Oil–water two-phase flow measurement with combined ultrasonic transducer and electrical sensors

A combination of ultrasonic transducers operated in continuous mode and a conductance/capacitance sensor (UTCC) is proposed to estimate the individual flow velocities in oil–water two-phase flows. Based on the Doppler effect, the transducers measure the flow velocity and the conductance/capacitance sensor estimates the phase fraction. A set of theoretical correlations based on the boundary layer models of the oil–water two-phase flow was proposed to describe the velocity profile. The models were separately established for the dispersion flow and the separate flow. The superficial flow velocity of each phase is calculated with the velocity measured in the sampling volume of the ultrasonic transducer with the phase fraction through the velocity profile models. The measuring system of the UTCC was designed and experimentally verified on a multiphase flow loop. The results indicate that the proposed system and correlations estimate the overall flow velocity at an uncertainty of U J = 0.038 m s −1 , and the water superficial velocity at U Jw = 0.026 m s −1 , and oil superficial velocity at U Jo = 0.034 m s −1 . The influencing factors of uncertainty were analyzed.