AN ULTRASONIC DEVICE FOR THE PHASE FRACTION MEASUREMENT IN LIQUID-LIQUID DISPERSIONS

A NON-INVASIVE AND NON-INTRUSIVE ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUE FOR MEASUREMENT OF THE LOCAL PHASE FRACTION OF FLUID-FLUID SYSTEMS SUCH AS OIL-WATER DISPERSIONS CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN THE CHEMICAL AND ENERGY RELATED INDUSTRIES AND AS SUCH, IMPROVE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THESE UNITED STATES INDUSTRIES IN THE WORLD MARKET. SUCH A DIAGNOSTIC DEVICE ISNEEDED FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT OPERATION AND CONTROL OF PROCESSVESSELS USED IN THE CHEMICAL, PETRO-CHEMICAL, NUCLEAR FUEL REPROCESSING AND HYDROMETALLURGICAL INDUSTRIES. GREAT POTENTIAL ALSO EXISTS FOR APPLICATIONS TO MEASURE AND MONITOR THE WATER CONTENT IN OIL TRANSPORTED IN PIPELINES. WE BELIEVE THAT SUCH A DEVICE CAN BE DEVELOPED FOR THESE USES AND MADE AVAILABLE AT MODEST COSTS. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL PROVIDE THE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS DEVICE. SINCE THE TECHNIAUE IS BASED UPON THE TRAVEL TIME OF AN ULTRASONIC WAVE THROUGH THE DISPERSION, PROPER KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL IS ESSENTIAL FOR ACCURATE MEASUREMENTS. ACCORDINGLY, THE EFFECTS OF DROPLET SIZE, WALL THICKNESS ANDGEOMETRY, WALL MATERIAL, FLUID-FLUID COMPOSITION AND TEMPERATURE, AND PATHLENGTH OF THE TRANSMITTED WAVE ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE RESPONSE SIGNAL WILL BE INVESTIGATED FOR VOLUME PHASE FRACTION OF 0.005 TO 0.05. THE ACCURACY OFTHE TECHNIQUE WILL BE DETERMINED AND THE INSTRUMENT WILL BE TESTED ON A TWO PHASE FLOW LOOP UNDER TURBULENT FLOW CONDITIONS. THESE STUDIES WILL LEAD TO THE DEMONSTRATION OF CONCEPT FEASIBILITY.