GAS LIQUID 2-PHASE FLOW REGIME IDENTIFICATION BY ULTRASONIC TOMOGRAPHY/

A gas/liquid two-phase flow is considered as a strongly inhomogeneous medium with respect to high contrast in acoustic impedance distributio n. Based upon a binary logic operation and a method of ''time-of-propa gation along straight path'', an ultrasonic facility for tomographic i maging of gas/liquid two-phase flow was developed. In this paper the p rinciple and construction of this facility are briefly introduced. Emp hasis is placed on the evaluation of its performance in flow regime id entification and cross-sectional void fraction measurement. Several fl ow pattern models were used and the corresponding monitoring results g iven. Finally, limitations and possible future improvements of the sys tem are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.