The Long Bubbles Penetration through Viscoelastic Fluids with Shear-Thinning Viscosity in a Curved Tube

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the behavior of a long bubbles penetrating through viscoelastic fluids in a curved tube. The injection gas flow is controlled by a mass flow controller (MFC). The results of the experiments show that the bubbles width approaches constant value at the location six-diameter upstream from the bubbles front. A difference variable is introduced at the six-diameter location to show the shifting deviation of the bubbles in the curved tube. It is shown that, with the same fluid viscosity and the curved angle, the difference is higher when the gas flow rate is higher. Also, the difference increases proportionally when the capillary number and the Weissenberg number increase.