On the use of nuclear magnetic resonance to characterize vertical two-phase bubbly flows

Since the pioneering work of Javelot (1994) who showed that NMR can be used to measure accurately the mean liquid velocity and void fraction in two-phase pipe flow, it has been shown that NMR signal can also characterize the turbulent eddy diffusivity and velocity fluctuations (Lemonnier, 2008). In this paper we provide an in depth validation of these statements together with a clarification of the nature of the mean velocity that is actually measured by NMR PFGSE sequence. The analysis shows that the velocity gradient at the wall is finely space-resolved and allows the determination of the friction velocity in single-phase flows. Next turbulent diffusion measurements in two-phase flows are presented, analyzed and compared to existing data and models. It is believed that NMR velocity measurement is sufficiently understood that it can be utilized to benchmark thermal anemometry in two-phase flows. Theoretical results presented in this paper also show how this can be undertaken. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.