Lateral motion and departure of vapor bubbles in nucleate pool boiling on thin wires in microgravity

A space experiment on bubble behavior and heat transfer in subcooled pool boiling phenomenon has been performed utilizing the temperature-controlled pool boiling (TCPB) device both in normal gravity in the laboratory and in microgravity aboard the 22(nd) Chinese recoverable satellite. The fluid is R113 at 0.1 MPa and subcooled by 26 degrees C nominally. A thin platinum wire of 60 mu m in diameter and 30mm in length is simultaneously used as heater and thermometer. Only the lateral motion and the departure of discrete vapor bubbles in nucleate pool boiling are reported and analyzed in the present paper. A scale analysis on the Marangoni convection surrounding a bubble in the process of subcooled nucleate pool boiling leads to formulas of the characteristic velocity of the lateral motion and its observability. The predictions consist with the experimental observations. Considering the Marangoni effect, a new qualitative model is proposed to reveal the mechanism underlying the bubble departure processes and a quantitative agreement can also be acquired.

Numerical simulation of condensation of bubbles under microgravity conditions by moving mesh method in the double-staggered grid

A numerical 2D method for simulation of two-phase flows including phase change under microgravity conditions is presented in this paper, with a level set method being coupled with the moving mesh method in the double-staggered grid systems. When the grid lines bend very much in a curvilinear grid, great errors may be generated by using the collocated grid or the staggered grid. So the double-staggered grid was adopted in this paper. The level set method is used to track the liquid-vapor interface. The numerical analysis is fulfilled by solving the Navier-Stokes equations using the SIMPLER method, and the surface tension force is modeled by a continuum surface force approximation. A comparison of the numerical results obtained with different numerical strategies shows that the double-staggered grid moving-mesh method presented in this paper is more accurate than that used previously in the collocated grid system. Based on the method presented in this paper, the condensation of a single bubble in the cold water under different level of gravity is simulated. The results show that the condensation process under the normal gravity condition is different from the condensation process under microgravity conditions. The whole condensation time is much longer under the normal gravity than under the microgravity conditions.

Preliminary investigation into implication of a single cell organism in fish feed bouyancy and flotation

Two Isocaloric Isoproteic 30% crude protein diets were formulated for Clariid catfish and Tilapia with wheat grain starch (WGS) and cassava tuber starch (CTS) incorporated at 10 percent as binding agents. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was included at 2% as floating additive. The water stability, nutrient retention and flotation of pelleted feeds were observed for 60 minutes. There were generally decreasing trends in stability and retention at increasing time of immersion in water. The lipid retention was higher (P>0.05) than proteins in both diets. WGS diet was better (P>0.05) than CTS diet in flotation, which has attributed to the presence of gluten protein in wheat products. It is envisaged that a break through in floating feed development in Nigeria aquaculture would save the Nigeria economy from extruded (floating) feed importation

The vibrations of bubbles and balloons

Bubbles and balloons are two examples of structures that feature a pressure difference across the skin, a thin, tensioned membrane, and a doubly curved interface surface. While mathematical models have been formulated for bubble vibrations, no such model exists for balloon vibrations. This paper reviews a model of bubble vibrations, and compares its predicted natural frequencies and modeshapes to those of a rubber balloon. It is shown that the bubble model consistently underpredicts the balloon's natural frequencies, and it is concluded that the nonlinear elasticity present in the balloon skin accounts for this result.

On the two classes of global primary modal instability in laminar separation bubbles

The self-excited global instability mechanisms existing in flat-plate laminar separation bubbles are studied here, in order to shed light on the causes of unsteadiness and three- dimensionality of unforced, nominally two-dimensional separated flows. The presence of two known linear global mechanisms, namely an oscillator behavior driven by local regions of absolute inflectional instability and a centrifugal instability giving rise to a steady three- dimensionalization of the bubble, is studied in a series of model separation bubbles. Present results indicate that absolute instability, and consequently a global oscillator behavior, does not exist for two-dimensional bubbles with a peak reversed-flow velocity below 12% of the free-stream velocity. However, the three-dimensional instability becomes active for recirculation levels as low as urev ≈ 7%. These findings suggest a route to the three-dimensionality and unsteadiness observed in experiments and simulations substantially different from that usually found in the literature, in which two-dimensional vortex shedding is followed by three-dimensionalization.

Subsurface transport behavior of micro-nano bubbles and potential applications for groundwater remediation.

Micro-nano bubbles (MNBs) are tiny bubbles with diameters on the order of micrometers and nanometers, showing great potential in environmental remediation. However, the application is only in the beginning stages and remains to be intensively studied. In order to explore the possible use of MNBs in groundwater contaminant removal, this study focuses on the transport of MNBs in porous media and dissolution processes. The bubble diameter distribution was obtained under different conditions by a laser particle analyzer. The permeability of MNB water through sand was compared with that of air-free water. Moreover, the mass transfer features of dissolved oxygen in water with MNBs were studied. The results show that the bubble diameter distribution is influenced by the surfactant concentration in the water. The existence of MNBs in pore water has no impact on the hydraulic conductivity of sand. Furthermore, the dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is greatly increased by the MNBs, which will predictably improve the aerobic bioremediation of groundwater. The results are meaningful and instructive in the further study of MNB research and applications in groundwater bioremediation.

Seed bubbles stabilize flow and heat transfer in parallel microchannels

Seed bubbles are generated on microheaters located at the microchannel upstream and driven by a pulse voltage signal, to improve flow and heat transfer performance in microchannels. The present study investigates how seed bubbles stabilize flow and heat transfer in micro-boiling systems. For the forced convection flow, when heat flux at the wall surface is continuously increased, flow instability is self-sustained in microchannels with large oscillation amplitudes and long periods. Introduction of seed bubbles in time sequence improves flow and heat transfer performance significantly. Low frequency (similar to 10 Hz) seed bubbles not only decrease oscillation amplitudes of pressure drops, fluid inlet and outlet temperatures and heating surface temperatures, but also shorten oscillation cycle periods. High frequency (similar to 100 Hz or high) seed bubbles completely suppress the flow instability and the heat transfer system displays stable parameters of pressure drops, fluid inlet and outlet temperatures and heating surface temperatures. Flow visualizations show that a quasi-stable boundary interface from spheric bubble to elongated bubble is maintained in a very narrow distance range at any time. The seed bubble technique almost does not increase the pressure drop across microsystems, which is thoroughly different from those reported in the literature. The higher the seed bubble frequency, the more decreased heating surface temperatures are. A saturation seed bubble frequency of 1000-2000 Hz can be reached, at which heat transfer enhancement attains the maximum degree, inferring a complete thermal equilibrium of vapor and liquid phases in microchannels. Benefits of the seed bubble technique are the stabilization of flow and heat transfer, decreasing heating surface temperatures and improving temperature uniformity of the heating surface.

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths in parallel microchannels with oxygen gas bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths were investigated with oxygen gas (O-2) bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions using a high speed camera bonded with a microscope. The microreactor consists of an inlet liquid plenum, nine parallel rectangular microchannels followed by a micronozzle, using the MEMS fabrication technique. The etched surface was deposited by the thin platinum film, which is acted as the catalyst. Experiments were performed with the inlet mass concentration of the hydrogen peroxide from 50% to 90% and the pressure drop across the silicon chip from 2.5 to 20.0 kPa. The silicon chip is directly exposed in the environment thus the heat released via the catalytic chemical reactions is dissipated into the environment and the experiment was performed at the room temperature level. It is found that the two-phase flow with the catalytic chemical reactions display the cyclic behavior. A full cycle consists of a short fresh liquid refilling stage, a liquid decomposition stage followed by the bubble slug flow stage. At the beginning of the bubble slug flow stage, the liquid slug number reaches maximum, while at the end of the bubble slug flow stage the liquid slugs are quickly flushed out of the microchannels. Two or three large bubbles are observed in the inlet liquid plenum, affecting the two-phase distributions in microchannels. The bubble slug lengths, cycle periods as well as the mass flow rates are analyzed with different mass concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and pressure drops. The bubble slug length is helpful for the selection of the future microreactor length ensuring the complete hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Future studies on the temperature effect on the transient two-phase flow with chemical reactions are recommended.

Thermocapillary migrations of drops and bubbles

The transport phenomenon of drops or bubbles is a very important topic in fundamental hydrodynamics research and practical applications such as material processing and the chemical engineering. In microgravity environment, if drops or bubbles stay in a continuous phase with non-uniform temperature ¯eld, they will start to move as a result of the variance of the interface tension. This kind of movement is called the Marangoni migration. This review tries to sum up the main results in this ¯eld on theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and experiments. So far the theoretical analysis is still limited to the linear or weak nonlinear steady questions, while the current numerical simulations can already obtain the time- dependent process of the bubble/drop migration when the e®ect of heat convection is small. For strong heat convection problem, or when the Marangoni number is bigger than 100, no numerical result is in consistence with those of experiments so far. Some of the lastest numerical results are shown when heat convection is strong, and the main di®erence between strong and weak heat convection is analyzed. Finally, we also discuss the main unresolved problems in this ¯eld and some possible directions in the future.

Thermocapillary Migration of Deformable Bubbles at Moderate to Large Marangoni Number in Microgravity

Using the level-set method and the continuum interface model, the axisymmetric thermocapillary migration of gas bubbles in an immiscible bulk liquid with a temperature gradient at moderate to large Marangoni number is simulated numerically. Constant material properties of the two phases are assumed. Steady state of the motion can always be reached. The terminal migration velocity decreases monotonously with the increase of the Marangoni number due to the wrapping of isotherms around the front surface of the bubble. Good agreements with space experimental data and previous theoretical and numerical studies in the literature are evident. Slight deformation of bubble is observed, but no distinct influence on the motion occurs. It is also found that the influence of the convective transport of heat inside bubbles cannot be neglected at finite Marangoni number, while the influence of the convective transport of momentum inside bubbles may be actually negligible.

The mixing of bubbles in two-dimensional bidisperse foams under extensional shear

Cox, S.J. (2006) The mixing of bubbles in two-dimensional bidisperse foams under extensional shear. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics . 137:39-45.