Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Diploma in Technology: Electrical Engineering (Light Current), Technikon Natal, 1987. / In the gold mining industry, one of the significant physical
properties of the mineral slurry is its density and it is
important to be able to measure this parameter in most
processes.
There are many techniques for determining the density of
fluids, but because of the hostile, abrasive nature of
mineral slurry, very few of these are suitable,
This dissertation describes the deveiopment, construction
and testing of a portable, ultrasonic, density measuring
instrument. The instrument uses an ultrasonic transducer as
the primary measuring element, and system operation is based
on the fact that the driving impedance of the transducer
varies with changes in the physical properties, and hence
the characteristic impedance, of the surrounding medium into
which the ultrasonic energy is being transferred.
The technique may a-Lao be used to measure the relative
concentrations of two liquids in a mixture or emulsion,
provided that the characteristic impedances of the liquids
are sufficiently dissimilar. The electronic circuitry is
fairly straightforward, consisting essentially of an oscillator,
driving circuit for the transducer and a voltage
monitor to provide a d.c. voltage proportional to the
impedance of the transducer, and hence to the density of the
surrounding medium. Most of the research has been concentrated
on the probe design, as the type of transducer, the
type and thickness of facing material and the method of
construction all contribute to the sensitivity of the
instrument. A design of probe assembly has been developed
that may be used for both slurry density measurement and the
measurement of the ratio of aqueous to organic liquids in
emulsion. / M
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:ir.dut.ac.za:10321/2874 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Hulse, Nigel Douglas |
| Contributors | Stewart, A. B. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 137 p |
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