Capacitive array sensor for two-phase liquid characterization

Abstract

Two phase or multiphase flows are presented in many process industries such as in our target application, the oil and gas industry. In this thesis, a novel design of a two-phase characterization sensor that measures multiphase flow component fractions is described. Many current sensors are dependent on the flow regime of the multiphase stream; however the proposed method mitigates such dependency by using a phase stratifier. Initially an electromagnetic stratifying was researched however due to unavailability of a strong electromagnetic field needed for a practical system, we used a hydrocyclone stratifier concept afterwards. This device stratifies the flow by different densities of individual phases and is positioned before the entrance of the multiphase flowmeter. The novel sensor consists of an array of condenser type transducers in a special configuration that uniquely identifies the component fractions under pressure of many disturbances. -- A numerical method was conducted using a Finite Element Method (FEM) to simulate the output of the sensor in various flow compositions. Signal processing by Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was adapted and extensively optimized for calculation of the sensor's output. -- The proven model and the signal processing method establish a basis for experimental verification that is currently underway. -- The work completed to date acts as a starting point from which improvements and extensions can be easily made and incorporated. In this regard, suggestions for future work are presented.