Optical double fiber probe for online measurements in multiphase reactors

A variety of measurement techniques already exist to characterize multiphase flows in large scale as well as in mini scale systems. But when looking at smaller dimensions than millimeters and higher flow velocities the amount of available techniques diminishes drastically. Another problem is the capability of existing solutions to be applicable for online measurements even in non-transparent systems. On this account the current work presents a measurement technique based on optical fibers which is comparable to other commonly applied techniques, but additionally works in a running chemical reaction process. The current work deals with the validation of the double fiber system and a detailed comparison to several widely accepted conventional and modern measurement techniques. These are high speed camera, gravimetric analysis and ultrafast X-ray tomography. The experimental work has been performed in a cold flow loop operating setup with a gas-liquid flow. The final aim has been to characterize the multiphase flow in a mini channel system of a monolith. The investigated monoliths have a cell density of 39 cpsi and 400 cpsi and are made of Cordierite, an opaque ceramic material. By using the developed optical fiber system and the mentioned reference techniques parameters like bubble velocity, flow regime, hold-up or phase distribution have been assessed to compare the common techniques with the newly developed fiber system. The presented fiber optic measurement technique allows reliable, reproducible measurements of local phase characteristics. The mounting space of maximum 250 μm realizes a high local resolution even at small scales. In comparison to other techniques high level of agreement has been proven.