Development of NIR optical tomography system for the investigation of two-phase flows

Two-phase flows are present in many processes in nature as well as in industrial activities such as exploration, production and transportation of oil and gas. In many cases, flow monitoring determines the efficiency and safety of processes and equipment. Thus, this paper presents a preliminary study about developing an optical tomography system for real-time monitoring of gas-liquid two-phase flows. The system comprises 16 optical sources and 16 optical receivers operating at near-infrared wavelength. Time response of single channels is optimized allowing for fast frame rate measurements up to 1000 frames/s. Initial tests in a two-phase flow loop show promising results.