ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Online reconstruction of a Taylor bubble using a LASER-photo resistor

Kesavan Sowndarya and Muniyandi Venkatesan

School of Mechanical Engineering, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, India

E-mail: mvenkat@mech.sastra.edu

Received: 14 January 2024  Accepted: 12 March 2024

Abstract:

Two phase flow commonly occur in nature and in designed systems. The recent micro reaction-based technologies employed in laboratory on chip systems, micro propulsion devices, drug delivery systems require multi-phase fluid mixing in confined spaces of the order of micron size. Mixing index of the highest order is expected to be achieved in small channels. Limited experimental studies are available for real time measurement of void fraction and liquid film thickness which play a vital role during mixing of multiphase flow in mini/micro channels. In the present work an attempt has been made to reconstruct a two-dimensional Taylor bubble in real time. The cross-sectional void and liquid film thickness are deduced from the signal generated using a LASER-Photo resistor and the online reconstruction includes measurement of the interface velocity. A numerical model is developed to understand interaction of signals with two phase regimes and to estimate average liquid film thickness based on the experimental current signal.

Keywords: LASER-photo resistor; Taylor bubble; Online reconstruction; Void fraction; Interface velocity

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-024-03423-4

Chemical Papers 78 (8) 4767–4778 (2024)