Separated two-phase flow regime parameter measurement by a high speed ultrasonic pulse-echo system

Area of Science:

• Fluid Dynamics
• Non-Invasive Measurement Techniques

Background:

• Characterizing gas-liquid two-phase flow is crucial for industrial processes.
• Traditional methods often lack the speed and accuracy for dynamic flow regime analysis.
• Understanding interfacial dynamics is key to predicting flow behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-speed ultrasonic multitransducer pulse-echo system.
• To dynamically characterize gas-liquid separated flow regimes.
• To determine interfacial parameters like liquid level and void fraction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a four-transducer, 10 MHz ultrasonic pulse-echo system.
• Employed a peak detection algorithm (C-scan mode) for interface localization.
• Acquired data with 0.5 ms sampling over a 1-second duration.

Main Results:

• Achieved +/-1.5% accuracy in liquid level determination.
• Time-averaged liquid level measurements showed good agreement (+/-10%) with theoretical models.
• Qualitative agreement was observed between measured and predicted void fractions for various flow regimes.

Conclusions:

• The high-speed ultrasonic system is effective for dynamic characterization of gas-liquid two-phase flow.
• The system accurately quantifies interfacial parameters in stratified wavy and annular flows.
• This non-invasive technique offers a reliable approach for two-phase flow analysis.