Experimental study of a two-phase surface jet

Abstract

Results of an experimental study of a two-phase jet are presented, with the jet issued near and below a free surface, parallel to it. The jet under study is isothermal and in fresh water, with air injectors that allow variation of the inlet air volume fraction between 0 and 13 %. Measurements of water velocity have been performed using LDV, and the jet exit conditions measured with PIV. Air volume fraction, bubble velocity and chord length distributions were measured with sapphire optical local phase detection probes. The mean free surface elevation and RMS fluctuations were obtained using local phase detection probes as well. Visualization was performed with laser-induced fluorescence. Measurements reveal that the mean free surface elevation and turbulent fluctuations significantly increase with the injection of air. The water normal Reynolds stresses are damped by the presence of bubbles in the bulk of the liquid, but very close to the free surface the effect is reversed and the normal Reynolds stresses increase slightly for the bubbly flow. The Reynolds shear stresses $$\left\langle {u^{\prime } w^{\prime } } \right\rangle$$ decrease when bubbles are injected, indicating turbulence attenuation, and are negative at deeper locations, as turbulent eddies shed downward carry high axial momentum deeper into the flow. Flow visualization reveals that the two-phase jet is lifted with the presence of bubbles and reaches the free surface sooner. Significant bubble coalescence is observed, leading to an increase in mean bubble size as the jet develops. The coalescence near the free surface is particularly strong, due to the time it takes the bubbles to pierce the free surface, resulting in a considerable increase in the local air volume fraction. In addition to first explore a bubbly surface jet, the comprehensive dataset reported herein can be used to validate two-phase flow models and computational tools.