UTILIZING MICROWAVE TECHNOLOGY IN DESIGNING AN ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSING SYSTEM FOR ANALYZING MULTIPHASE FLOW DYNAMICS IN OIL AND GAS APPLICATIONS

Abstract

This research focuses on studying gas-liquid flow phenomena in engineering applications by de-signing and developing an advanced electromagnetic sensing system utilizing microwave technology. The objective is to analyze multi-phase flow characteristics and determine volume fractions within the oil and gas industry. A horizontal pipe model was used, featuring a non-intrusive cylindrical sensor, with LabVIEW software which has been employed for real-time data acquisition, processing, and visualization of results. Additionally, to analyze the electromagnetic behavior of the multiphase flow, Experimental measurements were conducted that the electromagnetic reflection coefficient S22 is strongly correlated with changes in the fuel (oil) ratio inside the pipe, particularly within the frequency range of 2.6 to 3.3 GHz. After validating the results through a simulation study using the HFSS program, it was further observed that increasing the air flow rate caused a significant change in the electromagnetic wave response. Consequently, fluid flow measurement was identified as an alternative to the traditional method. These results demonstrate the system's capability to effectively track flows in various scenarios. Moreover, the direct comparison between the obtained and calculated data showed a similarity of approximately 85%, demonstrating the adequacy of the applied theoretical model in characterizing the mixture flow behavior. This work presents a novel and effective method for determining the oil-to-air ratio, which can enhance electro-sensing approaches in real-world environments.