High Precision Vibration-Type Densitometers Based on Pulsed Excitation Measurements

Sensors (Basel). 2019 Apr 5;19(7):1627. doi: 10.3390/s19071627.

Abstract

Glass flexural resonators have established themselves as one of the de-facto standard methods for measuring the density of liquids in a laboratory environment. The core of this sensor is a U-Tube measuring cell whose oscillator's resonance frequency changes with the mass of the liquid within the tube. This relationship can be used to derive the density of liquids in a fast and reliable way. In order to achieve the highest accuracy for the density measurement multiple physical effects (e.g., damping due to viscosity effects) need to be taken into account. For a reliable correction, additional measurements are required. The pulsed excitation method is able to produce these additional parameters along with a superior measurement performance compared to previous techniques.

Keywords: density measurement; flexural resonator; fluids; pulsed excitation; repeated fade-out; viscosity correction.