Analysis of the interface configuration and flow characteristics in tanks in a multiphase liquid–gas system using numerical simulation

A multiphase study was conducted using a turbulence model of large eddy simulation to investigate the interaction between the gaseous phase and the interface and its respective behaviour until the liquid phase movement was established, first in the near interface, as well as the presence of turbulent structures in the study of transport between phases. The results are shown for three surface configurations: a surface with waves in which the Reynolds number and friction velocity of the gaseous phase are, respectively, 210 and 0.25 m/s; a surface with small undulations, 86 and 0.10 m/s; and a flat surface, 43 and 0.05 m/s. Coherent structures are detected on both sides of the interface; these are intensified and less elongated for larger Reynolds numbers. Additionally, the interface exhibits distinct behaviour with regard to the examined phases. For the gaseous phase, it behaves like a no-slip surface.     

Characterization of chaotic dynamic behavior in the gas–liquid slug flow using directed weighted complex network analysis

Understanding the nonlinear and complex dynamics underlying the gas–liquid slug flow is a significant but challenging problem. We systematically carried out gas–liquid two-phase flow experiments for measuring the time series of flow signals, which is studied in terms of the mapping from time series to complex networks. In particular, we construct directed weighted complex networks (DWCN) from time series and then associate different aspects of chaotic dynamics with the topological indices of the DWCN and further demonstrate that the DWCN can be exploited to detect unstable periodic orbits of low periods. Examples using time series from classical chaotic systems are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. We construct and analyze numbers of DWCNs for different gas–liquid flow patterns and find that our approach can quantitatively distinguish different experimental gas–liquid flow patterns. Furthermore, the DWCN analysis indicates that slug flow shows obvious chaotic behavior and its unstable periodic orbits reflect the intermittent quasi-periodic oscillation behavior between liquid slug and large gas slug. These interesting and significant findings suggest that the directed weighted complex network can potentially be a powerful tool for uncovering the underlying dynamics leading to the formation of the gas–liquid slug flow.     

Laminar-turbulent transition in Hagen–Poiseuille flow of a real gas

The effect of gas non-ideality on the laminar-turbulent transition is studied experimentally as the flow in a long circular tube at room temperature. The gases SF₆ and Ar, differing significantly in the value of the second virial coefficient, were chosen for this study. Experiments were carried out by varying the pressure at the tube inlet (the maximum pressure of 10⁵ Pa) and at the tube outlet up to the chock flow (formation of a supersonic flow at the outlet). The difference between the critical Reynolds numbers in the flow of SF₆ and Ar was found. The largest difference was observed for the maximum pressures; with a decrease in pressure, the critical Reynolds numbers become closer. The conclusion is an effect of the non-ideal character of gas exists on the laminar-turbulent transition in Hagen–Poiseuille flow. Some experiments were suggested to confirm this conclusion.     

Acoustic–excitonic effects in a two-dimensional gas of dipolar excitons

The theory of the interaction of a two-dimensional gas of indirect dipolar excitons with Rayleigh surface elastic waves has been developed. The absorption and renormalization of the phase velocity of a surface wave, as well as the drag of excitons by the surface acoustic wave and the generation of bulk acoustic waves by a twodimensional gas of dipolar excitons irradiated by external electromagnetic radiation, have been considered. These effects have been studied both in a normal phase at high temperatures and in a condensed phase of the exciton gas. The calculations have been performed in the ballistic and diffusion limits for both phases.     

Effect of tilted electrostatic field on the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in a liquid dielectric and gas flow

The effect of surface ponderomotive forces on the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability is studied in the linear formulation based on the equations and boundary conditions of the electrostatics and fluid dynamics of an ideal incompressible fluid. Conditions to be satisfied by the values of determining parameters of the problem for the transition of an unstable flow in zero electric field into a stable regime after the application of a horizontal electric field have been written in the form of inequalities. It has been shown that, at the stability bound, the wavelength of the most instable mode is independent of the ponderomotive forces. In case of a liquid with large permittivity a stable flow regime exists for which the stability condition only differs in small dimensionless values from the stability condition for the charged surface of a quiescent liquid conductor in contact with a gas at rest.     

Sound waves in a liquid with polydisperse vapor–gas bubbles

A mathematical model is presented for the propagation of plane, spherical, and cylindrical sound waves in a liquid containing polydisperse vapor–gas bubbles with allowance for phase transitions. A system of integro-differential equations is constructed to describe perturbed motion of a two-phase mixture, and a dispersion relation is derived. An expression for equilibrium sound velocity is obtained for a gas–liquid or vapor–liquid mixture. The theoretical results agree well with the known experimental data. The dispersion curves obtained for the phase velocity and the attenuation coefficient in a mixture of water with vapor–gas bubbles are compared for various values of vapor concentration in the bubbles and various bubble distributions in size. The evolution of pressure pulses of plane and cylindrical waves is demonstrated for different values of the initial vapor concentration in bubbles. The calculated frequency dependence of the phase sound velocity in a mixture of water with vapor bubbles is compared with experimental data.     

Potential of an insulated electrode in a high-energy electron flow under a gas pressure of 0.1–1.0 Pa

We analyze the variation of the floating potential of an insulated metallic electrode in a flow of electrons with an energy of up to 300 eV under a gas pressure of 0.1–1.0 Pa at a current density lower than 0.1 A/cm². It is shown that the dependence of the floating potential on the initial electron energy is non-monotonic; this fact is explained by the variation of the ratio of the ion current density to the density of fast electron current in the plasma. The balance of the electron and ion currents on the surface of an insulated electrode is ensured by the cutoff of the low-energy part of the electron flow at the level determined by the magnitude of the floating potential. The maximal value of the floating potential increases upon a decrease in the gas pressure; this is due to a decrease in the ion current density. The interval of energy variation in which the floating potential decreases from the maximal value (50–250 eV) to 5–6 eV increases with the electron current density and the gas pressure. The electrode material and the type of the gas do not noticeably affect the variation of the floating potential.     

Theory of discharge sectionalized along a gas flow

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Leak location in gas pipelines using cross-time–frequency spectrum of leakage-induced acoustic vibrations

The correlation-based location methods are widely used in leak detection of the pipelines assuming that the acoustic speed has been known and constant. In practice, the acoustic speed is frequency-varying due to the dispersions of gas-leak-induced acoustic waves, and thus the assumption is not supported. In this work, a location scheme based on cross-time–frequency spectrum (CTFS) is intended for the gas-leak-induced acoustic waves with frequency-varying acoustic speed. In the scheme, the CTFS is obtained by the one-dimensional Fourier transform of the time domain convolution between the kernel function in correlation domain and the instantaneous cross-correlation of the two spatially separately collected acoustic signals on either sides of a leakage. Then, the time difference of arrival (TDOA) and the corresponding frequency information are extracted simultaneously when the CTFS reaches the maximum value. The resulting peak frequency is used to online determine the frequency-dependant acoustic speed in combination with the known dispersive curve of gas-leak-induced dominated mode. Finally, the gas leakage is located by the TDOA and the frequency-dependant acoustic speed of real-time determination instead of constant acoustic speed. Consequently, for the proposed scheme, the constant acoustic speed is no longer a prerequisite. The proposed scheme has been experimentally validated in leak detection of gas pipelines and results demonstrate that the average relative location errors are reduced by six times compared with the commonly used correlation-based location method.     

Interaction between phases in the liquid–gas system

This work analyzes the equilibrium between a liquid and a gas over this liquid separated by an interface. Various gas forms exist inside the liquid: dissolved gas molecules attached to solvent molecules, free gas molecules, and gaseous bubbles. Thermodynamic equilibrium is maintained between two phases; the first phase is the liquid containing dissolved and free molecules, and the second phase is the gas over the liquid and bubbles inside it. Kinetics of gas transition between the internal and external gas proceeds through bubbles and includes the processes of bubbles floating up and bubble growth as a result of association due to the Smoluchowski mechanism. Evolution of a gas in the liquid is considered using the example of oxygen in water, and numerical parameters of this system are given. In the regime under consideration for an oxygen–water system, transport of oxygen into the surrounding air proceeds through micron-size bubbles with lifetimes of hours. This regime is realized if the total number of oxygen molecules in water is small compared with the numbers of solvated and free molecules in the liquid.     

Detection of a P-induced liquid ⇌ solid-phase transformation using multiple acoustic transducers in a multi-anvil apparatus

A technique for detecting and measuring phase transitions in a multi-anvil apparatus by measuring the change in travel time for a longitudinal sound wave as a function of pressure is reported. The system measures the time for pulsed ultrasonic signals to travel through a high pressure assembly with a sample in the center. Upon phase change from liquid to solid, the travel time shows an abrupt decrease due to the intrinsic increase in velocity in the sample and a reduced delay between the triggering of an amplitude threshold and the arrival of the waveform. As a proof of concept, results are shown for mercury as it undergoes pressure-induced liquid ? solid transitions at room temperature. We propose that this non-destructive technique may be valuable in situations where other in situ probing techniques cannot be readily used to provide information about changes of state and potentially to study transition kinetics at high pressures as well.     

How reproducible are dynamic heterogeneities in a supercooled liquid?

The particle dynamics in a liquid exhibits a transient spatial distribution of dynamic heterogeneities. The relationship between this kinetic structure and the underlying particle configuration remains an outstanding problem. In this Letter, we present a general simulation technique for identifying the features of the dynamic heterogeneity which arise due to a specific configuration, as distinct from the random spatial variation due to the intermittent particle dynamics.     

Influence of pH on inactivation of aquatic microorganism with a gas–liquid pulsed electrical discharge

Inactivation of Escherichia coli in water was experimentally studied, with pulsed electrical discharges in a hybrid gas–liquid reactor. The pH was dramatically decreased from 7 to ～3 within 60 min, accompanying with a 6-log reduction. To evaluate the contribution of pH on inactivation, a set of experiments were designed and tested. Results indicate that the contribution of low pH to the inactivation could be neglected compared to that of electrical discharges. On the other hand, the decrease of pH could be eased as carbonate or phosphate buffer was added to the treated water. However, the inactivation efficiency was greatly reduced because the buffers could deplete the active species formed in electrical discharges. Besides, a new finding is addressed in this paper that the water after plasma treatment still owns a certain extent of inactivation ability, functioning like the free chlorine residual. The environmental adaptation ability of E. coli to electrical discharges was also investigated.     

Bose–Einstein condensation of a relativistic Bose gas in a harmonic potential

Using semiclassical method, Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of a relativistic ideal Bose gas (RIBG) with and without antibosons in the three-dimensional (3D) harmonic potential is investigated. Analytical expressions for the BEC transition temperature, condensate fraction, specific heat and entropy of the system are obtained. Relativistic effects on the properties of the system are discussed and it is found that the relativistic effect decreases the transition temperature T_c but enlarges the gap of specific heat at T_c. We also study the influence of antibosons on a RIBG. Comparing with the system without antibosons, the system with antibosons has a higher transition temperature and a lower Helmholtz free energy. It implies that the system with antibosons is more stable.     

Propagation of sound in pipes with gas flow of high temperature

In this paper,propagation of sound in pipes under the influenceof a gas flow of high temperature is investigated.The analysis in the pa-per is based on the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics.Approxi-mate formulas of the variation of parameters,such as the static tempera-ture,the local velocity of sound,the flow speed and the Mach number,with distance are obtained.The four parameters transmision matix whichdetermines the acoustical character of the pipe is derived and discussed.The acoustical character of a pulsating gas heater is investigated experim-entally and theoretically.The theoretical values of the resonant frequenciesof the device are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Pressure–velocity coupling allowing acoustic calculation in low Mach number flow

Low Mach number flow computation in co-located grid arrangement requires pressure–velocity coupling in order to prevent the checkerboard phenomenon. Two broad categories of pressure–velocity coupling methods for unsteady flows can be distinguished based on the time-step dependency of the coupling coefficient in the definition of the transporting velocity on a face of a control volume. As an example of the time-step independent category, the AUSM⁺-up scheme is studied. As an example of the second category, Rhie–Chow momentum interpolation methods are studied. Within the momentum interpolation techniques, again two broad categories can be distinguished based on the time-step dependency of the coupling coefficient used for unsteady flow computations, but when a steady state is reached. Variants of Rhie–Chow interpolation methods in each subcategory are studied on critical test cases. The result of the study is that for a good representation of unsteady flows containing acoustic information, the pressure–velocity coupling coefficient must explicitly depend on the time-step, but that the transporting velocity must become independent of the time-step when a steady state is reached.     

Simulation of laminar–turbulent transition in compressible Taylor–Green flow basing on quasi-gas dynamic equations

We report the results of numerical simulation of laminar–turbulent transition in the Taylor–Green vortex for viscous compressible gas flow basing on quasi-gas-dynamic (QGD) equations. Here the QGD system is obtained by a temporal averaging of the Navier–Stokes equations. The additional dissipative terms in QGD system serve to model the effects of the unresolved subgrid scales. Comparison with direct numerical simulation and large eddy simulation reference data demonstrates that QGD numerical algorithm provides a uniform and adequate simulation of both laminar and turbulent evolution of the vortex for Reynolds numbers from 100 up to 5000, including transition.     

Specific features of excitations of “flow”-type self-oscillations in a two-component active medium of a fast-flow gas laser

The mechanism of “flow”-type self-oscillations in a two-component active medium of a flow laser with an unstable resonator is studied. It is shown that this mechanism is associated with the excitation of edge self-oscillatory in-phase perturbations of the medium components. These flow perturbations with low damping reach the optical axis of the resonator and result in an instability.     

Nonextensive nuclear liquid–gas phase transition

We study an effective relativistic mean-field model of nuclear matter with arbitrary proton fraction at finite temperature in the framework of nonextensive statistical mechanics, characterized by power-law quantum distributions. We investigate the presence of thermodynamic instability in a warm and asymmetric nuclear medium and study the consequent nuclear liquid–gas phase transition by requiring the Gibbs conditions on the global conservation of baryon number and electric charge fraction. We show that nonextensive statistical effects play a crucial role in the equation of state and in the formation of mixed phase also for small deviations from the standard Boltzmann–Gibbs statistics.