Comparison of ultrafast x-ray electron beam tomography and capacitance wire-mesh sensor imaging applied to multiphase flow measurement

M.J. Da Silva1,2, F. Fischer2, S. Thiele2, U. Hampel2

1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana, Brazil, m.dasilva@ieee.org

1. Institute of Safety Research, Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany, u.hampel@fzd.de

   
   

   ABSTRACT

   
   

   In this paper, two fast flow imaging modalities, ultrafast electron beam x-ray tomography and wire- mesh sensor, are comparatively evaluated. The x-ray scanner ROFEX and a 24 x 24 wire-mesh sensor operated by a capacitive electronics were applied to measure the flow in an experimental two- phase flow loop. Part of the flow loop is a two metre tall round pipe of 50 mm inner diameter operated with water and air under controlled conditions. Different flow patterns and a broad range of void fraction values were generated. The ROFEX scanner was installed to visualize the flow just underneath the wire-mesh sensor. Flow images as well as void fraction profiles were compared. Results have shown good agreement in the outputs generated by both techniques. Only for low gas flow rate (low void fraction) the wire-mesh sensor overestimates the void fraction.

   
   

   Keywords x-ray tomography, wire-mesh sensor, multiphase flow, flow visualization, void fraction