Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Real-time monitoring of gas-liquid pipe flow is highly demanded in industrial processes in the chemical and power engineering sector. Therefore, the present contribution describes the novel design of a robust wire-mesh sensor with integrated data processing unit. The developed device features a sensor body for industrial conditions of up to 400°C and 135 bar as well as real-time processing of measured data including phase fraction calculation, temperature compensation and flow pattern identification. Furthermore, user interfaces are included via a display and 4...20 mA connectivity for the integration into industrial process control systems. In the second part of the contribution we describe the experimental verification of the main functionalities of the developed system. Firstly, the calculation of cross-sectionally averaged phase fractions along with temperature compensation was tested. Considering temperature drifts of up to 55 K, an av-erage deviation of 3.9% across the full range of phase fraction was found by comparison against image references from camera recordings. Secondly, the automatic flow pattern identification was tested in an air-water two-phase flow loop. The results reveal reasonable agreement with well-established flow pattern maps for both horizontal and vertical pipe orientation. The present results indicate that all prerequisites for an application in industrial environments in near future are fulfilled.