A conductometric method for determining of the upward gas-liquid-liquid three-phase flow

This paper reports the results of research involving observations of flow patterns during air-oil-water three-phase flow through a vertical pipe with an internal diameter of 0.03 m and a length of 3 m. The conductometric method based on the measurement of electrical conductivity of the gas-liquid-liquid system was used to evaluate the flow patterns. In the studies, a set of eight probes spaced concentrically in two tube sections (four probes per each) with a spacing of 0.015 m were used. The paper presents a theoretical description of the test method and the analysis of the measurement results for air-oil-water multiphase flow system. Results of this study indicate that the developed method of characterizing the voltage of the gas-liquid-liquid system can be an important tool supporting other methods to identify flow patterns, including visual observation.