Scope and Objectives

1. To develop a continuous real-time discharge monitoring system for small open channels (width 1 to 50 m) by tomographic reconstruction of ultrasonic transit-time measurements. The system will be designed to be accurate, cost-effective, field deployable, easy to calibrate and capable of unattended real-time data transmission. 2. To test the developed system under laboratory and field conditions and determine its range of measurement errors under different channel geometry and flow conditions. 3. To convert the developed system into a user-friendly commercial product.

Deliverables

1) A transit-time ultrasonic discharge measurement system for pipes and small open channels; 2) A methodology for configuring, calibrating and deploying the developed system; 3) A user-friendly software for data retrieval and visualization; 4) Real-time data telemetry for the developed system.

Videos

Scientific Output

The novelty of the proposed work lies in integrating tomographic techniques with the ultrasonic transit-time measurements and principles of open channel hydraulics to develop a robust, cost-effective, continuous and easy to calibrate discharge measurement system that is adaptable to various kinds of small channels. To the best of authors knowledge, no study has been reported in the literature that uses state-of-the-art ultrasonic tomographic techniques for discharge measurements in open channels. The proposed instrument will be capable of accurately measuring and transmitting discharge data in real-time from unattended remote locations to a data storage system. This will empower water-resource management agencies with high quality continuous data, which is either currently absent or largely limited by errors and biases of manual methods.

Results and outcome till date

The novelty of the proposed work lies in integrating tomographic techniques with the ultrasonic transit-time measurements and principles of open channel hydraulics to develop a robust, cost-effective, continuous and easy to calibrate discharge measurement system that is adaptable to various kinds of small channels. To the best of authors knowledge, no study has been reported in the literature that uses state-of-the-art ultrasonic tomographic techniques for discharge measurements in open channels. The proposed instrument will be capable of accurately measuring and transmitting discharge data in real-time from unattended remote locations to a data storage system. This will empower water-resource management agencies with high quality continuous data, which is either currently absent or largely limited by errors and biases of manual methods.

Societal benefit and impact anticipated

Small rivers and channels dominate Indian rural and urban landscape. Monitoring discharge in them has direct utility in managing water-resources distribution issues prevalent in India today. The infrastructure for discharge data collection in small rivers is either absent or greatly limited by manual methods that use current-meters, floats, and gauges. The continuous discharge monitoring instruments that are readily available in the market like Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and Laser Doppler Anemometer (LDA) are too expensive for multiple deployments. The motivation is to fill this gap by developing a discharge measurement system that is inexpensive, easy to deploy, operate and maintain, and requires minimum calibration.

Next steps

Extensive laboratory and field experiments to be done for calibrating and testing developed open-channel flowmeters. Tomographic reconstructions to be applied for improving reliability and accuracy of ultrasonic transit-time flow measurements.

Publications and reports

1. Vikas Kumar Vidyarthi, Prudhvi Sagar , K. Sri Harsha , Shivam Tripathi , Naren Naik , and Prabhat Munshi (2017), Ultrasonic Transit-time Flowmeters for Pipes: A Short Review , flotek.g 2017-Innovative Solutions in Flow Measurement and Control - Oil, Water and Gas, August 28-30, 2017, FCRI, Palakkad, Kerala, India (Published).
2. Vikas Kumar Vidyarthi, Prudhvi Sagar, Ajay K. Gond, Ravi V., K. Sri Harsha, Shivam Tripathi, Naren Naik, and Prabhat Munshi (2018), Transit-time Measurements in Inline Ultrasonic Flowmeters for Pipes, Proceedings of the 7th International and 45th National Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power (FMFP), December 10-12, 2018, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India, Accepted for presentation.
3. Vikas Kumar Vidyarthi, Prudhvi Sagar, Deepak Arya, Ayush Agarwal, K. Sri Harsha, Shivam Tripathi, Naren Naik, and Prabhat Munshi (2018), Open Channel discharge measurement by Ultrasonic Transit- Time method, HYDRO-2019, December 2019, OU Hyderabad.

Patents

Nil

Scholars and Project Staff

1. Anagani Prudhvi Sagar, Appointed in April 2017
2. Neeraj Kumar Rai, From July, 2017 to January 2018
3. Shivam Sharma, Appointed in September 2017
4. Vikas Kumar Vidyarthi, Appointed in March, 2017
5. V. Ravi, Appointed in, January 2018
6. Saurabh Sharma, Project Mechanic, August 2018
7. Chinthulal V S, Senior Project Engineer, July 2019
8. Mukesh Kumar, Project Mechanic, July 2019

Challenges faced

Other information

We have assembled a small open channel flume with 4 pairs of ultrasonic sensors and made a real time velocity plotter for data acquisition. Validation of the measured velocity profiles in open channels with standard techniques like Pitot tube and particle image velocimetry is in progress. Alignment of transducers for longer distances (more than 3 m) is becoming challenging.