Qualitative and Quantitative Characterization of Liquids from TDR Measurements

Time-domain Reflectometry (TDR) is a well-established technique for the development of microwave sensors devoted to the dielectric characterization of materials. This renders TDR an appealing method for a variety of monitoring applications. Till now, TDR has been successfully applied to solve hydrological or soil prospecting problems, though its adoption in many other cases is worth an investigation. In this paper, it is demonstrated that TDR is a viable approach for quantitative and qualitaive real-time characterization of liquids inside tanks. In fact, in one shot the suitable handling of time-domain reflectometry data allows the determination of the liquid level, as well as the evaluation of dielectric properties, such as dielectric permittivity and electrical conductivity. Some applications to real cases are proposed, referred to petrol-chemical mixtures or water-based liquids, thus validating the approach on a wide range of materials.