Application of the 2D-ERT to evaluate phantom circumscribed regions in various sucrose solution concentrations

Synthesis of the crystals is a very important step in manufacturing of many solid food products and pharmaceutical products. Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) provides an in-situ modality in observation of the progress in the process of batch reactor crystallization. Lowering of the conductivity in the non-ionic solutions such as sucrose solution poses challenges in the quantitative evaluation. In this work, the 2D electrical resistance tomography (2D-ERT) was implemented in laboratory-based batch reactor to observe circular, hollow and static sugar filled phantoms at various sucrose solution concentrations. The evaluations were done using a single plane of 16 surface electrode setup with voltage controlled current injection method. Modified Bayesian and iterative Gauss-Newton reconstruction methods were used to compare the phantom reconstructions qualitatively. It was observed that the 10 mm and 15 mm phantoms were discernible using both the reconstruction methods at the central location in the reactor vessel.