Investigation of three-dimensional two-phase flow structure in a bubbly pipe flow

A measurement study was performed to obtain a full-field quantitative description of a three-dimensional, two-phase bubbly flow. Particle image velocimetry (PIV), a whole-field, non-invasive velocity measurement technique, was utilized. PIV is capable of producing an instantaneous velocity map of steady-state and transient flows of a fluid seeded with microscopically small neutral density particles.

The objective of this investigation was to study the turbulence structure in a co-current bubbly flow. The obtained information will help to determine parameters needed for two-phase flow modelling. The study investigated the influence of bubbles on the surrounding flow field (bubble/flow interaction). A stereoscopic reconstruction technique was used to obtain three-dimensional velocity vector data from the recorded planar images. Radial distributions of volume-averaged turbulence intensities and Reynolds stresses were calculated. The volume-averaged turbulent kinetic energy within the measurement zone due to a rising bubble is presented.