Conclusively Reliable: The i-Flow Density Meter Excels in Le Havre
Officially launched in the summer of 2025, the i-Flow Density Meter has quickly become the leading contender in the dredging industry’s search for a viable, reliable, and cost effective alternative to dredging’s historic reliance on nuclear-source density meters; a reliance that has merited serious reconsideration due to ongoing safety concerns and associated regulatory burden.
Based on electrical resistance tomography (ERT), the i-Flow Density Meter is completely safe and uses electric voltages that are so minute as to be virtually undetectable without the use of a voltage meter. The i-Flow’s safety profile is further enhanced by the fact that it does not have any moving parts.
The i-Flow Density Meter consists of a data acquisition unit (DAS) and a choice of two sensor configuration options depending on the end-user’s requirements:
1. One sensor plane which enables the measurement and visualisation of slurry density and slurry bed-height respectively
2. Two sensor planes which facilitates the measurement and visualisation of slurry density, slurry bed-height, and enables the measurement of slurry/solid velocity.
Option 1 is ideal for anyone looking to substitute a nuclear densitometer as there will usually be a flowmeter already in place.
Le Havre, France: Thursday 5th March 2026
It was a similar scenario to Option 1 that saw PFI’s R&D Director, Kent Wei, supervise the i-Flow Density Meter’s most recent commissioning in Le Harve. Instead of replacing a nuclear densitometer, the i-Flow Density Meter was installed in the same slurry pipeline to compare both ERT and nuclear technologies under the same operational conditions.
This collaboration represented a new milestone in a longstanding relationship between KROHNE France and Process Flow Intelligence (PFI) as the i-Flow Density Meter was installed aboard the Gambe d’Amfard, a hopper dredger operated by HAROPA PORT|Le Havre. The Gambe d’Amfard was built by Damen Shipyards and is owned by GIE Dragage Port and operates exclusively in the Port of Le Havre, France.
This latest commissioning follows a previous successful collaboration between KROHNE France and Industrial Tomography Systems Ltd (ITS), PFI’s predecessor and now sister company, aboard a dredger built by PIRIOU and operated near the Occitanie region on France’s Mediterranean coast.
Based on electrical resistance tomography (ERT), the i-Flow Density Meter is completely safe and uses electric voltages that are so minute as to be virtually undetectable without the use of a voltage meter. The i-Flow’s safety profile is further enhanced by the fact that it does not have any moving parts.
Slurry Pipe Configuration & Sensor Installation
As illustrated above, the i-Flow Density Meter sensor flange was installed in the Gambe d’Amfard’s 350mm slurry pipeline above a KROHNE electromagnetic flow meter sensor, which was situated above a Berthold nuclear densitometer sensor. This provided the basis for a side-by-side comparison to assess the accuracy of the i-Flow’s slurry density measurements alongside a dredging industry standard nuclear densitometer.
An important fact to notice is slurry pipe’s vertical orientation. Nuclear densitometers can only work optimally when they are installed vertically. By comparison, the i-Flow’ does not have the same limitations and can be installed in any direction: vertically, horizontally, or at an incline.
The i-Flow’s sensor is lined with polyurethane (PU). PU is the middle option for PFI sensor materials as it is more durable than polyoxymethylene (POM), but not quite as hard-wearing as ceramics.
The illustration below shows the three data acquisition units to match the three sensors installed in the Gambe d’Amfard’s slurry pipe. Of note, is the i-Flow’s small footprint which remains the same irrespective of whether a 1 plane or 2 plane sensor option is used.
Results
The graph below plots the density measurements taken over an arbitrary 65 second duration during the commissioning process in real-time. The i-Flow Density Meter is plotted in orange and the nuclear densitometer is in blue.
The i-Flow’ proved to be highly accurate and highly responsive, possessing far superior data acquisition speeds of >5 measurements/sec. This accounts for the i-Flow’s rapid rate of change expressed through the orange plotline, compared with the nuclear densitometer’s much slower processing speeds and a “smoothed out” data plotline rendered in blue.
The obvious inference here is that the i-Flow’s superior data acquisition speed means that slurry pipe blockages can be avoided before they happen. However, the i-Flow’s data acquisition speeds are not fixed and can be attenuated depending to the operator’s personal preference.
"The tests are conclusive and the measurements are reliable."
Conclusion
The Le Havre commissioning proved to be a resounding success. The i-Flow’ system consistently provided highly accurate slurry density values at much faster speeds than the nuclear densitometer. Describing the performance of the i-Flow Density Meter, a HAROPA PORT technical superintendent said: “The tests are conclusive and the measurements are reliable.”
As the graphic below illustrates, the crew of the Gambe d’Amfard elected to use their existing instrument display and did not use the i-Flow’ user interface with its inherent ability to visualise slurry bed-height – a standard feature made possible thanks to electrical resistance tomography (ERT).
The obvious inference here is that the i-Flow’s superior data acquisition speed means that slurry pipe blockages can be avoided before they happen. However, the i-Flow’s data acquisition speeds are not fixed and can be attenuated depending to the operator’s personal preference.
However, this does highlight the i-Flow’s ability to integrate with traditional dredging technology and instrumentation despite being a new technology and industry game-changer. The PFI team used the i-Flow Density Meter’s user interface for commissioning purposes – pictured below. Note how both slurry density is rendered both as a numerical value and through a Cartesian frame, while slurry bed-height is clearly expressed as a tomogram.
The i-Flow’s demonstrable speed and accuracy displayed in Le Havre accompanies an already impressive set of credentials including: an impeccable safety profile, installation flexibility, extended operational lifespan, and a tomogram user-interface that displays bed-height as standard.
To learn more about the i-Flow’s features, and much more, please contact the team at sales.support@pfintell.com
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