Measurement of Steam-Water Flows for the Total Flow Turbine

Abstract

Hot water geothermal fields discharge steam-water mixtures, which have proved difficult to measure compared with the dry steam from fields like The Geysers and Larderello. With the development of the lip pressure method, however (James 1962), an accurate method was derived which could measure the flow when a geothermal well discharges to the atmosphere at sonic velocity. Fortunately most discharges from wells do in fact at t a in such velocities, and as long as the enthalpy of the mixture is known, the flow can be determined. Where the enthalpy is unknown some other measurement has also to be made in order to solve the two factors of flow and enthalpy. By discharging the whole mixture into a silencer, the water portion can be estimated by means of a weir, and this provides the second measurement (described in James 1966) required to solve both unknowns.