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Full-Text Articles in Physics
An Optical Sprayer Nozzle Flow Rate Sensor, Joseph S. Dvorak, Luke E. Bryant
An Optical Sprayer Nozzle Flow Rate Sensor, Joseph S. Dvorak, Luke E. Bryant
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
Ensuring proper flow rates from each nozzle on an agricultural sprayer has become even more important as advances continue to be made in precision application technology. In this article, we describe the structure and testing of a sensor technology based on optical cross-correlation to determine the flow rate of individual sprayer nozzles. An advantage of this technology is that it does not require that impellers or other components be placed in the flow, which could cause plugging. The only moving part in the entire system is a solenoid used to inject a tracer dye. The objective of this study was …
A Correlation-Based Optical Flowmeter For Enclosed Flows, Naiqian Zhang, Joseph S. Dvorak, Yali Zhang
A Correlation-Based Optical Flowmeter For Enclosed Flows, Naiqian Zhang, Joseph S. Dvorak, Yali Zhang
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
A low-cost flowmeter would be very useful in a wide variety of monitoring situations. This article discusses the development of such a flowmeter based on optical components and its testing with water in an enclosed flow system. The sensor consisted of two sets of LEDs and phototransistors spaced 4 cm apart, monitoring the optical properties of the fluid at upstream and downstream locations, respectively. A small amount of dye was injected into the flow, which caused a change in the optical properties of the fluid at both locations. The time required for this change to move from the upstream to …
Fiber Optic Sensor Response To High Levels Of Fat In Cream, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Frederick A. Payne, Clair L. Hicks, M. Pinar Mengüç, Sue E. Nokes
Fiber Optic Sensor Response To High Levels Of Fat In Cream, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Frederick A. Payne, Clair L. Hicks, M. Pinar Mengüç, Sue E. Nokes
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
A light backscatter technique using optical fibers to deliver and receive light was investigated for measuring the milkfat content of unhomogenized cream. Light backscatter through cream at wavelengths of 450 to 900 nm was measured for fiber separation distances from 2 to 6.5 mm and for cream containing 10 to ~40 weight percent (wt%) milkfat. Unhomogenized cream (~40 wt% milkfat) was mixed with skim milk (~0.05 wt% milkfat) to yield samples with five different milkfat levels. Three optical response models were tested for correlation with milkfat content: one using the light intensity measurement at a single separation distance, the second …
Light Backscatter Of Milk Products For Transition Sensing Using Optical Fibers, Frederick A. Payne, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Sue E. Nokes, Klat C. Kang
Light Backscatter Of Milk Products For Transition Sensing Using Optical Fibers, Frederick A. Payne, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Sue E. Nokes, Klat C. Kang
Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications
Transition sensors are needed, particularly in the dairy industry, for detecting transitions in pipe flow systems from product-to-water or product-to-product (such as from chocolate to vanilla ice cream mix). Transition information is used to automatically sequence valves to minimize product waste. Optical fibers were used to measure light backscatter between 400 and 950 nm as a function of milk concentration in water and milkfat concentration in milk. The normalized response (100% for product and 0% for water) as a function of product concentration in water was approximately logarithmic for skim milk between 400 and 900 nm and approximately linear for …