Study of water speed sensitivity in a multifunctional thick-film sensor by analytical thermal simulations and experiments

A multifunctional (temperature, liquid flow, pressure and electrical conductivity) thick film sensor for monitoring water pipelines is here presented. This work is mainly focused on the theoretical and experimental characterization of the water flow sensitivity based on a planar version of the well-known hot-wire anemometer. The simulations of the temperature displacement on the sensor surface under several electrical biases and heat convection conditions were performed by means of the fast analytical thermal simulator DJOSER, thus providing an example of the capability and the utility of this simulation program. The calculated sensitivity curves to the heat convection coefficient and/or to the water speed were found to be in agreement with the experimental data measured on the sensor mounted within a closed pipeline which allows changing the water speed until 1000 liters/hour.