Non-intrusive measurements of bubble size and velocity

Abstract

A non-intrusive measuring technique based on video-imaging has been developed for the measurement of bubble size, velocity and frequency. Measurements carried out with this method have been compared to those obtained by an optimized phase-Doppler system in standard configuration, for a wide range of bubble sizes produced from single injectors in a quiescent environment. The two measuring techniques have yielded velocities and frequencies that are in very good agreement while the size of spherical bubbles was consistently measured by both methods. The phase-Doppler system was also used to size oblate-spheroidal bubbles moving with their equatorial plane parallel to the scattering plane, yielding measurements reasonably close to the average radius of curvature of the bubbles in the neighborhood of the equatorial plane, as calculated from the video-imaging data. Both methods were used for detailed velocity measurements of the bubble-stream in the neighborhood of the injector tip. The observed bubble-velocity variation with the distance from the injector tip does not always display the usual increasing trend leading into the terminal velocity. When injection conditions are near the transition from discrete to jet injection mode and the bubbles are small, the latter decelerate into a terminal velocity due to direct interaction of successive bubbles at the injector tip. The measured terminal velocities of bubble-chains for a variety of bubble sizes and injection frequencies, are successfully predicted by using a far-field wake approximation to account for the drafting effect which is responsible for bubble-chain velocities higher than those of single bubbles.