Ultrasound Imaging and Measurement of Swirling Gas-Liquid Multiphase Flow

S. Huang, C. Xie

Schlumberger Gould Research, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0EL, United Kingdom

Abstract

Ultrasonic sensors based on pulse-echo and Doppler principles are described for measuring conditioned gas-liquid annular swirling flows through a Venturi. Experimental results show that, at a low liquid viscosity, the ultrasonic techniques can successfully image the cross section of the liquid annulus, measure the liquid-layer thickness and the axial-velocity profile, allowing the determination of the holdup and the flow rate of the liquid phase to within ±10% of readings for gas volume fractions less than 90%. However, excessive attenuation of ultrasound waves in viscous liquid entrained with small gas bubbles still present measurement challenges.

Keywords: Multiphase flow; ultrasound pulse-echo; imaging; Doppler