Influence of bubble size on micro-bubble drag reduction

Micro-bubble drag reduction experiments were conducted in a turbulent water channel flow. Compressed nitrogen was used to force flow through a slot injector located in the plate beneath the boundary layer of the tunnel test section. Gas and bubbly mixtures were injected into a turbulent boundary layer (TBL), and the resulting friction drag was measured downstream of the injector. Injection into tap water, a surfactant solution (Triton X-100, 20 ppm), and a salt-water solution (35 ppt) yielded bubbles of average diameter 476, 322 and 254 μm, respectively. In addition, lipid stabilized gas bubbles (44 μm) were injected into the boundary layer. Thus, bubbles with d ⁺ values of 200 to 18 were injected. The results indicate that the measured drag reduction by micro-bubbles in a TBL is related strongly to the injected gas volumetric flow rate and the static pressure in the boundary layer, but is essentially independent of the size of the micro-bubbles over the size range tested.