A New Method for Flow Rate Measurement in Millimeter-Scale Pipes

Combining the Capacitively Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection (C(4)D) technique and the principle of cross correlation flow measurement, a new method for flow rate measurement in millimeter-scale pipes was proposed. The research work included two parts. First, a new five-electrode C(4)D sensor was developed. Second, with two conductivity signals obtained by the developed sensor, the flow rate measurement was implemented by using the principle of cross correlation flow measurement. The experimental results showed that the proposed flow rate measurement method was effective, the developed five-electrode C(4)D sensor was successful, and the measurement accuracy was satisfactory. In five millimeter-scale pipes with different inner diameters of 0.5, 0.8, 1.8, 3.0 and 3.9 mm respectively, the maximum relative difference of the flow rate measurement between the reference flow rate and the measured flow rate was less than 5%.