We perform a quantitative characterization of a microbubble injector in conditions relevant to microgravity. The injector pregenerates a slug flow by using a capillary T-junction, whose operation is robust to changes in gravity level. We address questions regarding the performance under different injection conditions. In particular we focus on the variation of both gas and liquid flow rates. The injection performance is characterized by measuring bubble injection frequency and bubble sizes. We obtain two distinct working regimes of the injector and identify the optimal performance as the crossover region between them.
We present a numerical study of the formation of mini-bubbles in a 2D T-junction by means of the fluid dynamics numerical code JADIM. Numerical simulations were carried out for different flow conditions, giving rise to results on the behaviour of bubble velocity, void fraction, bubble generation frequency and length. Numerical results are compared with existing experimental data thanks to non dimensional analysis.
We perform a characterization of a recently reported minibubbles (bubbles with a diameter of the order of 10 -3 m) generator in microgravity related conditions. Generation of bubbles is based on the generation of a slug flow in a capillary T-junction, whose operation is robust to changes in the gravity level. We address questions regarding the performance under different working regimes. In particular, we focus on the regimes found within a large range of gas and liquid injection flow rates. The injection performance is characterized by measuring bubble generation frequency. We propose curves obtained empirically for the behavior of generation frequency and crossover between regimes.
We present an analysis of the geometry of the continuous and disperse phases in the bubble and slug flow regimes in air-water mixtures generated in a capillary T-junction of 1 mm internal diameter. Bubble size dispersion is very low in the considered flow patterns. The concept of unit cell is used to identify two characteristic lengths of the two-phase flow, namely, the unit cell length and the bubble length. The relationship between these lengths and the gas and liquid superficial velocities, gas mean velocity, bubble generation frequency and volume average void fraction is analysed. We conclude that in the considered configuration the unit cell and bubble lengths can be predicted either by the ratio of the gas-liquid superficial velocities or the volume average void fraction.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.