The monitoring of tiny particles in multiphase pipe flow is widely encountered in industry. In this paper, the identification and characterization of solid particles suspended in sand-water flow were developed based on vibration multi-sensor approaches. Verification experiments were conducted, and good agreement was found between the concentrations (0-0.1 wt% with an interval of 0.02 wt%) of varisized sands (from 86 to 180 mu m) and the monitored vibration signal characteristics by multi-sensor approaches. A quadratic relationship between the particle concentration and vibration energy was obtained. In sand-carrying flow measurement experiments, the sand's characteristic frequency bands were found at 22-23.6 kHz and 24.8-26.6 kHz. Additionally, the sand particle identification effect was evaluated from two positions at bends, that is, the outer wall of the 45-degree bend on the elbow and the exit of the 90-degree bend. Compared with these two monitor positions, the sand vibration energy from the outlet of the elbow had a higher signal-to-noise ratio with obvious energy variations. In addition, the accuracies of the detected sand vibration features were mutual confirmation. Consequently, the above methods are applicable for little solid detection in sand-water flow, which lays the foundation for particles monitoring in the complexed multiphase flow. (C) 2019 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.