Electronics System for Velocity Profile Emulation

The possibility of detecting the velocity profile in a fluid flowing in an industrial pipe is of high importance for several applications, like the accurate measurement of the volume flow or the rheological characterization of the fluid. Recently, industrial embedded systems have been presented that detect the velocity profile in pipes through Pulsed Ultrasound Velocimetry (PUV) method, based on Doppler ultrasound. The development, test and characterization of these systems are currently based on flow-rigs, which consist of hydraulic systems where a known fluid flows in a pipe circuit pushed by a pump. Unfortunately, flow-rigs are cumbersome and produce velocity profile whose features are not perfectly known. In this work, an electronic system that mimics the echo signal produced by a flow-rig is presented. Characteristic of the emulated profile, like signal-to-noise ratio, shape, velocity, etc., are fully programmable and perfectly known, thus a complete and reliable evaluation of the performance of the PUV system under test is now possible.