Dynamic analysis of bubble-driven liquid flows using time-resolved particle image velocimetry and proper orthogonal decomposition techniques

Abstract  

An experimental study to evaluate dynamic structures of flow motion and turbulence characteristics in bubble-driven water flow in a rectangular tank with a varying flow rate of compressed air is conducted. Liquid flow fields are measured by time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) with fluorescent tracer particles to eliminate diffused reflections, and by an image intensifier to acquire enhanced clean particle images. By proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis, the energy distributions of spatial and temporal modes are acquired. Time-averaged velocity and turbulent kinetic energy distributions are varied with the air flow rates. With increasing Reynolds number, bubble-induced turbulent motion becomes dominant rather than the recirculating flow near the side wall. Detailed spatial structures and the unsteady behavior of dominant dynamic modes associated with turbulent kinetic energy distributions are addressed.