The characterization of HTT products using a combination linear and non-linear ultrasonic techniques

Ultrasonic systems are starting to find application in industrial process control systems. Such systems use conventional linear techniques to analyze and/or characterize a chemical reaction. Here, an active acoustic technique combining both linear and non-linear analysis is used for the characterization of a High Throughput Technology (HTT) product. An experimental procedure using a pair of ultrasonic transducers to analyze HTT samples in a process analytical environment is discussed. The ultrasonic monitoring system was configured to detect ultrasonic backscatter from the sample. Both linear and non-linear approaches have been evaluated by changing the operating characteristics of the receiving transducer and implementing matched filtering data processing of the backscattered signals. To improve the reliability of the system a dual frequency transducer was designed and fabricated. This device was used in reception and provided the capability of detecting both the fundamental and second harmonic frequencies using a single device. In this work, the transmitting device operated at 2.25MHz. Results acquired using this device demonstrated compatibility between the linear and non-linear techniques.