Measurement of the mass concentration of flowing powder by fast X-ray CT

Abstract : Estimating the mass concentration of granular substances in movement is of interest for industrial processes. In our specific application, a powder is transferred through a pipe to a reaction container and the objective is to measure the mass concentration at different cross section levels inside the container so that a spatial distribution can be estimated in dynamic conditions, i.e. powder flow. X-ray computed tomography (CT) is a non-invasive and non-destructive technique answering the requirements of our problem. A specific mechanical setup was built and because of space and mechanical constraints a special acquisition geometry was used, which implied the adaptation of the CT reconstruction algorithm.