A Bimodal Electrical Sensor for Measuring the Thickness of Insertable Multilayer Medium

The thickness of insertable multilayer medium is an important parameter in the industry process, but the thickness measurement remains unsolved in case of both conductive and nonconductive medium. To address the issue, a bimodal electrical sensor is designed, and it actually is an integrated electrical resistance tomography (ERT) sensor and an electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensor. The ERT can measure conductive medium whereas the ECT can do nonconductive one. By designing the structure and simulating the effect in the typical software of COMSOL Multiphysics, the advantages of the bimodal sensor was verified to identify interfaces and measure thicknesses of different media. Simulation results indicate that the bimodal sensor performs effectively in identifying interfaces and achieving multilayer thickness in three-phase media (gas, oil, and water), providing an effective solution for thickness measurement in stratified multiphase media. The study establishes a practical basis for subsequent experimental validation and system optimization.