Measurement of time varying thickness of liquid film flowing with high speed gas flow by a constant electric current method (CECM) Original Research Article

A constant-electric-current method (CECM) developed by the present author is a kind of conductance method. The characteristics of the CECM are (1) a constant-current power source is used for supplying the electric power and (2) two kinds of electrodes are installed. One is used for supplying electric power and the other is for detecting the information of hold-up or film thickness. The main merits of the CECM are (1) the output from the sensor electrode is independent of the location of gas phase, for example radial location in a tube cross-section, (2) the sensitivity of detecting the change in the hold-up is higher in the case of the thinner film thickness, and (3) the interaction among the electrodes is negligible. The basic idea, calibration and examples of the application of the CECM will be discussed in the present paper.