An Algorithm to Image Individual Phase Fractions of Multiphase Flows Using Electrical Capacitance Tomography

In this paper, an algorithm using electrical capacitance tomography has been proposed to image and continuously monitor individual phases of a multiphase flow components. Instead of directly reconstructing the permittivity of the imaging domain, the proposed method presents successful reconstruction of fractional area/volume of each phase of a multiphase flow using only single frequency measurements. The permittivity image can then be calculated from the reconstructed fraction parameters. For the fraction reconstruction, the conventional cost function is reformulated and solved employing the well-known Landweber method typically used in ECT. Several three and two phase flow scenarios, including gas-oil-water process, have been analyzed and successful fraction parameter reconstructions are demonstrated. Apart from yielding successful reconstruction of individual phases, the proposed method also increases the overall accuracy of permittivity recovery consistently for all the explored cases. Hence, the proposed fraction imaging algorithm can potentially serve as a tool to decompose individual phases of a multiphase flow along with increased image accuracy.