Analysis of a Capacitive Mass Flow Sensor for a Screw Conveyor

Anton Fuchs* and Hubert Zangl

Institute of Electrical Measurement and Measurement Signal Processing
Graz University of Technology, Austria
*Kopernikusgasse 24/IV, A-8010 Graz, Austria, Email: anton.fuchs@tugraz.at


Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of a
measurement principle for the determination of
the mass flow of material through screw
conveyors. The flow sensor design is based on
capacitive sensing with the characteristic that the
pipe content can be analyzed in a spatially
resolving manner. Finite Element Analysis is
used to investigate the sensor head and to
estimate the performance of the sensor. Main
aim of the paper is to estimate the range of
capacitance values that can be expected for such
a setup.

Keywords: Finite Element Analysis, Screw
Conveyor, Capacitive Sensing

1. Introduction

In a variety of different applications in
industry as well as in agriculture and shipping,
large amounts of material have to be transported
in a save and cost-efficient way. Depending on
the requirements and types of transportation (e.g.
conveying length, required mass flow, lifting
height to overcome) and the material properties
itself (i.e. state, size, abrasiveness, etc.),
materials handling has developed certain suitable
transportation techniques.
The principle of transporting media by means
of an Archimedes screw is very well known,
especially in bulk materials handling. Practical
realizations of this principle are one of the oldest
machines still in use [1]. Such a conveyor
basically consists of screw-shaped blades on a
rotating axis in a closed pipe [2]. With the blade
movement, the material is pushed through the
transportation pipe. This conveyor type can be
employed in horizontal, in slightly or steeply
inclined as well as in vertical configurations.
Further advantages are a steady operation
principle and the control of mass flow via
revolution speed of the screw. The transported
mass can only be roughly estimated by knowing
the revolution speed of the screw drive and the
mean mass (or volume) of the transported
material per revolution of a blade. The material
fill level (i.e. the height of material in each
individual "pocket") in such a horizontal setup
may vary dramatically, leading to erroneous
results for the transported mass.
Figure 1 shows the principle of material
transportation by means of a screw conveyor and
illustrates the different batches of material
separated by the screw blades.

Material Inlet
Material Outlet
Motor
Bearing
Sc rew Blade
Transportation Pipe


Figure 1. Screw conveyor principle for horizontal
use with unequal material fill levels per blade,
resulting in erroneous estimations of the transported
masses.

This paper discusses the sensor geometry for
a novel, cost-effective capacitive sensor principle
for mass flow measurement in screw conveyors
[3] and gives a detailed analysis for the sensor by
means of Finite Element Method (FEM). The
range of capacitance values that can be expected
for such a setup as well as the impact of material
and screw on these capacitances are analyzed to
allow for well-defined requirements of the
circuitry to be developed.

2. Proposed Sensor Approach

Several embodiments of the capacitive sensor
front-end are supposable [4] - a functional
embodiment of the sensor is presented in
Figure 2. The sensor head consists of a
segmented ring of transmitter electrodes and one
continuous receiver ring mounted on a non-
conducting pipe section. Transmitter electrodes
are subsequently supplied with a signal of
several MHz and either the electric potential or
the charge at the receiver electrode [5] is
measured to determine the inter-electrode
capacitance between active transmitter segment
and receiver ring. Since every transported bulk
material features a dielectric permittivity
r

higher than the one of air (
r,mat
is typically about
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble
3 to 4 while
r,air
is 1), the inter-electrode
capacitance is over a wide range linearly affected
by the presence of material in the vicinity of a
capacitive sensor. Due to the segmented structure
of the transmitter electrodes, information about
the permittivity- and hence the material
distribution in the measurement section can be
obtained [6] [7].

Transmitter Electrodes Receiver Electrode


Figure 2. Principle sensor setup in front- and
sideview. The segmented layer of transmitter
electrodes are subsequently set active to determine the
capacitance between transmitter and receiver.

For a totally filled pipe within the measurement
section, all inter-electrode capacitances are at a
maximum. If the pipe is not fully filled, the
measurement signal, which is proportional to the
inter-electrode capacitance, will decrease.
Field draining effects are expected that cause a
"suction" of field lines from transmitting to
receiving electrode whenever the blade passes
the fixed electrodes (i.e. with every full turn of
the blade). If these field draining effects can be
detected reliably in the capacitive measurement
signals, the revolution speed of the screw can be
determined independently from the engine speed.
This allows for a compact sensor with short
wiring.

3. Sensor Analysis by Means oI FEA

To analyze the capacitive sensor with respect to
expected signal levels, FEM is applied.
Therefore, the commercial FEM software
COMSOL Multiphysics version 3.3 was used to
develop a 3D geometrical model of the
assembly. For the geometry of the screw-shaped
auger the blades are drawn in 2D and this
geometry was extruded with a certain twist along
the axis. A rod was fused with the blades to form
the entire auger geometry as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Geometry model of the screw with
tetrahedron mesh.

The segmented ring of transmitter electrodes and
the continuous receiver electrode ring were
included as composite objects. A grounded
shield in the far distance from the sensor
geometry allows for a reference to ground.
For the analysis, the COMSOL electrostatics
model with the basic equation

= J
mat r, 0
(1)

for the subdomain settings was used (no
polarization is expected). The permittivity value
r,mat
of the material is set to 4 in all the
simulations and the permittivity of the metal
components like electrodes or the auger are set to
1e7 to ensure that electric field lines are
perpendicular to metal surfaces.
The electric potential J was the dependent
variable in this model. Instead of subsequently
setting all transmitter electrodes to an electrode
potential J of 1 V (i.e. to activate the
transmitter signals one after the other) and keep
the receiver ring on ground, the boundary
settings were interchanged. With these settings
all inter-electrode capacitances C
i
between
segmented transmitter electrodes and receiver
ring can be calculated in one single simulation
step. The surface charge densities of the
grounded segmented electrodes i are individually
integrated by means of calculating the surface
LQWHJUDO RYHU WKH HOHFWURGH ERXQGDULHV
i
:

( )
i i i
d
1
=

J
C
(2)

The geometry of the setup, comprising a
segmented layer of eight transmitter electrodes, a
continuous receiver ring, and the screw, is shown
in Figure 4. Figure 4a shows the profile of the
setup with the denomination of the electrodes,
for better demonstration the grounded shield
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble
around the entire assembly is not shown in
Figures 4a and 4b.


(a)

(b)
Figure 4. 3D geometry model of the setup comprising
a segmented layer of eight transmitter electrodes, a
continuous receiver ring, and the screw in (a): Profile
with denomination of electrodes and (b): Oblique view

3.1. Determination oI the Fill Level

To estimate the impact of varying material fill
levels within the sensitive volume, the pipe
content is subdivided into ten equidistant,
horizontal fill levels. This discrete division is
done to avoid remeshing and the subdivision into
different FEM meshes when variable fill levels
are used errors due to varying element sizes are
hence avoided.
Filled domains of the pipe content are set to
r,mat
=4 in the subdomain settings while unfilled
GRPDLQV DUH VHW WR
r,air
=1. Since we are interested
in the behavior of inter-electrode capacitances
for increasing and decreasing fill levels at this
stage, the screw geometry is replaced by a
simplified rod in the pipe center. The boundary
conditions of the rod are set to ground potential.
The simplified geometry consists of about
48.000 elements and it takes less than 15 seconds
to calculate the solution on an Intel Core2Duo
computer with 2.4 GHz and 2 GB main memory.
Figure 5 shows simulation results for a specific
fill level: Figure 5a plots the permittivity
distribution (truncated for better visibility due to
the high permittivity of metal parts), Figure 5b
the distribution of the magnitude of electric
displacement and Figure 5c the cross-sectional
potential distribution.

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 5. Simulation results for a given horizontal fill
level: Cross-sectional plots of (a): Permittivity
distribution, (b): Distribution of the electric
displacement and (c): Distribution of the electric
potential.
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble

The calculated inter-electrode capacitances
between receiver ring and transmitter electrode 1
to electrode 8 (electrode denomination according
to Figure 4a) are plotted in Figure 6 over the
material fill level. As can be expected, the two
bottommost electrodes are affected first by the
increasing material fill level. The topmost
electrodes feature an increase in inter-electrode
capacitance and hence in the measurement signal
for high fill levels only. Due to the slight,
clockwise inclination of the transmitter
electrodes (out-of-symmetry, compare Figure
4a), a delay between corresponding transmitter
electrodes can be observed in the simulation
results in Figure 6.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4
4.2
4.4
x 10
-13
Inter-Electrode Capacitances for Increasing Fill Level
Fill Level [mm]
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
l
e
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
i
t
a
n
c
e
s

[
F
]


Electrode 5
Electrode 6
Electrode 7
Electrode 8
Electrode 1
Electrode 2
Electrode 3
Electrode 4
Field Draining Effect
Field Draining
Effect

Figure 6. Inter-electrode capacitances between
individual transmitters and receiver ring for increasing
material fill level (denomination of electrodes
according to Figure 4a).

For low fill levels, only a thin material layer
exists in the vicinity of the two bottom
electrodes. A raise of the fill level then causes a
steep increase of the coupling capacitance since
the electric field from transmitter to receiver
electrode is predominantly coupled through the
material. However, when the material layer
becomes thicker, the capacitance between the
material and grounded objects in the sensor
(screw and shielding) goes up. As a
consequence, the electric field is partly directed
to grounded areas and kind of sucked off from
the receiver electrode (field draining effect). This
means that for a certain fill level the capacitance
between bottom electrodes and the receiver
decreases. Similarly for the top electrodes, a
drain effect can be observed before the fill level
reaches the most sensitive area of the top
electrodes. For the intermediate transmitter
electrodes (i.e. electrodes 2, 3, 6, and 7), both
effects are superimposed and therefore the
gradient is lower than for the bottom and top
electrodes, where coupling and draining effects
occur at different fill levels.

3.2. Determination oI the Screw Revolution

The revolution speed of the screw can also be
reliably determined by analyzing the motor
rotation speed that drives the screw. However, to
avoid expensive cabling and electromagnetic
disturbances caused by long cable duct through
industrial environment, an all-in-one sensor
solution for both revolution speed and fill level is
desirable. It is furthermore desirable to make use
of a non-invasive sensor principle that can be
easily implemented in existing screw conveyor
systems and that features a clear separation
between actuating and sensing elements.
The geometry model shown in Figure 4 is used
to estimate the sensitivity of the setup on the
screw rotation angle. Therefore, the grounded
screw is stepwise rotated in 5 steps and the
FEM model is solved for several screw rotation
angles using the electrostatic problem
formulation in Eqn. (1). The 45 rotation
symmetry of the setup is exploited for the
analysis of the screw impact on the capacitances.
For the calculation itself, the geometry is
subdivided into a tetrahedron mesh with about
105.000 elements in total. It took about 30
seconds to solve the problem with one rotation
angle on a Core2Due computer.
Figure 7 shows simulation results for one
specific rotation angle of the screw: Figure 7a
plots the permittivity distribution (permittivities
truncated for better visibility), Figure 7b the
distribution of the magnitude of electric
displacement and Figure 7c the cross-sectional
potential distribution. The obtained inter-
electrode capacitances between individual
transmitter electrodes and the common receiver
ring are plotted over the screw rotation angle in
Figure 8, following the denomination of
electrodes according to Figure 4a. It can be seen
that due to the helical geometry of the screw, the
signals differ in their phase and that a
capacitance variation of about 100 pF can be
expected.
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 7. Simulation results for a given revolution
angle of the screw: Cross-sectional plots of (a):
Permittivity distribution, (b): Distribution of the
electric displacement and (c): Distribution of the
electric potential.
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
x 10
-13
Electrode 1
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
x 10
-13
Electrode 2
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
x 10
-13
Electrode 3
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
x 10
-13
Electrode 4
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
x 10
-13
Electrode 5
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
x 10
-13
Electrode 6
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
-13
Electrode 7
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
-13
Electrode 8
Screw Rotation Angle []
I
n
t
e
r
-
E
le
c
t
r
o
d
e

C
a
p
a
c
it
a
n
c
e

[
F
]

Figure 8. Inter-electrode capacitances between
individual transmitters and receiver ring over the
rotation angle of the screw (denomination of
electrodes according to Figure 4a).

4. Conclusion

This paper presents a FEM simulation-based
analysis of a capacitive sensor, intended for the
measurement of the revolution speed of an auger
in a screw conveyor as well as for the material
fill level of the assembly. Due to the use of
segmented transmitter electrodes, the sensor
features spatially resolving measurement.
Results from FEM show that capacitance
variations of the proposed setup will be suitable
to determine the material fill level and the
revolution speed of the screw. Simulation results
furthermore reveal that field draining effects due
to metal parts in the setup have to be considered.

5. ReIerences

1. C. Rorres, The Turn of the Screw: Optimal
Design of an Achimedes Screw, 'ournol of
Hvoroulic Engineering, 126, no. 1, pp. 72-80
(2000).
2. G. Pajer, H. Kuhnt and F. Kurth,
Stetigfroerer, VEB Verlag Technik, Berlin,
(1977).
3. A. Fuchs, H. Zangl, G. Brasseur, Mass
Flowmeter for Screw Conveyors Based on
Capacitive Sensing, Proc. of IEEE
Instrumentotion ono Meosurement 1echnologv
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble
Conference (IM1C) 2007, Warsaw, Poland, May
1-3, 2007 pp. 1-5 (2007)
4. A. Fuchs, H. Zangl and G. Brasseur, Method
and Device for a Reliable Determination of the
Massflow in Screw Conveyors, Austrion Potent
Applicotion A18832006.
5. H. Wegleiter, A. Fuchs, G. Holler and B.
Kortschak, Analysis of Hardware Concepts for
Electrical Capacitance Tomography
Applications, Proc. of the IEEE Sensors 2005,
Irvine, California, October 31-November 3,
2005, pp. 688-860 (2005).
6. L.K. Baxter, Copocitive Sensors - Design
ono Applicotion, Chapter: Proximity Detectors,
IEEE Press, New York, USA (1997).
7. M. Young, E. Pickup, R. Deloughry, T.
Hartley, S.A. Nixon and L. Barratt, Development
of a Variable Density Flowmeter for an
Industrial Application Using Tomographic
Imaging, IEE Colloquium on Aovonces in
Electricol 1omogrophv (Digest No: 1196/143),
pp. 14/1-14/3 (1996).

6. Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by the
Austrian Science Fund through the Translational
Research Project number L355-N20.
Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble