Review of techniques for the mass flow rate measurement of pneumatically conveyed solids

An accurate, reliable, on-line, continuous and non-invasive measurement of solids' mass flow rate in pneumatic conveying pipelines has been a technically challenging area, which becomes increasingly significant to achieve efficient utilization of energy and raw materials and to reduce waste. Energy and environmental regulation and legislation, and efficiency and waste reduction are two most powerful drivers in the academic research and industrial applications for solids' mass flow meters. In this paper, a review is presented on the recent measurement techniques of solids' mass flow rate measurement in pneumatic conveying systems. On basic principle and configuration of each technique, performances and limitations of these techniques in industrial applications are analyzed and compared from different views to demonstrate the recent developments in the field and the possible approaches which may provide solutions to the solids' mass flow measurement problem. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.