Vibration-based smart sensor for high flow dust measurement

Abstract: Drying process of aggregates needed for asphalt manufacturing involves a high quantity of dust or filler that needs to be heated and extracted with the aid of a baghouse. A sensor that is able to measure the amount of filler aspirated will be a relevant innovation as the current state of the art for drying of aggregates involves a high amount of energy to heat all the aggregates so the highest amount of dust or filler is extracted. The final step of asphalt production is to mix all the components like bitumen, aggregates and cold filler itself. In the context of European project CAPRI [1,2], it is presented a prototype for measurement of filler flow based on vibration analysis, inside the pipe with an accelerometer in the insulator of an existing thermocouple subjected to the hard conditions of temperature and pressure. The paper shows the laboratory prototype results together with preliminary onsite evaluation previously to final demonstration. The paper provides also open access to all the data and results used as part of the commitment of CAPRI project with open science.

Keywords: Sensors, Innovation, Process Industry, Automation, Industry 4.0, Digital Transformation, Industrial Plants, Filler, Dust, Vibration, Signal processing, Smart sensing.