Abstract
Measurement of the mass flow rate of a polymer powder in a gas-solids pipe flow was investigated theoretically and experimentally. The measurement was based on the static electrification of the flowing particles. In the system, two current detecting pipes made of different materials were used, and mass flow rates were calculated from the two generated currents.
Since the polymer powder formed a stiff coating layer on the hard surface of metallic pipes due to particle impaction, several polymer materials were examined as the detecting pipes, and the performance of the current detection was evaluated by changing the powder flow rate. It was found that electric conductive polymers containing carbon showed superior stability in current detection. It was also found that the mass flow rate of the polymer powder could be measured by the use of two different conductive polymers in the detecting pipes.
