Performance evaluation of process tomography system for cold flow catalytic column

In a typical catalytic trickle bed type of process reactor, capturing representations of steady-state flow features as well as situations like channelling or bypassing is a challenging task. Transmission-type industrial process tomography (PT) based on gamma radiation can be employed in many chemical and process industries as a tool for localizing the problem area for quick and economical troubleshooting. Industrial PT technology often makes use of either penetrating radiation like radioisotope based gamma rays, X-rays, microwaves or ultrasonic waves. We have developed a new gamma-ray transmission tomography system in collaboration with the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL R&D Unit, Faridabad, India). The system makes use of thirty two scintillator based gamma-ray detectors in addition to a host of other sub-systems. This paper evaluates the performance of the system considering systematic and automated data acquisition, capabilities of the reconstruction software as well as experimental verification using actual flow dynamics in the process column to map the steady state three phase liquid gas flow distribution across a plane in the presence of catalyst.