Modelling and analysis of electrically conducting vessels and pipelines in electrical resistance process tomography

Analyses of a novel boundary excitation strategy are given by employing both analytical and finite element method models to image the resistivity distribution of materials inside a process vessel having an electrically conducting boundary. A grouped-node technique is developed to model the conducting wall of the vessel and/or the consequent large electrode surfaces. The theoretical principle of the sensitivity density algorithm is derived and a sequence of unprocessed images depicting relative resistivity changes inside the test vessel are reconstructed using the sensitivity density coefficient reconstruction algorithm to demonstrate the effect of different insulated boundary electrode geometries. The significance of the data reported demonstrates the viability of using electrical resistance tomography in metal-walled process vessels and pipelines: applications which would greatly benefit from such low-cost robust sensing principles.