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Coanda’s instrumentation team doesn’t stop when there’s no suitable off-the-shelf instrument available to deliver the measurement required for a client project. Instead, our staff of engineers and physicists develops its own instrumentation – a facet which sets us apart from other research hubs and one of the most rewarding aspects of the job for our team members.

We recently developed a “density insertion probe”, affectionately known as the DIP stick. In concept it’s similar to a nuclear density gauge – it measures density through the amount of gamma radiation absorbed by the medium. The DIP stick is miniaturized to allow a small, local measurement volume that can be traversed through the process to measure density profiles. Radioactive material providing multiple low (for gamma radiation) photon energies yields good sensitivity across a range of densities for the short (a few centimetres) path length in the measurement volume. Tungsten collimation at the source and detector reduce its sensitivity to secondary scattering from areas outside the measurement volume, and a long optical guide allows the (relatively bulky and environmentally sensitive) electronics package to be separated from the scintillator in the probe tip. The long cylindrical probe fits through a modified compression fitting to allow insertion into almost any apparatus. Additionally, the total activity in the device is below the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission exemption quantity so no licence is required for use.

The DIP stick has allowed the measurement of solids fraction profiles – a key performance indicator – in both liquid and gas systems on a number of multi-phase systems at Coanda. Such experimental programs are another example of the possibilities enabled by our wide variety of expertise under one roof.