Ultrasonic particle sizing in aqueous suspensions of solid particles of unknown density

Estimates of particle size distributions (PSDs) in solid-in-liquid suspensions can be made on the basis of measurements of ultrasonic wave attenuation combined with a mathematical propagation model, which typically requires seven physical parameters to describe each phase of the mixture. The estimation process is insensitive to all of these except the density of the solid particles, which may not be known or difficult to measure. This paper proposes that an unknown density value is incorporated into the sizing computation as a free variable. It is shown that this leads to an accurate estimate of PSD, as well as the unknown density.