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The use of acoustic inversion to estimate the bubble size distribution in pipelines

The use of acoustic inversion to estimate the bubble size distribution in pipelines
The use of acoustic inversion to estimate the bubble size distribution in pipelines
The most popular technique for estimating the gas bubble size distribution (BSD) in liquids is through the inversion of measured attenuation and/or sound speed of a travelling wave. The model inherent in such inversions never exactly matches the conditions of the measurement, and the size of the resulting error (which could well be small in quasi-free field conditions) cannot be quantified if only a free field code exists. Users may be unaware of errors because, with sufficient regularization, such inversions can always be made to produce an answer, the accuracy of which is unknown unless independent (e.g. optical) measurements are made. This study was commissioned to assess the size of this error for the mercury-filled steel pipelines of the target test facility (TTF) of the spallation neutron source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA. Large errors in estimating the BSD (greater than 1000% overcounts/undercounts) are predicted. A new inversion technique appropriate for pipelines such as TTF gives good BSD estimations if the frequency range is sufficiently broad. However, it also shows that implementation of the planned reduction in frequency bandwidth for the TTF bubble sensor would make even this inversion insufficient to obtain an accurate BSD in TTF
bubbles, acoustics, pipelines, neutron spallation
1364-5021
2461-2484
Leighton, Timothy G.
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Baik, Kyungmin
0a0130e8-bec9-4cd0-8172-7e352d04f764
Jiang, Jian
b034e623-ea89-4b17-88e3-4276c260db99
Leighton, Timothy G.
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Baik, Kyungmin
0a0130e8-bec9-4cd0-8172-7e352d04f764
Jiang, Jian
b034e623-ea89-4b17-88e3-4276c260db99

Leighton, Timothy G., Baik, Kyungmin and Jiang, Jian (2012) The use of acoustic inversion to estimate the bubble size distribution in pipelines. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 468 (2145), 2461-2484. (doi:10.1098/rspa.2012.0053).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The most popular technique for estimating the gas bubble size distribution (BSD) in liquids is through the inversion of measured attenuation and/or sound speed of a travelling wave. The model inherent in such inversions never exactly matches the conditions of the measurement, and the size of the resulting error (which could well be small in quasi-free field conditions) cannot be quantified if only a free field code exists. Users may be unaware of errors because, with sufficient regularization, such inversions can always be made to produce an answer, the accuracy of which is unknown unless independent (e.g. optical) measurements are made. This study was commissioned to assess the size of this error for the mercury-filled steel pipelines of the target test facility (TTF) of the spallation neutron source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA. Large errors in estimating the BSD (greater than 1000% overcounts/undercounts) are predicted. A new inversion technique appropriate for pipelines such as TTF gives good BSD estimations if the frequency range is sufficiently broad. However, it also shows that implementation of the planned reduction in frequency bandwidth for the TTF bubble sensor would make even this inversion insufficient to obtain an accurate BSD in TTF

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e-pub ahead of print date: 25 April 2012
Published date: September 2012
Keywords: bubbles, acoustics, pipelines, neutron spallation
Organisations: Acoustics Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 337514
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/337514
ISSN: 1364-5021
PURE UUID: e8486883-4b40-4deb-8614-c536a8f4a4c9
ORCID for Timothy G. Leighton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1649-8750

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Date deposited: 26 Apr 2012 12:33
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:45

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Author: Kyungmin Baik
Author: Jian Jiang

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