Study on Weight Function Distribution of Hybrid Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Electromagnetic Flowmeter

• Main Author: Yulin Jiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: gas-liquid two-phase flow; “source” and “field”; green’s function; superposition property; weight function
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/5/1431

The electromagnetic flowmeter is usually used for single-phase fluid parameter measurement. When the measured fluid is gas-liquid two-phase flow, the geometry of the sensor measurement space will change with the movement of the gas, which will cause measurement errors. The weight function distribution is an important parameter to analyze such measurement errors. The traditional method for calculating the weight function of gas-liquid two-phase flow involves complex dimensional space transformation, which is difficult to understand and apply. This paper presents a new method for calculating the weight function of the gas-liquid two-phase flow electromagnetic flowmeter. Firstly, based on the measurement principle of the electromagnetic flowmeter, a general model of weight function of the gas-liquid two-phase flow electromagnetic flowmeter is built. Secondly, the bubbles in the fluid are regarded as the “isolated” points in the flow field. According to the physical connection between the “field” of the measured fluid and the “source” of the sensor electrode, the Green’s function expression based on gas-liquid two-phase flow is established. Then, combined with the boundary conditions of the measurement space of the electromagnetic flowmeter, the Green’s function is analyzed. Finally, the general model of weight function is solved by using the expression of Green’s function, then the expression of the weight function of the electromagnetic flowmeter is obtained when the measured fluid is hybrid gas-liquid two-phase flow. The simulation results show that the proposed method can reasonably describe the influence of the gas in the measured fluid on the output signal of the sensor, and the experimental results also indirectly prove the rationality of this method.