Two-Phase Flow Measurement using Fast X-ray Line Detector System

Void fraction is an essential parameter for understanding the interfacial structure, and heat and mass transfer mechanisms in various gas-liquid flow systems. It becomes critically important to accurately measure void fraction as advanced high fidelity two-phase flow models require high-quality validation data. However, void fraction measurement remains a challenging task to date due to the complexity and rapid-changing characteristic of the gas-liquid boundary flow structure. This study aims to develop an advanced void fraction measurement system based on x-ray and fast line detector technologies. The dissertation has covered the major components necessary to develop a complete measurement system. Spectral analysis of x-ray attenuation in two-phase flow has been performed, and a new void fraction model is developed based on the analysis. The newly developed pixel-to-radial conversion algorithm is capable of converting measured void fraction along with the detector array to the radial distribution in a circular pipe for a wide range of void fraction conditions. The x-ray system attains the radial distributions of key measurable factors such as void fraction and gas velocity. The data are compared with the double-sensor conductivity probe and gas flowmeter for various flow conditions. The results show reasonable agreements between the x-ray and the other measurement techniques. Finally, various 2-D tomography algorithms are implemented for the non-axisymmetric two-phase flow reconstruction. A comprehensive summary of classical absorption tomography for the two-phase flow study is provided. An in-depth sensitivity study is carried out using synthetic bubbles, aiming to investigate the effect of various uncertainty factors such as background noise, off-center shift, void profile effect, etc. The sensitivity study provides a general guideline for the performance of existing 2-D reconstruction algorithms.