Multifunctional Electrode Polarization Impedance-Based Sensor for Calculating Flow Rate and Conductivity of Fluid

Flow rate measurement of conductive fluid is essential in many applications, such as oil, chemical, ocean engineering, and gas industries. In this work, we have proposed a simple, cost-effective, reliable flow sensor for determining conductive liquid flow across the flow loop. This proposed sensor uses the electrochemical principle that is the variation of polarization impedance of electrodes when immersed in a fluid with the flow of fluid across the flow loop as a measuring parameter for flow rate calculation. The same proposed sensor can determine both the flow rate as well as the conductivity of the liquid. The experiment has been done and verified using finite element method (FEM) software COMSOL. The experimental characteristics are found to follow the theoretically derived relation, and it is also free from the temperature effect. The designed system is an economical and straightforward technique for real-world applications. The proposed measuring system has good repeatability, sensitivity, and low hysteresis error. The theoretically and experimentally derived results are described in this article.