Home > Press > Measuring flow using a tiny wobbling tube
The Coriolis mass flow sensor. The tube is the U-shaped tiny line. In the left lower corner, the electric fingers are visible for measuring the displacement of the tube and activating movement |
Abstract:
One milligram per hour: fluid flow can be measured with great precision using a tiny ‘wobbling' tube with a diameter of only 40 micrometres. Thanks to a new technique, the sensor, which makes use of the ‘Coriolis effect', can be made even more compact, e.g. for medical applications. Scientists at the University of Twente's MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology have published an article on the subject in Applied Physics Letters.
Coriolis meters are often enormous instruments mounted in a pipeline to measure liquid flow accurately. Reduced to micrometre dimensions the result is a sensor that can measure extremely slow-moving small quantities of fluids. The fluid is passed through a tiny rectangular tube that is made to wobble. The Coriolis effect then causes the tube to move upwards as well, and this upward displacement is a measure of the amount of fluid flowing through it.
No magnets
Until now magnets have been used to bring about the wobbling motion. One of the problems was that the magnets are far bigger than the actual sensor. In the Applied Physics Letters article researcher Harmen Droogendijk introduces a new method, known as ‘parametric excitation'. Dozens of ‘electric fingers' attached to the tube fit between identical opposing fingers mounted on supports running
parallel to the tube. The extent to which these opposing sets of fingers slide between one another can be used to measure the tube's lateral displacement. But we could also use them to set the tube in
motion, thought Droogendijk. He found that there is a limited area of electrical tension where the tube moves up and down much more than at a lower or higher tension, though this has to be tuned very precisely. Droogendijk carried out mathematical modelling, resulting in a new design that no longer needs magnets. More research is needed to find out whether the current lower limit of approximately 1 milligram per hour can be lowered even further.
The research was carried out in the Transducers Science and Technology group led by Prof. Gijs Krijnen, which is part of the University of Twente's MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology. It received financial support from the Dutch national nanotechnology program NanoNed. More research is needed to find
out whether the current lower limit of approximately 1 milligram per hour can be lowered even further.
Industrial applications
The Coriolis mass flow sensor is being further developed by Bronkhorst High-Tech in Ruurlo to produce a precision instrument for such things as monitoring medical IV pumps, analysing medicines using liquid
chromatography, and use in microreactors and the manufacture of solar cells.
Full bibliographic information
The article, ´Parametric excitation of a micro Coriolis mass flow sensor´, by Harmen Droogendijk, Jarno Groenesteijn, Jeroen Haneveld (Micronit Microfluidics), Remco Sanders, Remco Wiegerink, Theo Lammerink, Joost Lötters (Bronkhorst High-Tech) and Gijs Krijnen, has been published in Applied Physics Letters. It is available on request.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Wiebe van der Veen
+31612185692
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede, Netherlands
053-489 9111
053-489 2000
Copyright © AlphaGalileo
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
News and information
New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024
Energy transmission in quantum field theory requires information September 13th, 2024
Breakthrough in proton barrier films using pore-free graphene oxide: Kumamoto University researchers achieve new milestone in advanced coating technologies September 13th, 2024
Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024
Nanomedicine
Unveiling the power of hot carriers in plasmonic nanostructures August 16th, 2024
The mechanism of a novel circular RNA circZFR that promotes colorectal cancer progression July 5th, 2024
Announcements
New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024
New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024
Tools
Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024
Faster than one pixel at a time – new imaging method for neutral atomic beam microscopes developed by Swansea researchers August 16th, 2024
Atomic force microscopy in 3D July 5th, 2024
Energy
Unveiling the power of hot carriers in plasmonic nanostructures August 16th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Solar/Photovoltaic
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
Inverted perovskite solar cell breaks 25% efficiency record: Researchers improve cell efficiency using a combination of molecules to address different November 17th, 2023
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||