Liquid holdup measurement with double helix capacitance sensor in horizontal oil–water two-phase flow pipes

This paper presents the characteristics of a double helix capacitance sensor for measurement of the liquid holdup in horizontal oil–water two-phase flow. The finite element method is used to calculate the sensitivity field of the sensor in a pipe with 20 mm inner diameter and the effect of sensor geometry on the distribution of sensitivity field is presented. Then, a horizontal oil–water two-phase flow experiment is carried out to measure the response of the double helix capacitance sensor, in which a novel method is proposed to calibrate the liquid holdup based on three pairs of parallel-wire capacitance probes. The performance of the sensor is analyzed in terms of the flow structures detected by mini-conductance array probes.

Graphical abstractThe characteristic of double helix capacitance sensor in oil holdup measurement.Different horizontal oil–water flow patterns are indentified by using the mini-conductance array probes. Then the response of the double helix capacitance sensor for the oil holdup measurement is obtained under different flow structures. Based on the signals from mini-conductance probes, the response characteristics of the double helix capacitance sensor are analyzed, and a method is proposed to enhance the measurement sensitivity of the sensor for water dominated flow patterns.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide