Measurement of Bubbly Flow in a Vertical Pipe Using Ultrasonic Doppler Method

In order to clarify the microscopic flow structure, the ultrasonic Doppler method was applied to the measurement of two-phase bubbly flow in vertical pipe (i.d.50mm). Liquid flow structure might strongly be influenced by the characteristic of the injected bubbles, i.e. bubbles’ size and void fraction. In this study, a bubble generator was newly designed with the purpose to control the bubble size and void fraction, independent of liquid main-flow rate. The experiment was performed at z/d = 66 from the bubble generator. Liquid flow rates were of the Reynolds numbers ranging from Re_m = 3700 to 6200. The gas flow rate was constant at J_G = 0.00348(m/s) at the measurement position. By analyzing the bubbles’ picture, it was confirmed that bubble size distribution and average bubble size were almost constant if the liquid flow rate were changed. The ultrasonic Doppler method has the capability of measuring the instantaneous velocity profiles of both phases at the same time. By processing the data based on pattern recognition, the recorded data can be classified to several groups. Using this method, the authors have tried to measure the bubbly flow in rectangular channel. In the present study, the application of this method to bubbly flow in circular pipe was satisfactory to obtain the liquid velocity distribution in bubbly flow and surrounding bubbles. From these results, it was clarified that velocity profile in bubbly flow in circular pipe has a maximum value near the pipe wall. Furthermore, velocity profiles around the bubble are influenced by leading bubbles.