacitance and residual capacitance effect

Not much research has been undertaken to analyze sensing behavior of
biomass flow.
For facilitating the sensing of small capacitive variation and solving the above
mentioned problems, a capacitive sensing techniques has been developed for
monitoring and analyzing the sensing behaviors of biomass flow. This research
enables the biomass flow sensing using an operational amplifier based capacitive
bridge circuit, reproducing the output voltage as a representative of the flow.
1.3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
This research work, after having identified the list of parameters and its methodology
is geared toward conducting some tasks as its milestones. To accomplish these tasks
productively, the following objectives are identified:
1)
To develop a noncontact capacitive technique for sensing biomass flow
2)
To carry out hardware implementation using a capacitance bridge circuit
along with two types of capacitive electrodes.
3)
To analyze biomass flow sensing behavior for the proposed technique by
evaluating the measurement data and assessing conformity between
experimentally obtained and simulated data.
5
1.4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The following methodology is used for the realization of the results in this work:
Figure 1.1: Research methodology flow chart
1.5
RESEARCH SCOPE
This research develops a capacitance sensing technique where hardware
implementation is done along with the simulation of measurement circuit. The
research aims to develop capacitive sensing in a measurement pipe for application in
6
power plant and process industries. The measurement procedure will be
comprehensively detailed and results will be evaluated in term of analyzing sensing
behavior of biomass materials.
Figure 1.2: Research scope flow chart
1.6
DISSERTATION OUTLINE
This dissertation is organized as follows:
Chapter 1 begins with introductory part, which gives a brief description of gassolid flow measurement technology and its significance in industrial process.
Moreover, gas solid flow measurement sensors with some details of capacitive sensors
are presented which has led toward the problem statements. The stated problems are
7