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Infrared optoelectronic device for counting and measuring velocity of abrasive sponge balls used as cleaning artefacts in heat exchangers

2018; IOP Publishing; Volume: 1065; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/1742-6596/1065/15/152002

1742-6596

Jade Barbosa Nunes, Carlos Roberto Hall Barbosa, Maurício Nogueira Frota, Giacomo Valente,

Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies

Operating in the infrared range, an optoelectronic device was designed, fabricated and validated to count and measure the speed of abrasive sponge balls, used as cleaning artefacts in an innovative hydraulic system for cleaning heat exchangers without the need to shut down the turbine-hydrogenerator unit. On the one hand, the totalization of the cleaning artefacts is necessary to ensure that all injected balls have been recovered after their circulation through the inner tubes of the heat exchanger, therefore not obstructing the pathways where heat transfer takes place. On the other hand, the measurement of the velocity is critical to ensure the effectiveness of the cleaning process, proven to occur for cleaning artefacts moving with flow velocity around 2.0 m/s. Lessening false-positive counting and reducing the uncertainty associated with velocity measurements of the moving abrasive balls, the optoelectronic device discussed herein represents a significant improvement of a previous development, now operating with an improved signal-to-noise ratio and incorporating a new pair of optoelectronic sensors, all mounted on a single acrylic block, which ensures self-alignment of the optical beams.