| Acoustic measurements have been successfully used in monitoring pneumatic transport and hydrotransport systems. Acoustic probes are reliable, nonintrusive and allow for fast, online monitoring. Sophisticated signal analysis of the acoustic signals is usually required to develop techniques for monitoring process conditions.;Acoustic probes can be used to monitor pneumatic transport lines. Acoustic signals of various particulates travelling along the length of horizontal and upward inclined pneumatic transport pipes, when processed using the V Statistic of the wavelet residual signals, can be used to detect solid deposits along the bottom of the pipe and develop a flow regime map. When acetaminophen tablets are carried through pneumatic transport pipes, acoustics can detect tablet-tablet and tablet-wall collisions. The proportion of broken tablets can be predicted using kurtosis and the tablet collision rate at specific locations along the pipeline. This can define optimum transport conditions to maximize tablet throughput and minimize tablet breakage in pipelines.;Acoustic probes can also be used to monitor hydrotransport lines. Several signal analysis methods, based on power spectral density, cycle time regularity and the wavelet spectrum, were applied to determine the flow regimes encountered in a horizontal pipe. As well, acoustics were used to detect oversized material, such as rocks, travelling through a hydrotransport system. Acoustic signals were recorded on horizontal and downward inclined pipes, and analysed using kurtosis. Kurtosis enhanced large peaks in the signal, easily identifying oversized material in the slurry. The rock size could then be estimated, based on the number of collisions with the pipe wall, as oversized causing immediate damage to the system, or acceptable and would not cause immediate damage. Modelling of rock trajectories predicts of the number of collisions between the rock and pipe wall to determine optimum probe locations for rock detection in a hydrotransport system.;Acoustic probes along with advanced signal analysis techniques are reliable for monitoring pneumatic and hydrotransport systems. The monitoring methods developed provide operators with early warnings to potentially damaging conditions allowing for preventative action to be taken.;Keywords. Pneumatic Transport, Hydrotransport, Hydraulic Transport, Process Monitoring, Acoustic Probe, Signal Analysis, Kurtosis, V Statistic... |
