METHOD OF FLUID RHEOLOGY CHARACTERIZATION AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

摘要

There is disclosed a method and apparatus that use ultrasonic signals to measure rheological properties of a fluid flow, such as, e.g., the consistency index K, the flow behavior index n', the yield stress &tgr;0, or other parameters of any given model for shear rate dependent viscosity &eegr;. The method involves determining and analyzing Doppler shifts of the acoustic reflections associated with a plurality of sampling regions to determine one or more rheological properties of the fluid. The apparatus includes a transmitter for transmitting an acoustic signal in to the fluid flow, a receiver for receiving acoustic reflections from acoustic reflectors within the fluid flow, and an electronic module for determining a velocity versus position profile of the fluid flow.