Multiphase Digital Particle Image Velocimetry in a Dispersed, Bubbly, Axisymmetric Jet

A particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique developed for application to two-phase flows is presented and validated. The technique is capable of simultaneously measuring carrier and bubble phase velocities on a plane. The validation experiments have been conducted in a vertical upwards, two-phase (water-air) bubbly jet flow at a Reynolds numbers of 5,673 and 11,345 and low bubble concentration matching the experiments of Stanley and Nikitopoulos (1998). Comparisons with measurements obtained by Stanley and Nikitopoulos (1998) using Phase Doppler Analysis (PDA) experiments indicate that the agreement between the two techniques is very satisfactory (deviations of the order of 5%) for both single-phase and two-phase jet carrier-flow velocities. In addition, bubble phase velocity measurements obtained from backlit visualizations of the bubbly jet flow using the bubble-tracking method of Fiedler et al. (2001) are successfully compared to those obtained from PIV. The PIV study confirms that bubbles experience a substantial deceleration in the unmixed core of the jet near field and illustrates carrier-phase mean-flow modification consistent with past point-wise measurements.