Ice fraction measurement of ice slurries through electromagnetic attenuation.

Alastair Hales; Joe Quarini; Geoffrey Hilton; Dominic Ash; Dan McBryde; Eddie Lucas; Xiao Yun

doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2014.06.004

Ice fraction measurement of ice slurries through electromagnetic attenuation.

Alastair Hales, Joe Quarini, Geoffrey Hilton, Dominic Ash, Dan McBryde, Eddie Lucas, Xiao Yun

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ice pigging is a process used by many industries for pipe cleaning and product recovery. Ice slurries, used to form an ice pig, are generated using an aqueous solution of water and a freezing point depressant, typically salt (NaCl) at 5% salinity. The ‘thickness’ of an ice slurry is key to the ice pig's performance, and this paper investigates a new non-invasive method of ice fraction measurement. Electromagnetic (EM) waves, with a frequency of 2.5 GHz, are absorbed rapidly by water molecules, but pass through ice with little drop in intensity, due to key differences in the materials' atomic structures. This phenomenon is exploited, and results show ice fraction can be approximated to within ±1.2% using a VNA
spectrum analyser, then mathematical manipulation and analysis. This rivals the error in calorimetry, ±1.3%, which currently seen as the ‘gold standard’ in ice fraction measurement across the industry.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	98 - 104
Number of pages	7
Journal	International Journal of Refrigeration
Volume	47
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2014.06.004
Publication status	Published - Nov 2014

Keywords

Ice pigging
electromagnetic wave absorption

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Dr Geoff Hilton
- Geoff.Hiltonbristol.acuk
- School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering - Senior Lecturer in Electrical & Electronic Engineering
- Communication Systems and Networks
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Cite this

@article{4e2857bf955d454785c74aaeb11c6efe,

title = "Ice fraction measurement of ice slurries through electromagnetic attenuation.",

abstract = "Ice pigging is a process used by many industries for pipe cleaning and product recovery. Ice slurries, used to form an ice pig, are generated using an aqueous solution of water and a freezing point depressant, typically salt (NaCl) at 5% salinity. The {\textquoteleft}thickness{\textquoteright} of an ice slurry is key to the ice pig's performance, and this paper investigates a new non-invasive method of ice fraction measurement. Electromagnetic (EM) waves, with a frequency of 2.5 GHz, are absorbed rapidly by water molecules, but pass through ice with little drop in intensity, due to key differences in the materials' atomic structures. This phenomenon is exploited, and results show ice fraction can be approximated to within ±1.2% using a VNAspectrum analyser, then mathematical manipulation and analysis. This rivals the error in calorimetry, ±1.3%, which currently seen as the {\textquoteleft}gold standard{\textquoteright} in ice fraction measurement across the industry.",

keywords = "Ice pigging, electromagnetic wave absorption",

author = "Alastair Hales and Joe Quarini and Geoffrey Hilton and Dominic Ash and Dan McBryde and Eddie Lucas and Xiao Yun",

year = "2014",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2014.06.004",

language = "English",

volume = "47",

pages = "98 -- 104",

journal = "International Journal of Refrigeration",

issn = "0140-7007",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ice fraction measurement of ice slurries through electromagnetic attenuation.

AU - Hales, Alastair

AU - Quarini, Joe

AU - Hilton, Geoffrey

AU - Ash, Dominic

AU - McBryde, Dan

AU - Lucas, Eddie

AU - Yun, Xiao

PY - 2014/11

Y1 - 2014/11

N2 - Ice pigging is a process used by many industries for pipe cleaning and product recovery. Ice slurries, used to form an ice pig, are generated using an aqueous solution of water and a freezing point depressant, typically salt (NaCl) at 5% salinity. The ‘thickness’ of an ice slurry is key to the ice pig's performance, and this paper investigates a new non-invasive method of ice fraction measurement. Electromagnetic (EM) waves, with a frequency of 2.5 GHz, are absorbed rapidly by water molecules, but pass through ice with little drop in intensity, due to key differences in the materials' atomic structures. This phenomenon is exploited, and results show ice fraction can be approximated to within ±1.2% using a VNAspectrum analyser, then mathematical manipulation and analysis. This rivals the error in calorimetry, ±1.3%, which currently seen as the ‘gold standard’ in ice fraction measurement across the industry.

AB - Ice pigging is a process used by many industries for pipe cleaning and product recovery. Ice slurries, used to form an ice pig, are generated using an aqueous solution of water and a freezing point depressant, typically salt (NaCl) at 5% salinity. The ‘thickness’ of an ice slurry is key to the ice pig's performance, and this paper investigates a new non-invasive method of ice fraction measurement. Electromagnetic (EM) waves, with a frequency of 2.5 GHz, are absorbed rapidly by water molecules, but pass through ice with little drop in intensity, due to key differences in the materials' atomic structures. This phenomenon is exploited, and results show ice fraction can be approximated to within ±1.2% using a VNAspectrum analyser, then mathematical manipulation and analysis. This rivals the error in calorimetry, ±1.3%, which currently seen as the ‘gold standard’ in ice fraction measurement across the industry.

KW - Ice pigging

KW - electromagnetic wave absorption

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2014.06.004

DO - 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2014.06.004

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

SN - 0140-7007

VL - 47

SP - 98

EP - 104

JO - International Journal of Refrigeration

JF - International Journal of Refrigeration

ER -

Ice fraction measurement of ice slurries through electromagnetic attenuation.

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Keywords

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