Tunable AC thermal anemometry

Abstract

This paper suggests and demonstrates a novel flow measurement technique: tunable AC thermal anemometry, that allows simple integration, robust measurement and extremely high accuracy. The principle and simple theoretical analysis of the technique are presented. To find the optimal condition at which the phase lag becomes most sensitive to the flow speed change, the phase lag was measured scanning the heating frequency from 1 to 100 Hz, while the flow speed of ethanol was increased stepwise from 0 to 40 mm/s. The sensitivity of the phase lag depended on the heating frequency and the flow speed. It was possible to measure the average flow speed of 0.7 mm/s with the resolution of 0. 1 mm/s at 4 Hz. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.