Measurement of particle size distribution by the use of acoustic emission method

The measurement of solid particle flow while measuring the sizes of particles at the same time presents a difficult problem. One of the possible solutions in relation to measuring the solid particle flow is the use of acoustic emission signal (AE) generated on the impact of the solid particles against a suitably chosen obstacle. The paper discusses the possible use of the acoustic emission signal to also establish the size distribution of the impacting particles. A simple model has been designed based on the Hertz theory of impact, which in theory describes the effect of particle sizes and velocities on the AE signal parameters. Practical experiments have been completed using mixtures of particles of different sizes from 4 to 16 mm and single-size particles hitting against an obstacle at different velocities, with the aim of verifying validly of the designed model. The theoretical assumptions have been confirmed by the experiments and it can be concluded that the acoustic emission method is suitable for orientation measurement of the size distribution of solid particle flow.