2010 Fourth Asia International Conference on Mathematical/Analytical Modelling and Computer Simulation
Study of Void Fraction Measurement in a Two Phase Flow by Using
Differential Pressure and Electrical Capacitance Tomography
Areeba Shafquet1
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
31750 Tronoh, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
1 2
engr.areeba@gmail.com
Abstract— This experimental study uses Electrical Capacitance
Tomography (ECT) technique for measuring the void fraction
in two phase bubble flow regime. Void fraction was measured
by using differential pressure calculations in a vertical fluid
column (ECT sensor) with inner diameter 4.93 cm and height
40.996 cm. The online ECT sensor also measures the raw
capacitance and voltages of the flow by varying the flow rates
of deionized water and air. In this way different flow regimes
were established in the test rig which is further modeled and
analysed by using MS Excel / MATLAB. The proposed study is
to measure the void fraction in a bubble flow regime of a two-
phase flow using differential pressure (∆p) and ECT.
Keywords-air-water bubble flow; capacitance tomography;
capacitance measurement; void fraction
I. INTRODUCTION
Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is a newly
developed technique for revealing the internal fluid flow
characteristics. It provides the quantitative measures of flow
which is used for image and flow rate information [1]. In
this experimental work, ECT is used to analyze the bubble
flow regime in a two phase flow. Bubble flow regime is
dependent on different parameters mainly on liquid and air
velocity, density, viscosity and surface tension. The main
focus in this paper on bubble flow regime identification since
this is an important fluid characteristic in many oil and gas
applications. Bubble flow is characterized by vertically
upward moving bubbles, whose sizes are small compared to
the tube diameter. These bubbles are dispersed more or less
randomly in the liquid continuum within the tube [2].
According to Zhiyao [3], two-phase flow has a wide
range of applications in industry. The measurement of the
void fraction of two-phase flow is very important for safety,
environment protection, energy conservation and quality
assurance in industry. Additionally, the prediction of void
fraction in large pipes is significant for the analysis of
accident scenarios, especially loss of coolant accidents,
because the void fraction plays a large role in the
determination of the liquid inventory in the reactor pressure
vessel. This is one of the major factors in the ability of a
reactor to cool itself in the event of an accident [4].
The void fraction (ε) is one of the most important
parameters used to characterize two-phase flows. It is the
978-0-7695-4062-7/10 $26.00 © 2010 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/AMS.2010.87
I.Ismail2, Mohd Noh Karsiti3
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
31750 Tronoh, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
idrisim@petronas.com.my
3
nohka@petronas.com.my
key physical value for determining numerous other
important parameters, such as the two-phase density,
viscosity and is of fundamental importance in models for
predicting flow pattern transitions, heat transfer and
pressure drop [5]. Proper modeling of two-phase flow
requires some understanding of the gas void fraction for the
prediction of phase velocities and mixture properties
precisely [6]. For the research undertaken, it is envisaged
that void fraction will be calculated by using different
correlations such as via pressure difference measurement
and raw capacitance data calculation.
A bubble flow regime was generated for the tests by
regulating the deionized water and air flow rates on the flow
loop. In past research, it was observed that bubble flow
regime can be further classified into discrete, dispersed and
coalesced bubble flow regime based on the liquid and gas
flow rates [7]. The ECT system was installed on an air/water
flow test rig to measure the raw capacitance and analyze the
void fraction correlation.
II. OUTLINE OF EXPERIMENTAL SET UP
Experimental set up comprises of ECT sensor column
with 0.0493m inner diameter and 0.41m height. The height
of the test rig is 1.5 m. The column is connected with inlet
and outlet PVC piping network to allow dynamic flow of
deionized water and air. The ECT sensor used in this
experiment is made up of perspex material and having a ring
of 12 electrodes (which are separated from each other by
small gap) on its outer periphery. It is connected with the
data acquisition unit which measures the interelectrode
capacitances and depends on the cross-sectional permittivity
distribution inside the pipe. The data acquisition unit is then
connected with a control computer by the built-in software
which displays a tomographic image.
A schematic diagram of the test rig is shown in Fig. 1.
The deionized water from a pump is regulated by a bypass
line and the control valves. The deionized water flows into
the bottom part of an ECT sensor and mixed with the
compressed air before entering into the test section of the
sensor.
408
 Figure 1. Schematic of Test Rig (Side Elevation)

The deionized water and air flow is controlled by means
of water and air rotameters respectively. The air-water
mixture flows out from the upper part of the ECT sensor and
goes into a separate water reservoir. The differential
pressure transmitter is also installed at the inlet and outlet of
an ECT sensor to measure the pressure difference (∆p).
As shown, water has high calibration while air has low
calibration. Fig. 2 shows that the calibration data is being
converted to the following tomogram images and Fig. 3
illustrates the voltage line graph in which air has high
voltage values while water indicates the low voltage values.

III. ECT SYSTEM

A. ECT Sensor
The ECT sensor consists of an array of electrodes
attached to the periphery of the vessel which is to be
imaged. It is a common practice to calibrate an ECT sensor
using two different materials for example, deionized water
and air. They have different dielectric properties,
particularly the permittivity value. An ECT system is
calibrated one for lower permittivity limit and another for
the higher permittivity limit. In this case, the sensor is first Figure 2. Low Vs High Calibration Images
measured empty i.e. using air having the permittivity equals
to one and also it gives the value of lower capacitance Cl ,
and then it is completely filled with deionized water having
the higher permittivity equals to 80 that will gives the values
for higher capacitance Ch. All subsequent measured
capacitance values Cm are then normalized to have values Cn
between “0” (when the sensor is fully filled with lower
permittivity material) and “1” (when the sensor is fully
filled with higher permittivity material) as shown in the
following formula (1) [8]:

஼೘ ି஼೗
‫ܥ‬௡ = (1)
஼೓ ି஼೗
Figure 3. Low Vs High Calibration Graph (Air/Water)

409
B. Data Acquisition System and from ECT images. During each test, the ECT flow
The system consists of data acquisition unit, a personal images were displayed on the computer screen in a real time
computer for data storage, processing and display. The and also recorded on its hard disk.
obtained readings depend on the dielectric constant value The superficial gas-liquid velocities are obtained from the
(i.e. electrical permittivity) of the different volumetric flow rates as mentioned in (3) [10]:
phases/components of the mixture and the way they are
distributed inside the pipeline/vessel. ܳ = ܷ௜,௦ . ‫ܣ‬ (3)
First, electrode 1 is excited with a potential, the charge
మ
Q1,j is induced on the electrodes, j=2,…..,N can be ஽೛೔೛೐ గ
where i = g, l and ‫= ܣ‬
measured. Next, electrode 2 is excited while, rest of the ସ
electrodes are kept at ground potential, and the induced TABLE I. TEST MATRIX AND FLOW REGIMES
charges Q23, Q24... Q2N are measured. There will be 66
independent capacitance measurements as shown in (2). The
measurement protocol continues until electrode N-1 is Case Qgas Qliq jG/Ugas jL/Uliq
Regime
excited. In total, there are: No. (m3/sec) (m3/sec) (m/sec) (m/sec)

Full of
ே(ேିଵ) 1 0 1.667x10-5 0 8.73x10-3
‫=ܯ‬ (2) water
ଶ 2 0 3.334x10-5 0 0.0175
Full of
water
Full of
independent measurements, where N is the number of 3 0 5x10-5 0 0.0262
water
electrodes. Discrete
The ECT system based on electrical measurements 4 1.667x10-5 1.667x10-5 8.73x10-3 8.73x10-3 bubble
between a set of fixed electrodes mounted on the periphery flow
Discrete
of the cross section under investigation. They are able to 5 1.667x10-5 3.334x10-5 8.73x10-3 0.0175 bubble
operate at high speed typically with frame rates around 100 flow
frames per second [9]. The measurement system measures Discrete
6 2.5x10-5 5x10-5 0.0131 0.0262 bubble
the capacitance between all possible combination pairs of flow
the 12 electrodes, coverts it into a digital signal, and sends Discrete
data to the computer. 7 3.334x10-5 0.0175 3.334x10-5 0.0175 bubble
flow
Dispersed
8 3.334x10-5 5x10-5 0.0175 0.0262 bubble
IV. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE flow
Coalesced
A. Test Cases 9 5x10-5 6.67x10-5 0.0262 0.0349 bubble
The test loop uses deionized water and compressed air. flow
Their relative permittivity is 80 and 1, respectively. The test
loop can supply up to 3 liters per minute of air and 4 liters
per minute of deionized water at room temperature. The B. Bubble Flow Regime
maximum flow rate of pump is 45 liters per minute and
maximum pressure is 600kPa. 1) Full of Water: For the first three cases the
The measurement has been performed by using the compressor was turned off (there was no gas flow).
capacitance sensor and data acquisition unit. The ECT Only water flows were tested in these conditions.
sensor is calibrated with a lower and higher permittivity of In case 1, only a small amount of water was
air and deionized water in order to obtain a full range of pumped through the loop so that a low-speed liquid
variation in the measured capacitance. flow was established. In later cases, a much larger
The ECT sensor was then connected to piping loop by amount of water was pumped in order to fill the
using connectors. Now the test section was pressurized with pipe with liquid almost completely.
deionized water and air by opening the control valves. The
differential pressure of the system can then be noted by 2) Discrete Bubble Flow: It predominates at low gas
using differential pressure transmitter installed at the and liquid velocities and can be characterized by
system. By varying the flow rates of air and water different small bubbles with relatively uniform size
regimes were then tested accordingly as shown in TABLE I. distributions. The bubble size in the discrete
The table shows the test case number, the air and water bubble flow regime may be influenced by the gas
flow rates (Qgas and Qliq) in cubic metres per second, the air distributor.
and water superficial velocities (Ugas and Uliq) in metres per
second, and the bubble flow regime observed from real time

410
 3) Dispersed Bubble Flow: This bubble flow regime V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
is encountered at higher liquid velocities. It can
A. Flow Regime Map
also be characterized by small bubbles with
The visual identification of phase distribution for
relatively uniform size distributions. The bubbles different flow regimes can be verified by using a flow map.
in this regime, however, are smaller and more The results summarized in Table I are used to plot a flow
uniform because of liquid turbulence. regime map as shown in Fig. 4. In this flow regime map
three different types of bubble flow regime are identified i.e.
4) Coalesced Bubble Flow: This regime is confined to (1) discrete, (2) dispersed and (3) coalesced bubble flow
a very narrow gas velocity range [7]. regime. It has been found that the pattern of this plot be in
good agreement with the flow regime map particularly for
air-water two phase system as presented by (J.P.Zhang et al.,
C. Void Fraction
1997).
Void fraction/gas holdup is defined as the fraction
occupied by the gas phase in the total volume of a two-or-
three phase mixture in a bubble column. It can be measured
by numerous invasive or non-invasive techniques. Included
among these techniques is a widely used method to estimate
gas holdup/void fraction via pressure difference
measurements.
For co-current bubble columns the following equation (4)
can be used to measure the void fraction [11]:

ଵ ∆௣
ߝ =1− (4)
ఘ೗ ௚ ∆௭

where ε is local gas holdup, ρl is liquid density; g is

acceleration due to gravity, ∆p = p1 – p2 with p1 and p2 the
pressures at location z1 and z2 respectively (∆z = 0.47m) as
mentioned in the Fig. 1.
Table II below indicates the void fraction measurement
values by using Eq. (4) including the velocities for air and
deionized water, differential pressure and void fraction
value.
To obtain a good calibration, it was necessary to collect
readings over the widest possible range of void fraction. It
was found by using the differential pressure measurements.
However the calibration was limited to a void fraction range
of 0.17 ≤ ε ≤ 0.33 because of the confined range of
superficial velocities.
TABLE II. VOID FRACTION MEASUREMENT USING ∆p
Figure 4. Bubble flow regime map for air water two-phase system
B. Distribution Models
Distribution models like Parallel (λ), Series (ζ) and
Maxwell (Ф) will be used for void fraction calculation by
using raw data analysis. It has been previously observed that
distribution models result in different normalization
equations [12]. These equations are shown in Table III.
However, for this experimental analysis, normalized
capacitance values are plotted for 66 measurement values
(for 12 electrodes) as shown in Fig. 5. From the graph, it
can be seen that all these model lies in the permissible range
i.e. 0 to 1. Hence, they will be used on later phase for raw
data analysis.

Figure 5. Parallel, Series and Maxwell distribution model for

measured capacitances

411
 TABLE III. DISTRIBUTION MODELS USING ECT effectively applied for imaging water/air flows in an online
test rig. Physical observations were also taken through the
Model
Measured Normalized transparent section of the ECT sensor which generally
Capacitance Capacitance shows a good agreement with bubble flow regime map for
‫ܥ‬௠ − ‫ܥ‬௟
Parallel ‫ܥ‬௠ = (1 − ߣ)‫ܥ‬௟ + ߣ‫ܥ‬௛ ߣ= air water two-phase system. This paper is a part of an
‫ܥ‬௛ − ‫ܥ‬௟
ongoing research and additional experiments are under way
1
1
−
1 to extend the application of ECT for flow quantification
‫ܥ‬௠ = ‫ܥ‬௠ ‫ܥ‬௟
Series ߞ 1−ߞ ߞ=
1 1
based on single plane flow imaging.
+ −
‫ܥ‬௛ ‫ܥ‬௟ ‫ܥ‬௛ ‫ܥ‬௟
NOMENCLATURE
(ߝ௠ − ߝ௟ )(2ߝ௟ + ߝ௛ ) A area of the pipe (m2)
߶= ‫ܥ‬௟ measured capacitance when the sensor is full with
2ߝ௟ + ߝ௛ + 2߶(ߝ௛ − ߝ௟ ) (ߝ௛ − ߝ௟ )(2ߝ௟ + ߝ௠ )
Maxwell ߝ௠ = ߝ௟
2ߝ௟ + ߝ௛ − ߶(ߝ௛ − ߝ௟ )
low permittivity material
(‫ܥ‬௠ − ‫ܥ‬௟ )(2‫ܥ‬௟ + ‫ܥ‬௛ )
‫ܥ‬௛ measured capacitance when the sensor is full with
≈
(‫ܥ‬௛ − ‫ܥ‬௟ )(2‫ܥ‬௟ + ‫ܥ‬௠ ) high permittivity material
‫ܥ‬௠ measured capacitance of the mixture flowing
through the pipe
‫ܥ‬௡ normalized capacitance value
C. Effect of Ugas on Void Fraction g acceleration due to gravity (m/sec2)
Superficial gas velocity is found to be a critical parameter M independent capacitance measurements
which affects the void fraction significantly. In order to test N number of electrodes in an ECT sensor
out this phenomenon, the superficial gas velocity was varied Q volumetric flow rate (m3/sec)
in the range of 0.00873 m/sec to 0.0262 m/sec. The effect of Ui,s superficial velocity (m/sec)
Ugas on ε is shown in Fig 6. The graphical analysis shows
that as the superficial gas velocity (Ug) increases, the Greek Letters
discrete-dispersed bubble flow regime starts to develop, and ε void fraction
the void fraction reaches its maximum value, followed by a ρl liquid density (kg/m3)
slight decrease, before it rises again and keeping the ∆p differential pressure (p1-p2) at location z1 and z2
superficial liquid velocity (Ul) as constant. λ fraction of high permittivity object using the
0.33 parallel model
Ul=0.0085(m/sec)
0.31 Ul=0.017(m/sec)
ζ fraction of high permittivity object using the series
Ul=0.026 (m/sec) model
0.29
Ul= 0.034 (m/sec)
φ fraction of high permittivity object using the
0.27
maxwell model
0.25
ε(-)

0.23 Subscripts
0.21
i gas/liquid
0.19

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