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Flow characteristics research of air–water flow with an optimized multielectrode conductance sensor
Author(s) -
Shi Yanyan,
Wang Meng,
Shen Minghui,
Wang Haiming
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ieej transactions on electrical and electronic engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.254
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1931-4981
pISSN - 1931-4973
DOI - 10.1002/tee.22213
Subject(s) - conductance , flow (mathematics) , mechanics , airflow , two phase flow , flow measurement , axial symmetry , electrode , materials science , work (physics) , phase (matter) , air water , water flow , flow velocity , acoustics , engineering , geotechnical engineering , mechanical engineering , structural engineering , physics , quantum mechanics , condensed matter physics
The measurement of flow characteristics in air–water two‐phase flow is greatly influenced by the complex flow structure. In this work, the design and construction of a multi‐electrode conductance sensor is described that can be applied to measure phase fraction and axial velocity of air–water two‐phase flow. The sensor is designed to be axially flush‐mounted on the inner wall of a test section with the diameter of 0.05 m to avoid flow disturbances. Based on finite element analysis, the geometry of the multi‐electrode conductance sensor is optimized to ensure that the region of air–water mixture that is affected by the sensor is optimal for measuring the phase fraction and axial velocity. Static experiments are conducted to calibrate the optimized sensor. Measurements are performed on a horizontal air–water two‐phase flow experiment facility. Experimental results indicate that the designed multi‐electrode conductance sensor can be used to estimate the phase fraction and axial velocity in horizontal air–water flows with satisfactory accuracy. The study shows that with the optimized multi‐electrode conductance sensor it is possible to characterize the horizontal air–water two‐phase flow. © 2015 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.