Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/2440/50954
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Evaluation of a warm-thermistor flow sensor for use in automatic seepage meters |
Author: | Skinner, A. Lambert, M. |
Citation: | IEEE Sensors Journal, 2009; 9(9):1058-1067 |
Publisher: | The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers |
Issue Date: | 2009 |
ISSN: | 1530-437X 1558-1748 |
Statement of Responsibility: | Andrew J. Skinner and Martin F. Lambert |
Abstract: | Abstract-A warm-thermistor flow sensor is evaluated for use in an automatic seepage meter measuring very slow groundwater inflows into open water bodies. A novel control circuit allows a single self-referencing thermistor to operate with a constant heat output of 36.8mW, while monitoring the thermistor's internal temperature TSand TF under still-water and flow conditions respectively. The resultant temperature difference T S-TF is the output signal from the instrument. This device is particularly sensitive to very slow fluid flows in the range 0.03 to 3 mm/s, where buoyancy problems have traditionally prevented the use of warm-thermistor flow meters. For flow speeds below 3 mm/s the sensor response was shown in the laboratory to be nearly linear with no offset term. Two flow-calibration setups were investigated; a precision plunging-probe apparatus and a single-step flow calibration system based upon a Hagen-Poiseuille flow regulator and a vertical standpipe. A numerical (CFD) model of the spherical thermistor agreed well with the two experimental calibration procedures over the flow range between 0 and 3 mm/s. The theoretical model - based on the Peclet number - fits the CFD model well between 3 and 100 mm/s, but does not hold true in the buoyancy range below 3 mm/s. For a seepage meter funnel having a bell-to-throat area ratio of 2964, groundwater flow velocities as low as 0.01 μm/s (0.9 mm/day) could be measured using this sensor. © 2009 IEEE. |
Keywords: | Buoyancy seepage meter slow flow warm-thermistor flow meter. |
Rights: | © 2009 IEEE |
DOI: | 10.1109/JSEN.2009.2024056 |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/jsen.2009.2024056 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 7 Civil and Environmental Engineering publications Environment Institute publications |
Files in This Item:
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hdl_50954.pdf | Accepted version | 940.69 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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