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Measurem ent of Two-Phase F low Param eters . By G. W. Hewit t .

Academ ic P ress Inc . (Lon don ) L td. (197 8) . 287 pp. 22.50.

T h i s book , Measurement of Two-Phase Flow Parameters,

by G. F. Hewitt , is a welcome addition to the archival l i tera-

ture. Hewitt has a great wealth of experience in the field of

two-phase f low meas ureme nt . In his recent bo ok , he a t tem pts

to share his experience with designers and researchers in the

field.

This book grew out of an invited lecture given by its

author a t an Internat ional Symposium on Two-Phase F low in

Haifa , Israel (1971) . In this lecture , Hewit t a t tempted to

class i fy the avai lable two-phase f low inst rumentat ion in terms

of the parameters to be measured. This system of c lass i f icat ion

has been cont inued, and ref ined, in his book. The intent i s to

make i t a valuable reference for the designer of two-phase f low

equ ipme nt , as well as for the researcher .

The f irst ch apter gives a br ief int rod uct io n to two-phase

f low and boi l ing phenomena. The subsequent s ix chapters

present a l i tera ture survey of the var ious ins t rume ntat io n avail -

able for the measurement of important parameters in two-

phase flow. The classification is done in terms of

1. pr imary design parame ters

2. secondary design parameters

3. thi rd-order parameters .

Two chapters are concerned wi th the measurement of such

pr imary design parameters as pressure drop, void f ract ion, and

critical heat flux. Surprisingly, system flow rate is considered

to be a secondary design param eter and is thus t reated in a

subsequent chapter .

The ne xt tw o chap ters are devoted to secondary design

and so-called second-order parameters. Such topics as l iquid

level detect ion, qua l i ty and mass f low mea surem ent , f low

pat tern detect ion, and l iquid ent ra inment and f i lm thickness

measurement techniques are t reated. I t seemed to this reviewer

that the method of c lass i f icat ion chosen made the grouping of

meas ureme nt techn iques somew hat awk ward, and that class i-

fication accord ing to typ e of me asu rem ent techn iqu e (i .e. ,

local or global, intrusive or not, electrical, optical, etc.) would

have been preferable .

While one can raise questions concerning the relative

merits of the various possible classification system, there is

no quest ion that Hewit t has presented an excel lent s ta te-of-

the-ar t review of avai lable two-phase f low inst rumentat ion. In

particular, the coverage of optical techniques (an area in which

Hewit t has specia l ized) i s outs tanding.

The f inal two chapters are concerned wi th the measure-

ment of thi rd-order parameters (e .g . , veloci ty , temperature ,

and pressu re fluctuations) and fluid-to-fluid sca ling. Th e cha p-

ter o n scaling is prima rily con cerne d wit h the analytical basis

of fluid-to-fluid modeling and thus seems a bit out of place in

a boo k on in s t rum enta t ion. Never theless, i t is valuable in i t s

own r ight and should be of interes t to the exper imental is ts

who are concerned wi th measurements in two-phase f low.

Any serious worker in the field of two-phase flow should

have a copy of this book in his l ibrary. Hewitt has collected

together and dis t i l led a large number of valuable references on

two-phase f low measurement techniques . This book can serve

as the basis for educating newcomers to the field and as a con-

venient reference manual for peers .

Anyone who has ever t r ied to capture the s ta te-of- the-ar t

in a field that is as rapidly changing as two-phase flow instru-

men tat ion wi ll recognize and a pprecia te H ewit t ' s f ine piece of

work. I recommend i t to a l l American Nuclear Socie ty mem-

bers who have an interest in this aspect of nuclear engineering.

R. T. Lahey, Jr.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy New York 12181

A u g u st 2 7 1 9 7 9

About the Reviewer: R. T. Lahey, Jr. has been chairman

of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Poly-

technic Institute (RPI) since 1975. This academic experience

follows an extended association with the General Electric

Company, both at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and in

San Jose, where he was engaged in thermohydraulic research.

Dr. Lahey s graduate studies were at RPI, Columbia, and

Stanford.