A method for bubble volume measurement under constant flow conditions in gas–liquid two-phase flow

Abstract

Measuring the volume of a bubble, especially at its detachment, is a basic subject in gas-liquid two-phase flow research. A new indirect method for this measurement under constant flow conditions is presented. An electronic device is designed and constructed based on laser beam intensity. This device calculates the frequency of the bubble formation by measuring the total time of the formation process and counting the number of bubbles crossing the laser beam. The bubble volume at detachment can be calculated by dividing the volumetric flow rate of air by the frequency of bubble formation. The latter and the bubble volume at detachment are measured for three different heights of water above the the tip of the orifice (50, 100, and 150 mm), three orifice diameters (1, 2, and 3 mm), and different gas flow rates between 2000 and 10000 ml/hr. Comparing and validating the results with the results of the image processing (IP) method and the correlations presented by other studies shows the strong accuracy of the present method.