Tomographic imaging of the phase distribution in two-phase slug flow

A new tomographic measurement technique for the spatial imaging of the phase distribution in horizontal slug flow is presented. The features of the new technique are a high spatial and temporal resolution. The measurement principle is based on the measurement of the conductivity between parallel wires. It is a function of the liquid hold-up between the wires. Using three different measurement directions, projections with linearly independent integral measurements of the phase distribution are obtained. These are processed using an iterative series expansion method based on the algebraic reconstruction technique (ART). The quality of the reconstruction is increased using a priori knowledge of the flow regime. The maximum temporal resolution is 5 ms and the spatial resolution is smaller than 1% of the cross-sectional area of the pipe. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.