Laser-Based Measurement of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flows in Micro and Mini Channels using Multiple Photodiode Arrangement

Abstract

Two-phase flow measurement is important in process and chemical industries. In the present work, a measurement technique for the characterization of two-phase flows using a laser and an arrangement of the photodiodes is proposed and tested. Two-phase flow experiments were carried out in 1.80, 3.14, and 4.68-mm-diameter glass tubes. A high-speed camera was used to analyze the various optical patterns formed by a stationary laser beam on a screen during bubbly, slug, and stratified flows, which have been discussed in detail in Navisa et al. (2015). Photodiodes are arranged on the screen based on high-speed camera recordings. A procedure is demonstrated to calculate the flow regime velocity and length based on the photodiode outputs. The designed nonintrusive instrumentation determines the two-phase flow parameters in real time for flow in optically transparent mini channels. The accuracy of the measurement technique and the limitations are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Flow regime identification
• Laser measurement
• Photodiode arrangement
• Two-phase flow

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial grant provided by DST/SERB Grant No. YSS/2015/000029 for carrying out this work.