Numerical Simulation of Single-Layer Wire-Mesh Sensor

Abstract

Wire Mesh Sensor (WMS) is an advanced two-phase flow measurement device, which has been widely applied in experimental research and industrial production. Previous research has shown that the measurement uncertainty of the WMS increases with the increase of the axial distance between the two layers of the electrode wires. Moreover, the structure of dual layers of wire mesh limits the application of WMS in complex flow channels. For example, the structure of the rod bundle channel needs to be carefully designed to install WMS. Thus, a novel WMS with only a single layer of electrode mesh was proposed. The transmitter wires and the receiver wires were intertwined with each other to increase the stability. The signal response of the single-layer WMS was investigated by the potential field simulation. For the bubble with a diameter of two times the mesh size passing through the WMS, the signal response of the single-layer WMS is closer to the ideal signal compared with the two-layer WMS. For the bubble with a diameter of one time the mesh size, the single-layer WMS overestimates the void fraction. Near the intersection, the distance between the receiver and the transmitter is small, more currents would be received by the per length receiver wire. When the bubble contacts the single-layer WMS, it first wraps the highly sensitive wires, which leads to the void fraction being overestimated.