Use a Controlled Vibration to Mixing and Separation of a Gas Bubbles and a Liquid Under Reduced and Microgravity Conditions

Abstract

The study of mixing and separation of the gas bubbles and the liquid under reduced gravity conditions may be used in the conceptual design of a spacebased materials processing and a gas-liquid management system. This study may be conducted on a larger samples in microgravity than on Earth because the acoustic or electromagnetic forces used to manipulate of mixing and separation of the gas bubbles and the liquid are not overwhelmed by gravity. Ultimately this research may result in improvements to production methods and materials on Earth. The main purpose of the present research to establish the vibration effect on the mixing and separation of gas bubbles and liquids under reduced gravity conditions. It has been developed a new mathematical techniques to model the behavior of the gas bubbles in the liquid under vibration. These techniques have been used to predict a controlled behavior of the gas bubbles by the controlled vibration under reduced and microgravity conditions. The developed model permitted to establish that the vibration can be used for control of the gas bubbles moving in vertical direction (from top to bottom and, on the contrary, from bottom to top), and determine conditions of the gas bubbles floating, drowning and oscillations (at the equilibrium level) in the liquid under reduced and microgravity conditions. The theoretical conclusions and numerical calculations of the developed model have been proofed on the conducted parabolic aircraft's tests. The tests have proofed the theoretical conclusion that vibration can be used to control of the gas bubbles moving in vertical direction (from top to bottom and, on the contrary, from bottom to top) in the liquid (gas bubbles and liquid separation) under reduced and microgravity conditions. On the other hand, experimental observations made in the tests have proofed theoretical conclusions and numerical calculations that the gas bubbles can be injected (gas bubbles and liquid mixing) into the different liquids under controlled vibration in reduced and microgravity conditions. The microgravity's isotropic phenomenon uniformly distributes the gas bubbles in the different liquids and influenced vibration does not give the bubbles possibility to collect in the liquid’s center. The proposed process can be used by the same manner to mixing and separation of solid particles, a dense drops and different liquids under reduced gravity conditions. Therefore, the developed process can be used also to emulsions, suspensions, composite materials processing and gas-liquid management under reduced and microgravity conditions.