Fluid imaging based on optical coherence tomography

A fluid imaging system, comprising:

• a pipe configured to receive at least one fluid therein and having a substantially circular circumference including a first half circumference and a second half circumference;
• optical heads distributed along an exterior wall of the first half circumference;
• a light source configured to emit a source light;
• a timing circuit comprising an optical switch and configured to serially activate the optical heads via the optical switch, resulting in one active optical head at a time;
• a fiber circulator configured to direct the source light to the one active optical head and collect reflected light from the pipe and the at least one fluid therein;
• a detector configured to receive the reflected light from the fiber circulator and generate spectral data;
• and
• a controller configured to process the spectral data by a Fourier-transform algorithm to provide a cross-sectional analysis of multi-phase fluid flow of the at least one fluid along the pipe,
• wherein an entirety of a length of the pipe forms a closed loop having a substantially circular shape.