AN APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MEASURING GAS VOLUME FRACTION OF A FLUID FLOWING WITHIN A PIPE

摘要

An apparatus (10,110) is provided that measures the speed of sound or acoustic disturbances propagating in a fluid or mixture having entrained gas/air to determine the gas volume fraction of the flow (12) propagating through a pipe (14). The apparatus includes an array of pressure sensors disposed axially along the length of the pipe. The apparatus measures the speed of sound propagating through the fluid to determine the gas volume fraction of the mixture using adaptive array processing techniques to define an acoustic ridge in the k-omega plane. The slope of the acoustic ridge (61) defines the speed of sound propagating through the fluid in the pipe.