Experimental study of a microchannel bubble injector for microgravity applications.
- Paper number
IAC-06-A2.P.01
- Author
Mr. Santiago Arias, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain
- Coauthor
Dr. Xavier Ruiz, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain
- Coauthor
Dr. Laureano Ramírez-Piscina, Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya, Spain
- Coauthor
Mr. Jordi Carrera, Spain
- Coauthor
Dr. Jaume Casademunt, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
- Coauthor
Dr. Ricard González-Cinca, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain
- Year
2006
- Abstract
We perform an extensive characterization of a novel microbubble injector in conditions relevant to microgravity. The injector pregenerates a slug flow by using a T-junction, whose operation is robust to changes in gravity level. We address questions regarding the performance under different working regimes. In particular we span a large range of parameters such as gas and liquid injection rates, capillary diameters and surface tension. The injection performance are characterized by measuring bubble injection frequency and bubble size distribution. Limits of operation performance regarding the control of bubble sizes are evaluated.
- Abstract document