Online parameters measurement of Taylor flow in small channels using optical technique

In this work, an online optical system for the parameters measurement of the gas-liquid Taylor flow in a 4.0mm-inner-diameter small channel was developed. The presented method was able to measure the bubble velocity, bubble frequency, bubble and slug lengths, and determine the void fraction of the gas-liquid Taylor flow in small channels. A homogeneous flow model was introduced to simplify the analysis and parameter calculation of the gas-liquid Taylor flow. Experimental results showed that the presented optical method was effective and well applied to the online measurement or monitoring the parameters of Taylor flow in small channels. The relative error of the measured bubble velocity and void fraction were less than ±5% and ±10%, respectively.