Online Measurement of Gas and Liquid Flow Rates in Wet Gas Using Vortex Flowmeter Coupled With Conductance Ring Sensor

Abstract

Wet gas flow commonly exists in several industries. The online measurement of gas and liquid flow rate is beneficial for economic efficiency. A combination of vortex flowmeter and liquid film sensor was proposed for two-phase flow measurement of wet gas. The specific form is as follows: the dual-modality sensing system was designed and calibrated by an annular mist flow loop. The fluid materials are pure air and water liquid. The ranges of operating pressure, the superficial gas velocity, and superficial liquid velocity are 1.5 bar–3.5 bar, 18.86–37.73 m/s, and 0.0028–0.028 m/s. Then the function relations of liquid film thickness and vortex frequency, with gas and liquid Weber numbers were built, respectively. Finally, a novel model for calculating gas and liquid flow rates in wet gas measurement was established, and solved by the Newton iterative algorithm. It showed that the percentage error (PE) of gas flow rate predicted by the model is within ±1.5%, and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is 0.55%. The full-scale PE of liquid flow rate is within ±5% and the MAPE is 3.48%. The data show that this solution for gas and liquid flow rates measurement of wet gas by combining a vortex flowmeter with a conductance ring sensor is feasible.