Electrical Resistance & Capacitance Tomography System
TJU-ECRT-Z12/16: A dual-modality ERT/ECT system integrating contact resistance (ERT) and non-contact capacitance (ECT) measurement on one acquisition platform; captures conductivity and permittivity signals simultaneously from the same cross-section for complementary imaging in processes where electrical properties vary widely (oil-water flows, reactors, etc.).
The dual-modality ERT/ECT system is designed and developed by the Tianjin University Electrical Imaging research group, integrating Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT, contact conductance measurement) and Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT, non-contact permittivity measurement) on a single hardware platform. It acquires both boundary-signal types from the same cross-section simultaneously, providing complementary data for processes whose electrical properties vary during operation — such as water-cut swings in oil-water flows or phase transitions in reactors, where a single modality falls short.
Acquisition host front panel: multi-channel electrode matrix supporting ERT/ECT dual-modality switching.
Acquisition host: 4-plane × 16-electrode configuration with on-board FPGA and gigabit Ethernet.
ECT mode: column-type non-contact capacitance sensor with the acquisition host.
Overview
One system · two modalities
ECT excels at imaging the dispersed phase in low-permittivity continuous phases (gas, oil), while ERT excels at conductivity mapping in conductive continuous phases (water-based media) — their coverage is complementary. The dual-modality system acquires capacitance and conductance simultaneously on the same sensor array, continuing to deliver valid images under conditions that defeat a single modality, such as wide water-cut swings or phase transitions. Built on a Xilinx FPGA/ZYNQ heterogeneous platform with wired/wireless gigabit Ethernet for remote transmission, raw data exports as .bin / .csv for custom reconstruction algorithms in MATLAB and Python.
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Complementary modalities
ECT senses low-permittivity / non-conductive phases while ERT senses conductive phases — the two modalities give complementary data, solving the single-modality failure at media transitions.
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Two modalities, one system
Shares a single acquisition host and software platform — lower cost and simpler deployment and maintenance than procuring separate ERT and ECT systems.
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Real-time imaging · open algorithms
Online image reconstruction and real-time display; raw boundary-measurement data exports to MATLAB / Python for custom reconstruction algorithms and publishable research.
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Deep customisation by a university team
Designed by the Tianjin University Electrical Imaging research group; sensor diameter, electrode count, plane count and material are all customisable to the application.
Specifications
Dual-modality measurement
One system supporting both ERT (contact conductance) and ECT (non-contact capacitance) measurement simultaneously.
Hardware platform
Xilinx FPGA / ZYNQ heterogeneous processor; 14-bit 10 Msps ADC; 14-bit 125 Msps DAC.
ERT excitation signal
Switchable sinusoidal / square wave; 1 kHz - 1 MHz; 0.3 - 10 mApp amplitude.
ECT excitation signal
Sinusoidal AC voltage at 512 kHz, 18 Vp-p amplitude.
Electrode configuration
ERT 16 electrodes/plane (contact) + ECT 12 electrodes/plane (non-contact), matching the Z12/16 model designation; 1-4 planes for 3D imaging.
Imaging rate
ECT mode 100 fps; ERT mode 80 fps in the 64-electrode configuration.
Data transmission
1000 Mbps Ethernet (wired / wireless), USB 2.0, RS-232.
Data export
.bin / .csv format; compatible with MATLAB, Python and other post-processing tools.
Gallery
Companion Software
Imaging / reconstruction software that pairs with this instrument
