Turbulent flow structure and bubble distribution in an axisymmetric nonisothermal impinging gas-liquid jet

The flow structure of a bubbly impinging jet in the presence of heat transfer between the two-phase flow and the surface is numerically investigated on the basis of the Eulerian approach. The model uses the system of Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations in the axisymmetric approximation written with account for the inverse effect of the bubbles on the average and fluctuating flow parameters. The influence of the gas volumetric flow rate ratio and the dimensions of the bubbles on the flow structure in a gas-liquid impinging jet is studied, In the presence of gas bubbles the liquid velocity is higher than the corresponding value in the single-phase flow. A considerable, more than twofold, anisotropy between the axial and radial turbulent fluctuations in the gas-liquid impinging jet is shown to exist. An addition of air bubbles leads to a considerable growth in the liquid velocity fluctuations in the two-phase flow (up to 50% compared with the single-fluid liquid impinging jet). An increase in the disperse phase dimensions leads to intensification of turbulence of the liquid.     

气泡夹带对壁面油膜流动特性的影响

油-气润滑系统工作过程中,润滑油膜受微油滴冲击和压缩空气扰动影响易形成气泡夹带现象,气泡夹带行为将对壁面润滑油膜层的形成及流动过程产生重要影响。基于VOF数值模拟方法,对含气泡油膜沿倾斜壁面的流动行为进行研究,考察了气泡的存在对油膜形态和流动速度的影响规律,以及气泡破裂阶段空腔邻域内流体压力变化特性。研究表明,油膜夹带气泡的形变和迁移诱发气泡周围微流场的速度扰动现象,导致气液界面处产生非均匀速度梯度分布,进而引发油膜表面的形态波动。气泡发生破裂时,油膜空穴部位发生明显的正负压力波动现象,气泡附近壁面将承受一定的交变载荷作用。     

Experimental Characterization of Premixed Flame Instabilities of a Model Gas Turbine Burner

In recent years, the NO _x emissions of heavy duty gas turbine burners have been significantly reduced by introducing premixed combustion. These highly premixed burners are known to be prone to combustion oscillations. In this paper, investigations of a single model gas turbine burner are reported focusing on thermo-acoustic instabilities and their interaction with the periodic fluctuations of the velocity and pressure. Phase-locked optical measurement techniques such as LDA and LIF gave insight into the mechanisms.Detailed investigations of a gas turbine combustor rig revealed that the combustor as well as the air plenum oscillate in Helmholtz modes. These instabilities could be attributed to the phase lag of the pressure oscillations between the air plenum and the combustor, which causes an acceleration and deceleration of the air flow through the burner and, therefore, alternating patterns of fuel rich and lean bubbles. When these bubbles reach the reaction zone, density fluctuations are generated which in turn lead to velocity fluctuations and, hence, keep up the pressure oscillations.With increasing the equivalence ratio strong combustion oscillations could be identified at the same frequency. Similarly as with weak oscillations, Helmholtz mode pressure fluctuations are present but the resulting velocity fluctuations in the combustor can be described as a pumping motion of the flow. By the velocity fluctuations the swirl stabilization of the flame is disturbed. At the same time, the oscillating pressure inside the combustor reaches its minimum value. Shortly after the flame expands again, the pressure increases inside the combustor. This phenomenon which is triggered by the pressure oscillations inside the air plenum seems to be the basic mechanism of the flame instability and leads to a significant increase of the pressure amplitudes.     

Analysis of liquid circulation and mixing in a partitioned electrolytic tank

The performance of an electrochemical process depends critically on the mobility of the reacting species or ions towards the electrode surface. In this work, a partitioned electrolytic cell is studied. Here the fluid flow is induced by gases which evolve at the electrode surface. The liquid circulation induced by the rising bubbles is primarily responsible for mixing. In this study, the liquid circulation in a cell where an alkaline solution of water is electrolyzed using different Nickel designs of electrodes is investigated using PIV. For each electrode, the optimum operating conditions such as voltage and concentration of electrolyte which resulted in good mixing are found. The flow-field is quantified by calculating time averaged velocity profiles along the horizontal line and by analyzing the temporal variation of liquid velocity at a point. It is found that there are differences in the circulation and hence vorticity in the two compartments, anode and cathode. The effect of gas evolution on mixing between the two chambers is studied by taking uric acid in the cathode half and NaOH in the anode half. The flow induced by the evolved gas bubbles leads to convective mixing in the two chambers. The mixing time is calculated by measuring the variation of current with time under potentiostatic conditions. This is verified by measuring the pH in anode and cathode compartments during the electrolysis.     

The minimum in-line coalescence height of bubbles in non-Newtonian fluid

The minimum in-line coalescence height of bubbles generated from a submerged nozzle was investigated experimentally in shear thinning non-Newtonian fluid at lower Reynolds number (2∼60). Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC) aqueous solution and carbon dioxide were used as the liquid phase and the gas phase, respectively. The process of the formation, movement and in-line coalescence of bubbles was visualized and recorded by a high-speed digital camera. The influences of bubble size, bubble generation frequency and liquid property on the minimum in-line coalescence height of bubbles were investigated by changing nozzle diameter, gas flow rate and the mass concentration of CMC aqueous solutions. For a given liquid, the generating frequency and size of bubbles increased but the minimum coalescence height of in-line bubbles decreased when the nozzle diameter and gas flow rate were increased. When the nozzle diameter and gas flow rate were fixed, the shear-thinning effect of CMC aqueous solution became stronger with increasing CMC mass concentration, which led to the increase in both the terminal rise velocity and average acceleration of the trailing bubble, consequently, the minimum in-line coalescence height of bubbles decreased. An empirical correlation for estimating the minimum in-line bubble coalescence height was proposed, the calculating values accords well with experimental data with a mean relative deviation only 7.6%.     

Dispersion of Gas Bubbles in Large-Scale Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence

An approximate analysis is given of the dispersion of gas bubbles that rise at large Reynolds number through large-scale homogeneous, isotropic turbulence, characterized by the Kraichnan energy-spectrum function. A fairly well-established equation of motion of the bubbles, originally proposed by Thomas et al. [16], is used to derive a closed set of equations for the components of the dispersion tensor of the bubbles in a manner analogous to that used by Saffman [12] for fluid particles and by Pismen and Nir [10, 11] for solid particles. The equations are then solved to obtain the diffusivities and the intensities of bubble velocity fluctuations. Analytical solutions are compared with results from simulations of the bubble motion in a Gaussian random velocity field.     

Mechanisms of nozzle type reactor operation with gas removal

A nozzle type reactor with provision for gas removal has been studied for the neutralisation of dodecylbenzene sulphonic acid with sodium carbonate solution. Gas was removed via a central air core so that the product was essentially foam-free. The rate of mixing and the chemical reaction between dodecylbenzene sulphonic acid and sodium carbonate solution, were observed to be much faster than the liquid residence time so complete conversion into the product was achieved within seconds. Some gas bubbles were entrained in the product: however these were negligible compared with the bulk of the gas bubbles expelled at the top of the reactor. The criteria for gas removal was that the time for bubbles to travel to the air core under the prevailing centripetal force was less than the liquid phase residence time in the reactor. Mathematical models were therefore proposed to predict the equilibrium bubble diameter and the time for bubble travel to the core. Predicted times were found to be very much less than the average residence time.     

Bubble behaviors of geldart B particle in a pseudo two-dimensional pressurized fluidized bed

Pressurized fluidized beds have been developed in quite a few industrial applications because of intensified heat and mass transfer and chemical reaction. The bubble behaviors under elevated pressure, strongly influencing the fluidization and reaction conversion of the whole system, are of great research significance. In this work, the bubble behaviors of Geldart B particle in a pseudo two-dimensional (2D) pressurized fluidized bed were experimentally studied based on digital image analysis technique. The effects of pressure and fluidization gas velocity on the general bubble behaviors (i.e., size, shape and spatial distribution) and the dynamic characteristics, such as the time-evolution of voidage distribution and local flow regimes, were comprehensively investigated. Results show that increasing pressure reduces the stability of bubbles and facilitates gas passing through the emulsion phase, resulting in the “smoother” fluidization state with smaller bubbles and declined bubble fraction and standard deviation. The equivalent bubble diameter and bubble aspect ratio increase with the increasing gas velocity while decrease as pressure rises. The elevated pressure reduces bubbles extension in the vertical direction, prohibits the “short pass” of fluidization gas in large oblong bubbles/slugs and benefits the gas–solid interaction. The flow regimes variation with gas velocity is affected by the elevated pressure, and demonstrates different features in different local positions of the bed.     

Experimental investigation of water laminar mixed-convection flow with sub-millimeter bubbles in a vertical channel

This paper describes flow and heat transfer characteristics of laminar mixed-convection flows of water with sub-millimeter bubbles in a vertical channel. We use thermocouples and a particle tracking velocimetry technique for the temperature and velocity measurements. The working fluid used is tap water, and hydrogen bubbles generated by electrolysis of the water are used as the sub-millimeter bubbles. The Reynolds number of the main flow ranges from 100 to 200. The ratio of the heat transfer coefficient with sub-millimeter-bubble injection to that without injection (the heat transfer coefficient ratio) ranges from 1.24 to 1.38. The heat transfer coefficient ratio decreases with the increase in the Reynolds number. We conclude from velocity measurements that this decrease is mainly caused by a decrease in the advection effect due to sub-millimeter bubbles.     

Hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of slug flow in a vertical pipe with and without dispersed small bubbles

In this work, we present a numerical study to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics of slug flow and the mechanism of slug flow induced CO₂ corrosion with and without dispersed small bubbles. The simulations are performed using the coupled model put forward by the authors in previous paper, which can deal with the multiphase flow with the gas–liquid interfaces of different length scales. A quasi slug flow, where two hypotheses are imposed, is built to approximate real slug flow. In the region ahead of the Taylor bubble and the liquid film region, the presence of dispersed small bubbles has less impacts on velocity field, because there are no non-regular intensive disturbance forces or centrifugal forces breaking the balance of the liquid and the dispersed small bubbles. In the liquid slug region, the strong centrifugal forces generated by the recirculation below the Taylor bubble lead to the effect of heterogeneity, which makes the profile of the radial liquid velocity component sharper with higher volume fraction of dispersed small bubbles. The volume fraction has a maximum value in the range of r/R = 0.5–0.6. Meanwhile, it is usually higher than 0.35, which means that larger dispersed bubbles can be formed by coalescences in this region. These calculated results are in good agreement with experimental results. The wall shear stress and the mass transfer coefficient with dispersed small bubbles are higher than those without dispersed small bubbles due to enhanced fluctuations. For short Taylor bubble length, the average mass transfer coefficient is increased when the gas or liquid superficial velocity is increased. However, there may be an inflection point at low mixture superficial velocities. For the slug with dispersed small bubbles, the product scales still cannot be damaged directly despite higher wall shear stress. In fact, the alternate wall shear stress and the pressure fluctuations perpendicular to the pipe wall with high frequency are the main cause for breaking the product scales.     

Axisymmetric surface-tension-driven flow

In studies of electrolytic gas evolution at an ideally smooth surface, a non-uniform double-layer potential on a mercury pool in contact with aqueous sulfuric acid, corresponding to a non-uniform electrolytic current distribution at the interface, established a varying surface-tension distribution that drove flow of both solution and mercury phases. Interfacial flow velocities were measured by photographing the nucleating bubbles as they were transported to the periphery of the pool. Compared were theoretical and experimentally determined velocity profiles of this axisymmetric surface-tension-driven flow.     

Experimental study on oscillating grid turbulence and free surface fluctuation

This paper analyses the interaction between the turbulence and free surface. The phenomenon takes place in many natural flows and industrial processes. In the present experiments, turbulence is generated by a vertically oscillating grid moving beneath the free surface. Fluid velocity has been measured through a hot-film anemometer, and the free surface elevation has been measured by an ultrasonic sensor. Integral length scales and several turbulence estimators have been computed. In order to detect the generation of turbulence near the free surface, the correlation between free surface elevation and the underneath flow velocity has been studied, as well as the time lag between turbulence and free surface. The free surface dynamics has been characterized by a velocity scale and a length scale. The kinetic energy associated with the free surface fluctuations increases with the Reynolds number at a rate depending on the frequency of the grid movement. For Reynolds number larger than ≈1000, however, the relationships collapse to a single curve characterized by a lower rate. The present experiments do not achieve the inertial sub-range in the vertical velocity fluctuations, and the estimated spectrum decays with an exponent smaller than ?3, which is the typical value for the two-dimensional turbulence in the inertial sub-range. The macro length scale, estimated by using the Taylor’s frozen turbulence hypothesis, experiences a decay away from the grid, which follows reasonably well the profile of Thompson and Turner (J Fluid Mechanics 67: 349–368, 1975). The micro length scale reduces immediately beneath the free surface, which can be interpreted by the increase of dissipation rate in the subsurface layer. The classification diagram by Brocchini and Peregrine (J Fluid Mech 449: 225–254, 2001) indicates that most tests fall in the weak turbulence domain, but some tests fall in the wavy domain. The vertical velocity fluctuations and the free surface level show a significant correlation with a negative phase lag, that is, the free surface fluctuations are ahead of the vertical velocity fluctuations.     

Multi-resolution analysis of wavelet transform on pressure fluctuations in an L-valve

A novel diagnostic method to characterize the flow patterns in an 80 mm-i.d. L-valve had been developed by using multi-resolution analysis (MRA) of wavelet transformation on the pressure fluctuation signals which were acquired from the standpipe and the horizontal part of L-valve. Parameters including the aeration rate, aeration positions, riser gas velocity and composition of binary particle mixture (194-μm and 937-μm sand particles) were used to investigate the relationship of performance of L-valve and its pressure fluctuations. By means of MRA, the original pressure fluctuations were divided into multi-scale signals. They were macro-scale, meso-scale and micro-scale successfully described the structures of gas–solid flow in the L-valve, such as the gas bubbles/slugs, dune-ripple flow, suspension particle flow, etc.     

Influence of bubble expansion and relative velocity on the performance and stability of an airlift pump

An airlift pump which raises liquid by means of compressed air introduced near the lower end of the eduction pipe is an example of a self-control system. It has been shown by Hjalmars (1973) that an occasionally observed breakdown in the self-control mechanism, which leads to instability, is due to the fact that the control mechanism is delayed, with the effect that a small, time-dependent perturbation of the stationary flow satisfies a differential equation with delayed argument. This investigation was carried out with the assumption of a single-phase flow of an ideal incompressible liquid. The aim of the present study is to consider the stability conditions of an airlift pump within the frame of a more general flow model, namely a separate two-phase flow of compressible gas and incompressible liquid, which takes into account the effects of the expasion of gas bubbles during their lift and of the relative velocity, i.e. the difference in the velocity of gas bubbles and the liquid.     

Statistical structure of the velocity field in cavitating flow around a 2D hydrofoil

Transformation of flow turbulence structure with cavitation occurrence, determination of the flow conditions favorable for nucleation of cavitation bubbles, influence of the statistical structure of turbulence on this process and the inverse effect of cavitation on the flow dynamics are challenging problems in modern fluid mechanics. The paper reports on the results of statistical processing of the velocity fields measured by a PIV technique in cavitating flow over a 2D symmetric hydrofoil for four flow conditions, starting from a cavitation-free regime and finishing by unsteady cloud cavitation. We analyze basic information on the statistical structure of velocity fluctuations in the form of histograms and Q-Q diagrams along with profiles of the mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy. The research reveals that the flow turbulence pattern and distributions of turbulent fluctuations change significantly with the cavitation development. Under unsteady cloud cavitation conditions, the probability density function of the fluctuating velocity has a two-mode distribution, which indicates switching of two alternating flow conditions in a region above the hydrofoil aft part due to periodic passing of cavitation clouds. Behaviors of the mean and most probable velocities unexpectedly appear to be different with a monotonous increase of the incoming flow velocity. This finding must be caused by modification of the skewness coefficient of the fluctuating velocity.     

Effects of Bubbles on the Hydraulic Conductivity of Porous Materials – Theoretical Results

In a porous material, both the pressure drop across a bubble and its speed are nonlinear functions of the fluid velocity. Nonlinear dynamics of bubbles in turn affect the macroscopic hydraulic conductivity, and thus the fluid velocity. We treat a porous medium as a network of tubes and combine critical path analysis with pore-scale results to predict the effects of bubble dynamics on the macroscopic hydraulic conductivity and bubble density. Critical path analysis uses percolation theory to find the dominant (approximately) one-dimensional flow paths. We find that in steady state, along percolating pathways, bubble density decreases with increasing fluid velocity, and bubble density is thus smallest in the smallest (critical) tubes. We find that the hydraulic conductivity increases monotonically with increasing capillary number up to Ca 10^–2, but may decrease for larger capillary numbers due to the relative decrease of bubble density in the critical pores. We also identify processes that can provide a positive feedback between bubble density and fluid flow along the critical paths. The feedback amplifies statistical fluctuations in the density of bubbles, producing fluctuations in the hydraulic conductivity.     

Experiments on the magnetic damping of an inductively stirred liquid metal flow

This work is concerned with the stabilisation of both bulk liquid metal flow and free surface shape in inductively heated melts. Static magnetic fields in different orientation were used to damp the fluctuations generated by the alternating magnetic field of an induction heater. This superposition of a driving alternating with a braking static magnetic field was investigated experimentally in a low temperature isothermal model utilising a rectangular fluid volume in an induction-furnace-like setup fed by a current of intermediate frequency. Local velocity measurements in the liquid metal showed different damping characteristics for static fields aligned either normal or parallel to the melt surface.     

Experimental study of “laminar” bubbly flows in a vertical pipe

Measurement of bubbly two-phase flow parameters in a vertical pipe were performed. To keep the pipe Reynolds number below that for single-phase turbulent transition, a water-glycerin solution was used as the test liquid. Local void fraction and liquid velocity profiles along with the wall shear stress were measured by an electrochemical method. Experiments were made with bubbles of two different sizes. As the gas flow rate was increased, a gradual development of the liquid velocity profile from the parabolic Poiseuille flow to a flattened two-phase profile was observed. The evolution of the wall shear stress and of the velocity fluctuations were also quantified.Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Université Joseph Fourier, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble.     

Measurements of fluid fluctuations around an oscillating nuclear fuel assembly

In this paper, dynamic measurements of fluid velocity in the by-passes of a test-section representing a nuclear fuel assembly are presented. The test-section was designed to identify stiffness, damping and mass coefficients of a fuel assembly under axial flow, and previous studies have shown that the by-passes have an influence on the identified coefficients. The results presented in this paper show that the motion of the fuel assembly induces fluctuations in the axial fluid velocity in the by-passes. These fluctuations depend on the excitation frequency and position. A delay has been observed between the fuel assembly displacement and the fluid velocity fluctuations. The delay decreases when the axial velocity increases which means that it is a convection driven phenomenon.     

Physical and transport properties governing bubble column operations

In this work, physical and transport properties governing fluid dynamics in bubble columns were studied in the heterogeneous liquid circulation regime of operation based on several published experimental data. It was confirmed that the axial dispersion phenomenon of the liquid phase could be defined by the constant Peclet number predicated on the two-phase slip velocity, which comprised the time-averaged bubbly flow velocity superimposed by the velocity of large bubbles rising in the fluid. In addition, the slip velocity of mean bubbles in the bubbly flow not only indicated a constant rising velocity of a particular liquid but also apparently reduced to that for the Higbie model with respect to the bubble diameter and its terminal rising velocity, when applied to Akita and Yoshida's dimensionless correlation for mass transfer operation (Akita and Yoshida, 1974). In the course of demonstration, it was confirmed that a semi-theoretical correlation for the gas holdup proposed by Mersmann (1978) is similar to the empirical correlation proposed by Akita and Yoshida (1973) with respect to the expression and the physical perspective.