Simulation and experimental study of gas-to-particle heat transfer for non-invasive mass flow measurement

Thermal flowmeters based on the heat transfer principle can, in theory, provide direct mass flow measurement of gas–solids two-phase flow. They are applicable to a wide range of industrial process, where there is a need for accurate, reliable, on-line, continuous and non-invasive measurement of solids’ mass flow rate. A non-invasive thermal system has been proposed. The key issues have been highlighted and the results from initial simulations and experiments have indicated that the technique is worthy of further and more detailed investigation.This paper concentrates on: (i) measuring the temperature of a single particle both before and after passage through a heated region; (ii) describing the transient thermal characteristics of the gas and the single particle in the heated region; and (iii) characterizing the heat transfer from the hot pipe wall to the gas and from the gas to the single particle.