Abstract
Sound travelling through a gas propagates at different speeds and its intensity attenuates to different degrees depending upon the composition of the gas. Theoretically, a real-time gaseous composition sensor could be based on measuring the sound speed and the acoustic attenuation. To this end, the speed of sound was modelled using standard relations, and the acoustic attenuation was modelled using the theory for vibrational relaxation of gas molecules. The concept for a gas composition sensor is demonstrated theoretically for nitrogen-methane-water and hydrogen-oxygen-water mixtures. For a three-component gas mixture, the measured sound speed and acoustic attenuation each define separate lines in the composition plane of two of the gases. The intersection of the two lines defines the gas composition. It should also be possible to use the concept for mixtures of more than three components, if the nature of the gas composition is known to some extent.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 70-75 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Measurement Science and Technology |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2003 |
Keywords
- Acoustic attenuation
- Speed of sound
- Ultrasonic sensors
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Instrumentation
- Engineering (miscellaneous)
- Applied Mathematics