Experimental investigation of the critical Reynolds number for bubbly two-phase flow Academic Article

abstract

• The critical Reynolds number for dispersed bubbly two-phase flows, gas in liquid, was experimentally investigated. In this experiment, the gas was air and the liquid was water. Water flowed upward through a vertical, translucent pipe, and air was introduced into the water prior to the test section by means of a basswood microbubbler. Dye was injected into the water to indicate when the flow transitioned from laminar to turbulent. Mixtures with gas volume fractions up to 10% were tested, and the Reynolds numbers for which the flow transitioned from laminar to turbulent were recorded. The data showed that the critical Reynolds number fell to roughly one-half of its original single-phase liquid value once the gas volume fractions exceeded 0.1%. These results indicate that the presence of even small amounts of bubbles causes pre-mature transition to turbulence.

authors

• Cizmas, Paul

published proceedings

• INCAS Bulletin

author list (cited authors)

• MCCRAY, M. C., & CIZMAS, P.

complete list of authors

• MCCRAY, Marshall C||CIZMAS, Paul GA

publication date

• September 2023

publisher

• INCAS - National Institute for Aerospace Research Elie Carafoli  Publisher

published in

• INCAS Bulletin  Journal

keywords

• 40 Engineering
• 4012 Fluid Mechanics And Thermal Engineering

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.13111/2066-8201.2023.15.3.4

start page

• 47

end page

• 55

volume

• 15

issue

• 3

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.13111/2066-8201.2023.15.3.4