Slug velocity measurement using acoustic emission technology

Abstract

Two-phase flow is a common phenomenon that exists in the petroleum and chemical engineering industrial fields. An important feature employed to describe two-phase flow is the flow regime which varies depending on the individual velocities of the components within the two-phase flow. One of these regimes, the slug regime, can create significant pressure fluctuations that compromise the integrity of the transporting structure (pipes, separators, etc). This is in addition to other unwanted effects such as flooding at the receiving end, an increase in deposits of hydrates and corrosion. Under such circumstances, the detection of the slug and its associated characteristics are vitally important to the operator. This experimental study looks into the application of acoustic emission (AE) technology for detecting slug velocity in two phase (gas/liquid) flow. It is concluded that the slug velocity can be determined with AE sensors. The results were validated by using Ultrasound Transit Time technique and there was a good agreement between the two techniques at low gas void fraction.