Capacitance sensors for measurement of phase volume fraction in two-phase pipelines

The effect of phase distribution (flow pattern) is considered for determining the volume fraction in two-phase pipelines. Experiments were performed with a variety of capacitance sensor designs. It was found that for a well-agitated mixture, two flow patterns occur for different compositions of the mixture, resulting in a discontinuous calibration curve. Sensitivity loss was found when the continuous phase was electrically conducting. This results in operational difficulties in applications to oil wells. It is concluded that capacitive sensors are practical only when the continuous phase is nonconductive or as a low electrical conductivity