A New Device for Gas-Liquid Flow Measurements Relying on Forced Annular Flow

A new measurement device,consisting of swirling blades and capsule-shaped throttling elements,is proposed in this study to eliminate typical measurement errors caused by complex flow patterns in gas-liquid flow.The swirling blades are used to transform the complex flow pattern into a forced annular flow.Drawing on the research of existing blockage flow meters and also exploiting the single-phase flow measurement theory,a formula is introduced to measure the phase-separated flow of gas and liquid.The formula requires the pressure ratio,Lockhart-Martinelli number(L-M number),and the gas phase Froude number.The unknown parameters appearing in the formula are fitted through numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics(CFD),which involves a comprehensive analysis of the flow field inside the device from multiple perspectives,and takes into account the influence of pressure fluctuations.Finally,the measurement model is validated through an experimental error analysis.The results demonstrate that the measurement error can be maintained within±8%for various flow patterns,including stratified flow,bubble flow,and wave flow.

A Novel Method for Wet Gas Flow Measurements Based on an Over-Reading Principle

A novel method to measure the flow rate in a wet gas is presented.Due to the presence of liquid,there is a deviation in the measurement of the gas volume flow rate obtained with standard vortex flow-meters.The proposed method is based on a correction factor determined through the application of an over-reading approach to a bluff body in mist flow.The correction factor is obtained from the slip velocity ratio,i.e.,the ratio of droplet velocity to gas velocity,based on the analysis of the fluid velocity distribution in the pipeline section.It also takes into account relevant theoretical arguments.It is shown that the predicted results fit the experimental results well.

Flow measurement and parameter optimization of right-angled flow passage in hydraulic manifold block

This study was conducted to investigate the flow field characteristics of right-angled flow passage with various cavities in the typical hydraulic manifold block.A low-speed visualization test rig was developed and the flow field of the right-angled flow passage with different cavity structures was measured using 2D-PIV technique.Numerical model was established to simulate the three-dimensional flow field.Seven eddy viscosity turbulence models were investigated in predicting the flow field by comparing against the particle image relocimetry(PIV)measurement results.By defining the weight error function K,the S-A model was selected as the appropriate turbulence model.Then,a three-factor,three-level response surface numerical test was conducted to investigate the influence of flow passage connection type,cavity diameter and cavity length-diameter ratio on pressure loss.The results show that the Box-Benhnken Design(BBD)model can predict the total pressure loss accurately.The optimal factor level appeared in flow passage connection type II,14.64 mm diameter and 67.53%cavity length-diameter ratio.The total pressure loss decreased by 11.15%relative to the worst factor level,and total pressure loss can be reduced by 64.75%when using an arc transition right-angled flow passage,which indicates a new direction for the optimization design of flow passage in hydraulic manifold blocks.

Partial phase flow rate measurements for stratified oil-water flow in horizontal wells

To accurately measure and evaluate the oil-water production profile of horizontal wells, a dynamic measurement experiment of oil-water two-phase flow in horizontal wells and numerical simulation were combined to establish a method for measuring the partial phase flow rate of oil-water two-phase stratified flow in horizontal wells. An experimental work was performed in horizontal oil-water two-phase flow simulation well using combination production logging tool including mini-capacitance sensor and mini-spinner. The combination tool provides a recording of holdup and velocity profiles at five different heights of the borehole cross-section. The effect of total flow rate and water-cut on the response of spinner and capacitive sensor at five measured positions were investigated. The capacitance water holdup interpolation imaging algorithm was used to determine the local fluid property and oil-water interface height, and the measured local fluid speed was combined with the numerical simulation result to establish an optimal calculation model for obtaining the partial phase flow rate of the oil-water two-phase stratified flow in the horizontal well. The calculated flow rates of five measured points are basically consistent with the experimental data, the total flow rate and water holdup from calculation are in agreement with the set values in the experiment too, suggesting that the method has high accuracy.

Measurement and simulation of the two-phase velocity correlation in sudden-expansion gas-particle flows

In this paper the present authors measured the gas-particle two-phase velocity correlation in sudden expansion gas-particle flows with a phase Doppler particle anemometer （PDPA） and simulated the system behavior by using both a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） model and a large-eddy simulation （LES）. The results of the measurements yield the axial and radial time-averaged velocities as well as the fluctuation velocities of gas and three particle-size groups （30μm, 50μm, and 95μm） and the gasparticle velocity correlation for 30μm and 50μm particles. From the measurements, theoretical analysis, and simulation, it is found that the two-phase velocity correlation of sudden-expansion flows, like that of jet flows, is less than the gas and particle Reynolds stresses. What distinguishes the two-phase velocity correlations of sudden-expansion flow from those of jet and channel flows is the absence of a clear relationship between the two-phase velocity correlation and particle size in sudden-expansion flows. The measurements, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation all lead to the above-stated conclusions. Quantitatively, the results of the LES are better than those of the RANS model.

Advanced flow measurement and active flow control of aircraft with MEMS

Advanced flow measurement and active flow control need the development of new type devices and systems.Micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS) technologies become the important and feasible approach for micro transducers fabrication.This paper introduces research works of MEMS/NEMS Lab in flow measurement sensors and active flow control actuators.Micro sensors include the flexible thermal sensor array,capacitive shear stress sensor and high sensitivity pressure sensor.Micro actuators are the balloon actuator and synthetic jet actuator respectively.Through wind tunnel test,these micro transducers achieve the goals of shear stress and pressure distribution measurement,boundary layer separation control,lift enhancement,etc.And unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) flight test verifies the ability of maneuver control of micro actuator.In the future work,micro sensor and actuator can be combined into a closed-loop control system to construct aerodynamic smart skin system for aircraft.

Grid Convergence Property of Three-Dimensional Measurement-Integrated Simulation for Unsteady Flow behind a Square Cylinder with Karman Vortex Street

The purpose of this study was to clarify grid convergence property of three-dimensional measurement-integrated (3D-MI) simulation for a flow behind a square cylinder with Karman vortex street. Measurement-integrated (MI) simulation is a kind of the observer in the dynamical system theory by using CFD scheme as a mathematical model of the system. In a former study, two-dimensional MI (2D-MI) simulation with a coarse grid system showed a fairly good result in comparison with a 2D ordinary (2D-O) simulation, but the results were degraded with grid refinement. In this study, 3D-MI simulation and three-dimensional ordinary (3D-O) simulation were performed with three grid systems of different grid resolutions, and their grid convergence properties were compared. As a result, all 3D-MI simulations reproduced the vortex shedding frequency identical to that of the experiment, and the flow fields obtained were very close, within 5% difference between the results, while the results of the 3D-O simulations showed variation of the solution under convergence. It is shown that the grid convergence property of 3D-MI simulation is monotonic and better than that of 3D-O simulation, whereas those of 2D-O and 2D-MI simulations for streamwise velocity fluctuation are divergent. The solution of 3D-MI simulation with a relatively coarse grid system properly reproduces the basic three-dimensional structure of the wake flow as well as the drag and lift coefficients.

THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF FLOW CYTOMETRIC DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID MEASUREMENT OF DEPARA-FFINIZED SPECIMEN IN BLADDER TUMOR

A retrospective study of flow cytometric measurements on paraffin-embedded tumor specimens from 188 patients with bladder tumor was conducted. The results were analyzed in combination with the morphological variation of bladder tumors. It was found that the DNA ploid pottern, degree of infiltration and the multiplicity of bladder tumor were closely related with tumor recurrence, among which the DNA ploid pattern was most significant. In aneuploid bladder tumors the recurrent rate and mean annual recurrence frequency were 76.7% and 1.46, and those in the diploid bladder tumors were 18.7% and 0.33 respectively. Aneuploid was the most indicative parameter of the recurrence in bladder tumors. In addition, according to the DNA ploid pattern and DNA index (DI), the aneuploid tumors in our group were divided into 4 types, namely, tetraploid tumors, npn-euploid with DI(?)1.5, non-euploid tumors with DI>1.5 and two-aneuploid tumors. The results showed that the recurrent rate of tetraploid tumors was relatively lower and it became higher and higher in the following order: non-euploid tumors with DI(?)1.5, non-euploid tumors with DI>1.5, and two-aneuploid tumors. This indicates that there are different biological behaviors in tumors with different ploid pattern. Finally, the correlation between DNA ploid pattern and tumor metastasis was also discussed.

Graft Quality Control with the Traditional Roller Pump Flow Measurement in Comparison to the Transit-Time Flow Measurement

Objective: Vein graft quality control had been traditionally done for more than 20 years with a roller-pump flow measurement (RPFM) in our institute until off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting was introduced as the standard technique of myocardial revascularization in the year 2009 in our institute. In this study, the RPFM method was compared with the Transit-time flow measurement (TTFM). Patients and Methods: From February to September 2005, 31 patients (5 females) undergoing CABG in our institute were included into the study. All the patients were operated with cardiopulmonary bypass. In those patients, 27 distal anastomoses were done with the left internal thoracic artery and 99 anastomoses were done with vein grafts. Those 99 vein graft were assessed both, with the RPFM method and TTFM method. Results: CABG could be safely performed in all cases. In all target vessels, the RPFM method overestimated bypass flow compared to the TTFM method, and simple linear regression revealed no correlation between the TTFM measurement and the RPFM measurement (r = 0.08, p = 0.21). There were two cases in which a graft problem could be detected only with TTFM method, even in our small patient cohort. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the TTFM method is clearly superior to the traditional RPFM method and we believe now that TTFM should be performed routinely in all CABG to improve patient care and quality of surgical results.

Fractional flow reserve and non-hyperemic indices:Essential tools for percutaneous coronary interventions

Hemodynamical evaluation of a coronary artery lesion is an important diagnostic step to assess its functional impact.Fractional flow reserve(FFR)received a class IA recommendation from the European Society of Cardiology for the assessment of angiographically moderate stenosis.FFR evaluation of coronary artery disease offers improvement of the therapeutic strategy,deferring unnecessary procedures for lesions with a FFR>0.8,improving patients'management and clinical outcome.Post intervention,an optimal FFR>0.9 post stenting should be reached and>0.8 post drug eluting balloons.Non-hyperemic pressure ratio measurements have been validated in previous studies with a common threshold of 0.89.They might overestimate the hemodynamic significance of some lesions but remain useful whenever hyperemic agents are contraindicated.FFR remains the gold standard reference for invasive assessment of ischemia.We illustrate this review with two cases introducing the possibility to estimate also non-invasively FFR from reconstructed 3-D angiograms by quantitative flow ratio.We conclude introducing a hybrid approach to intermediate lesions(DFR 0.85-0.95)potentially maximizing clinical decision from all measurements.

Physical modelling and scale effects of air-water flows on stepped spillways

During the last three decades, the introduction of new construction materials (e.g. RCC (Roller Compacted Concrete), strengthened gabions) has increased the interest for stepped channels and spillways. However stepped chute hydraulics is not simple, because of different flow regimes and importantly because of very-strong interactions between entrained air and turbu- lence. In this study, new air-water flow measurements were conducted in two large-size stepped chute facilities with two step heights in each facility to study experimental distortion caused by scale effects and the soundness of result extrapolation to pro- totypes. Experimental data included distributions of air concentration, air-water flow velocity, bubble frequency, bubble chord length and air-water flow turbulence intensity. For a Froude similitude, the results implied that scale effects were observed in both facilities, although the geometric scaling ratio was only Lr=2 in each case. The selection of the criterion for scale effects is a critical issue. For example, major differences (i.e. scale effects) were observed in terms of bubble chord sizes and turbulence levels al- though little scale effects were seen in terms of void fraction and velocity distributions. Overall the findings emphasize that physical modelling of stepped chutes based upon a Froude similitude is more sensitive to scale effects than classical smooth-invert chute studies, and this is consistent with basic dimensional analysis developed herein.

Application of Hilbert-Huang transform to denoising in vortex flowmeter

Due to piping vibration, fluid pulsation and other environmental disturbances, variations of amplitude and frequency to the raw signals of vortex flowmeter are imposed. It is difficult to extract vortex frequencies which indicate volumetric flowrate from noisy data, especially at low flowrates. Hilbert-Huang transform was adopted to estimate vortex frequency. The noisy raw signal was decomposed into different intrinsic modes by empirical mode decomposition, the time-frequency characteristics of each mode were analyzed, and the vortex frequency was obtained by calculating partial mode’s instantaneous frequency. Experimental results show that the proposed method can estimate the vortex frequency with less than 2% relative error; and in the low flowrate range studied, the denoising ability of Hilbert-Huang transform is markedly better than Fourier based algorithms. These findings reveal that this method is accurate for vortex signal processing and at the same time has strong anti-disturbance ability.

FPGA-based High-precision Measurement Algorithm for the Ultrasonic Echo Time of Flight

Based on the evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of high-precision digital time interval measuring algorithms, and combined with the principle of the typical time-difference ultrasonic flow measurement, the requirements for the measurement of echo time of flight put forward by the ultrasonic flow measurement are analyzed. A new high-precision time interval measurement algorithm is presented, which combines the pulse counting method with the phase delay interpolation. The pulse counting method is used to ensure a large dynamic measuring range, and a double-edge triggering counter is designed to improve the accuracy and reduce the counting quantization error. The phase delay interpolation is used to reduce the quantization error of pulse counting for further improving the time measurement resolution. Test data show that the systexn for the measurement of the ultrasonic echo time of flight based on this algorithm and implemented on an Field Programmable Gate Army（FleA） needs a relatively short time for measurement, and has a measurement error of less than 105 ps.

INVESTIGATION OF VORTEX SHEDDING INDUCED HYDRODYNAMIC VIBRATION IN VORTEX STREET FLOWMETER

Vortex street flowmeter has been used in steady flow measurement for about three decades The benefits of this type of flowmeter include high accuracy,good linearty,wide measuring range,and excellent reliability However,in unsteady flow measurement,the pressure disturbance as well as the noise from the system or surrounding can reduce the signal to noise ratio of the flowmeter seriously Aimed to use vortex street flowmeters in unsteady flow measurement,the characteristics of the vortex shedding induced hydrodynamic vibration around the prism bluff body in a vortex street flowmeter are investigated numerically and by expriments The results show that the hydrodynamic vibrations with 180° phase shift occur at the axisymmetric points of the channel around the bluff body The most intense vibration occurs at the points on the lateral faces close to the base of the prism The results provide therefore a useful reference for developing an anti interference vortex flowmeter using the different ial sensing technique.

Signal Acquisition and Processing Method for Capacitive Electromagnetic Flowmeter

A kind of signal acquisition circuit and the related signal processing method of the capacitanceelectromagnetic flowmeter (EMF) were introduced. The circuit can eliminate the influence of distributed capacitanceon the input impedance of the operational amplifier, and greatly improve the input impedance of the detection circuitto overcome the disadvantage of high signal source impedance. The rotating capacitor filter is a signal processingmethod based on the phase-sensitive detection technology. It can extract the weak signal from the strong and widebandbackground noise, so it is very suitable for the processing of capacitive electromagnetic flow signals. Throughthe comparison of the signal amplitude obtained at different flow rates and the comparison of signal spectrumcomponents before and after the filter, the effectiveness of the bootstrap signal acquisition circuit and rotatingcapacitor filtering method is verified.

Measurement of surface shear stress vector distribution using shear-sensitive liquid crystal coatings

The global wall shear stress measurement tech- nique using shear-sensitive liquid crystal （SSLC） is extended to wind tunnel measurements. Simple and common every- day equipment is used in the measurement; in particular a tungsten-halogen light bulb provides illumination and a saturation of SSLC coating color change with time is found. Spatial wall shear stress distributions of several typical flows are obtained using this technique, including wall-jet flow, vortex flow generated by a delta wing and junction flow behind a thin cylinder, although the magnitudes are not fully calibrated. The results demonstrate that SSLC technique can be extended to wind tunnel measurements with no complicated facilities used.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION FOR THE EFFECT OF ROTATION ON THREE-DIMENSIONAL FLOW FIELD IN FILM-COOLED TURBINE

An experimental investigation of three-dimensional flow field in a film-cooled turbine model is carried out by using particle image velocimeter （PIV） in a low-speed wind tunnel. The effects of different blowing ratios （M=1.5, 2） on the flow field are studied. The experimental results reveal the classical phenomena of the formation of kidney vortex pair and secondary flow in wake region behind the jet hole. And the changes of the kidney vortex pair and the wake at different locations away from the hole on the suction and pressure sides are also studied. Compared with the flow field in stationary cascade, there are centrifugal force and Coriolis force existing in the flow field of rotating turbine, and these forces bring the radial velocity in the jet flow. The effect of rotatien on the flow field of the pressure side is more distinct than that on the suction side from the measured flow fields in Y-Z plane and radial velocity contours. The increase of blowing ratio makes the kidney vortex pair and the secondary flow in the wake region stronger and makes the range of the wake region enlarged.

Flow-Induced Acoustic Resonances in Exhaust Gas Economizer Tube Banks

To investigate the conditions under which acoustic resonances occur, staggered arrays of closely spaced rigid tubes were tested in a wind tunnel under various flow velocities. The author investigated the Strouhal numbers at which flow periodicities occur, the relation between these Strouhal numbers and those at which acoustic resonances occur, and the effects of Reynolds number and longitudinal tube spacings on the occurrence of acoustic resonance. This investigation showed the following： （1） Acoustic resonance can be produced at a frequency well removed from that of vortex shedding. The results also show evidence of vortex shedding and acoustic resonance existing simultaneously but at different frequencies. （2） Acoustic resonance behavior is consistent with that of a self-excited system. （3） A new model of this phenomenon provides an improved procedure for avoiding acoustic resonances in closely spaced tube banks.

EULER SCHEME AND MEASURABLE FLOWS FOR STOCHASTIC DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS WITH NON-LIPSCHITZ COEFFICIENTS

For a stochastic differential equation with non-Lipschitz coefficients, we construct, by Euler scheme, a measurable flow of the solution, and we prove the solution is a Markov process.

Development of DSP-Based Dynamic Signal Processing Module for Turbine Flowmeter

Traditional signal processing methods for turbine flowmeter are unable to solve the contradiction between the real-time performance and the accuracy during the aeroengine bench test or hardware in the loop(HIL)simulation of aeroengine control system.A dynamic flow measurement method based on cycle number of the flowmeter is proposed.And a DSP-based multi-functional dynamic signal processing module for turbine flowmeter is built to validate the method.The developed system can provide three types of output modes including PWM,frequency and D/A.At the same time,the results can be displayed instantly with the module of serial communication interface to obtain dynamic flow signal with good precision.Experimental results show that the stability of flow measurement is greatly improved with precision guaranteed and the real-time response reaches the maximum limit of turbine flowmeter.