Characterization of Impedance Void Meter Performance in Two-Phase Flow Measurement
Over the past sixty years, exclusive work has been done on two-phase flow measurement and plenty of measurement methods have been developed. Among them, impedance void meter is considered to be a simple instrument with a quick and reliable response. Impedance measurement technique in two-phase flow has existed for more than five decades. Impedance void meter consists of two electrodes flush mounted on the flow channel which allows measurements to be performed over the entire flow area. In principle, impedance void meter is based on the different electrical conductance of water and air. The two electrodes connected with cable and voltage supplies and the air-water mixture between them form a complete circuit. The change of gas fraction occupied in the flow area is reflected by the change of impedance in this part, and then the change of the voltage signal of the circuit. Using the relationship between void fraction and voltage signal, area averaged void fraction can be measured. In a previous study by Bolman et al., the flow pattern was found that has an effect on the performance of the impedance void meter. This is due to the difference of the flow structure that affects the impedance of the flow area. Olsen suggested that the impedance void meter should fulfill the following factors in order to get good measurement results: gas phase is finely dispersed in the measuring flow area; the channel cross section should be uninterrupted; there should be several bubble diameters between sources of current. For pipe measurement, it is impossible to meet all these requirement. In this case, it is necessary to use other independent void fraction measurement methods to calibrate impedance void meter. However, the calibration result varies for different flow patterns; thus for those situations in which identifying the flow pattern is difficult, the results may not be reliable. The possible solution should be found in an aspect of impedance void meter design itself. Much work has been done focusing on the geometric design of impedance void meters. This study found that the distance between the two electrodes of the impedance void meter has an effect on the measurement performance. The primary focus of this study is to characterize the performance and measurement range of an impedance void meter in regards to its geometry aspect. In order to achieve this goal, a sensitivity study of the electrode distance was performed by numerical simulation. Based on the simulation results, an experiment was performed using an impedance void meter with different electrode distances. Additionally, a gamma densitometer and a multi single-sensor conductivity probe were also applied for the measurement comparison. Drift flux model was also used for the experimental results comparison. (authors)