Gas–liquid two-phase flow measurement by using electrical tomography sensors and Venturi

Gas–liquid two-phase flow is characterized by complexity, non-homogeneity and difficulty in modeling. Therefore, traditional measurement methods often struggle to simultaneously meet the requirements of high precision and a wide measurement range. In this context, this study aims to explore an innovative multi-sensor fusion technique to achieve accurate measurement of gas–liquid two-phase flow under full operating conditions. In this study, a combination of three sensors, Venturi, ERT (Electrical Resistance Tomography) and ECT (Electrical Capacitance Tomography), is used to propose a new method based on the fusion of LVF (Liquid-phase Volume Fraction) calculations with flow results. Firstly, the high sensitivity characteristics of ECT and ERT sensors are utilized to obtain spatial distribution information of the flow, which is then used to calculate the LVF. Subsequently, the calculated LVF is combined with the total flow rate measured by the Venturi. Through an established mathematical model, the individual flow rates of the gas and liquid phases are inversely calculated. The results show that the method exhibits high measurement accuracy in different LVF ranges with the relative error controlled within 10%, especially in wet and non-wet gas conditions, which fills the gap of the traditional methods in this field. In addition, the method not only improves the measurement accuracy, but also broadens the measurement range, which meets the diversified needs of complex two-phase flow measurement in the oil and gas industry. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd