Electricité de France’s study of the acoustic scintillation flow meter results in expanding its range and sensitivity

Electricité de France’s “Direction Technique Générale” (DTG) branch launched a three-year PhD thesis in order to study the Acoustic Scintillation Flow Meter (ASFM) developed by ASL AQFlow. The study was done in a partnership between EDF DTG (owner of one ASFM system since 2006), Hydro Québec (owner of two ASFM systems) and the manufacturer ASL AQFLow. The partnership aimed at sharing information about the mode of operation and components of the ASFM, as well as sharing the results of the research and development and on-site testing, in order to review the concept of the ASFM and, if feasible, to extend its application beyond its present range. Scientific support was provided by Gipsa-lab, a research laboratory within the Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble (INPG), a major player in the international signal processing community, and the R&D division of EDF located in Chatou, Greater Paris area. In the first two years of the PhD study five major measurement campaigns were performed in France and abroad. In addition, a reduced scale test facility was set up at Gipsa-lab. The main tasks for the PhD candidate were: to review the operational limits for the ASFM, to investigate the impact of various interferences on the discharge measurement, to get a better understanding of the velocity computation algorithm, to develop a method to filter out the scintillation frame vibrations, and to improve the algorithm, if feasible. It is expected that this study may provide the basis for the next generation of acoustic scintillation flow meters.