Deviation factor and temperature-compensation factor of simple industrial ultrasonic solution-concentration sensor which automatically eliminates temperature dependence

In this study, the author analyzed the deviation factor and the temperature-compensation factor of a new simple ultrasonic solution-concentration sensor which automatically eliminates temperature dependence using the phase-locked loop method (PLLM) and the phase difference method (PDM). The deviation factor is an essential specification for designing a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), a phase detector (PD) and an acoustic cell (AC). It was proved that the deviation factor obtained using the empirical equation is always the same, regardless of the center frequency (fO) of the VCO in the PLLM and the frequency of the driving oscillator (OSC) (fD) for the transmitter in the PDM. The deviation factor for a 0.0-1.0% NaCl solution determined by both PLLM and PDM was 0.0078. Moreover, it became clear that the same temperature-compensation factor can be used for determining the concentrations of both NaCl and sugar solutions; this factor is derived from the empirical equations of sound velocity. Specifically, its value in a 0.0-1.0% NaCl solution at fO = 2.15 MHz for PLLM is 3.381 kHz/°C, and that in a 0.0-5.0% sugar solution is 3.379 kHz/°C.