Sound speed and density characterization of milk adulterated with melamine.

Milk contaminated with melamine resulted in an important health hazard that affected many babies in China recently. Ultrasonic characterization of adulterated milk may detect gross levels of melamine contamination. Sound speed and density measurements were made in skim milk as a function of melamine adulteration. An ultrasonic measurement technique to implement milk quality control is discussed.

Extensional bundle waveguide techniques for measuring flow of hot fluids.

A bundle of acoustically slender metal rods, each thin compared to wavelength, tightly packed within a sheath, and welded closed at each end, provides a dispersion-free waveguide assembly that acts as a thermal buffer between a transducer and the hot fluid medium the flow of which is to be measured. Gas and steam flow applications have ranged up to 600 degrees C. Liquid applications have ranged from cryogenic (-160 degrees C) to 500 degrees C and include intermittent two-phase flows. The individual rods comprising the bundle usually are approximately one millimeter in diameter. The sheath, made of a pipe or tube, typically has an outside diameter of 12.7 to about 33 mm and usually is about 300 mm long. Materials for the sheath and bundle are selected to satisfy requirements of compatibility with the fluid as well as for acoustic properties. Corrosion-resistant alloys such as 316SS and titanium are commonly used. The buffers are used with transducers that are metal-encapsulated and certified for use in hazardous areas. They operate at a frequency in the range of 0.1 to 1 MHz. The radiating end of the buffer is usually flat and perpendicular to the buffer's main axis. In some cases the end of the buffer is stepped or angled. Angling the radiating faces at approximately 2 degrees to overcome beam drift at Mach 0.1 recently contributed to solving a high-temperature high-velocity flow measurement problem. The temperature in this situation was 300 degrees C, and the gas molecular weight was about 95, with pressure 0.9 to 1.1 bar.

Parallel strip waveguide for ultrasonic flow measurement in harsh environments.

Wetted ultrasonic transit time flow meters typically consist of one or more pairs of transducers, containing piezoelectric elements, which alternate between transmitting and detecting an ultrasonic pulse. Typical piezoelectric materials and the adhesives used to attach the piezoelectric element in such devices can be damaged by hostile environments, such as extreme temperature, potentially limiting possible applications of ultrasonic flow measurement techniques. We have investigated a design for a flow meter with an integrated thermal buffer waveguide consisting of five parallel stainless steel strips. These, in addition to thermal protection, may function as a transducer array, with the possibility of steering the emitted field. Because the buffer strips used in the transducer assembly are thin, one might expect Lamb-like guided waves to propagate along it. However, the finite width of the strips has a significant effect on the propagation characteristics of the guided waves. In this work, the effect of the waveguide's small rectangular cross-section has been studied. Additionally, we have examined the effect of thermal gradients on the average sound speed and dispersion characteristics of such strip waveguides. We also suggest modifications to the plate geometry, which can alter both the frequency content and the shape of the transmitted pulse, potentially giving a better signal to use in flow measurement.