This article discusses the correlation method for time delay estimation, its disadvantages, and drawbacks. It is shown that the correlation method for material velocity measurement based on images of instantaneous changes of the concentration material inside measured by twin planes electrical tomography has serious limitations, especially in the case of plug regime. The basic problem is the non-stationarity of measured data, therefore the requirement of correlability of input data should be fulfilled. The requirement correlatability of input data imposes limitations on the possibility of continuous velocity measurement. This means that the material velocity can only be calculated when data are correlatable. An original algorithm of automatic extraction of the suitable time intervals to calculate material velocity is proposed. The algorithm allows measuring the flow velocity in a proper and accurate way. The examples of the correct velocity calculation, using the proposed concept for the gas-solid flow regime, are presented.
Keywords: cross-correlation; electrical capacitance tomography; plug regime; signal pattern; time window.