APPLICATION OF CHAOS THEORY IN IDENTIFICATION OF 2-PHASE FLOW PATTERNS AND TRANSITIONS IN A SMALL, HORIZONTAL, RECTANGULAR CHANNEL

Various measurement tools that are used in chaos theory were applied t o analyze two-phase pressure signals with the objective of identifying and interpreting pow pattern transitions for two-phase flows in a sma ll, horizontal rectangular channel. These measurement tools included p ower spectral density function, autocorrelation function, pseudo-phase -plane trajectory Lyapunov exponents, and fractal dimensions. It was d emonstrated that the randomlike pressure fluctuations characteristic o f two-phase flow in small rectangular channels are chaotic, and govern ed by a high-order deterministic system. The correlation dimension is potentially a new approach for identifying certain two-phase flow patt erns and transitions.