Fluidics in an emptying bottle during breaking and making of interacting interfaces

Abstract

An experimental effort has been reported in the present study analyzing the fluidics during the emptying of a bottle. The viscosity of the containing liquid and the orientation of the bottle while emptying are varied to obtain different emptying modes. Stages during the emptying of a vertical upended and an inclined bottle have been demarcated based on prompt flow features. Fluidic phenomena such as formation and pinch-off of an encapsulated bubble, ejector jet, flooding, and stratification have been observed in a vertically upended bottle. The rise velocity, collapse dynamics, and growth rate of the bubble at the bottle mouth are affected by the angle of inclination and mainly viscosity of the emptying liquid. Two distinct bottle emptying modes have been identified in one of which the discharge rate is increased due to a high-frequency pinch-off of air bubbles inside the bottle and in another mode due to an increase in the volume of the pinched-off bubble at a comparatively lower frequency. The interaction of dominant forces during the emptying process has been established by quantifying Reynolds number, Weber number, and Bond number. For all emptying liquids, bottle emptying time reduces linearly up to a critical angle of inclination, θcrit ∼ 20°, and further follows an asymptote. We hypothesize that the transition between the linear regime and the asymptotic regime is due to the saturation of the voidage of the air at the cylindrical section of the bottle mouth. Furthermore, the geometry of the bottle also facilitates the growth rate of the bubble inside the bottle at θcrit.