Investigations into the behaviours of Coriolis flowmeters under air-water two-phase flow conditions on an optimized experimental platform

Abstract

Gas-liquid two-phase flow is commonly encountered in many industrial processes due to production requirement or inevitable gas entrainment from various sources. Accurate liquid phase measurement under two-phase conditions is challenging but important as it is the key factor to reduce cost, improve safety or meet legal requirements. Coriolis flowmeters, owing to their high accuracy in metering single-phase flow, direct mass flow measurement and multivariable sensing nature, are widely used in industry. Recently developed Coriolis flowmeters can work under multiphase conditions, making it possible to achieve accurate multiphase flow measurement through model based error compensation or training based soft computing correction. This paper assesses the behaviours of Coriolis flowmeters under various two-phase conditions for modelling and soft computing algorithm improvement, including previously investigated factors (flowrate, gas volume fraction, flow tube geometry, flow converter, and process pressure) and new factors (flow regimes in terms of bubble size and distribution). Experimental work was conducted on 25 mm and 50 mm bore air-water two-phase flow rigs for liquid mass flowrates between 2500 kg/h and 35000 kg/h with gas volume fraction of 0–60%. With the influence of each factor identified through univariate analysis, comparisons between existing modelling theories and experimental error curves are established. In the meantime, the rig design and control are optimized to provide efficient and automated data acquisition in order to supply ample and high-quality data for the training of soft computing models as well as enhancing the understanding in theoretical modelling.