A multichannel thermal bubble-actuated impedance flow cytometer with on-chip TIA based on CMOS-MEMS

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)flow cytometry offers the advantages of speed,affordability,and portability in cell analysis and cytometry applications.However,the integration challenges of microfluidic and EIS read-out circuits hinder the downsizing of cytometry devices.To address this,we developed a thermal-bubble-driven impedance flow cytometric application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC).The thermal-bubble micropump avoids external piping and equipment,enabling high-throughput designs.With a total of 36 cell counting channels,each measuring 884×220μm^(2),the chip significantly enhances the throughput of flow cytometers.Each cell counting channel incorporates a differential trans-impedance amplifier(TIA)to amplify weak biosensing signals.By eliminating the parasitic parameters created at the complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor transistor(CMOS)-micro-electromechanical systems(MEMS)interface,the counting accuracy can be increased.The on-chip TIA can adjust feedback resistance from 5 to 60 kΩto accommodate solutions with different impedances.The chip effectively classifies particles of varying sizes,demonstrated by the average peak voltages of 0.0529 and 0.4510 mV for 7 and 14μm polystyrene beads,respectively.Moreover,the counting accuracies of the chip for polystyrene beads and MSTO-211H cells are both greater than 97.6%.The chip exhibits potential for impedance flow cytometer at low cost,high-throughput,and miniaturization for the application of point-of-care diagnostics.

Numerical simulation of gas–liquid flow in the bubble column using Wray–Agarwal turbulence model coupled with population balance model

In this paper,an improved computational fluid dynamic(CFD)model for gas-liquid flow in bubble column was developed using the one-equation Wary-Agarwal(WA)turbulence model coupled with the population balance model(PBM).Through 18 orthogonal test cases,the optimal combination of interfacial force models,including drag force,lift force,turbulent dispersion force.The modified wall lubrication force model was proposed to improve the predictive ability for hydrodynamic behavior near the wall of the bubble column.The values simulated by optimized CFD model were in agreement with experimental data,and the errors were within±20%.In addition,the axial velocity,turbulent kinetic energy,bubble size distribution,and the dynamic characteristic of bubble plume were analyzed at different superficial gas velocities.This research work could provide a theoretical basis for the extension of the CFD-PBM coupled model to other multiphase reactors..

Modeling of liquid film thickness around Taylor bubbles rising in vertical stagnant and co-current slug flowing liquids

The hydrodynamic study of the liquid film around Taylor bubbles in slug flow has great significance for understanding parallel flow and interaction between Taylor bubbles.The prediction models for liquid film thickness mainly focus on stagnant flow,and some of them remain inaccurate performance.However,in the industrial process,the slug flow essentially is co-current flow.Therefore,in this paper,the liquid film thickness is studied by theoretical analysis and experimental methods under two conditions of stagnant and co-current flow.Firstly,under the condition of stagnant flow,the present work is based on Batchelor's theory,and modifies Batchelor's liquid film thickness model,which effectively improves its prediction accuracy.Under the condition of co-current flow,the prediction model of average liquid film thickness in slug flow is established by force and motion analysis.Taylor bubble length is introduced into the model as an important parameter.Dynamic experiments were carried out in the pipe with an inner diameter of 20 mm.The liquid film thickness,Taylor bubble velocity and length were measured by distributed ultrasonic sensor and intrusive cross-correlation conductivity sensor.Comparing the predicted value of the model with the measured results,the relative error is controlled within 10%.

An optimization method for enhancement of gas–liquid mass transfer in a bubble column reactor based on the entropy generation extremum principle

In this study,an optimization method is proposed to enhance the gas–liquid mass transfer in bubble column reactor based on the entropy generation extremum principle.The mass transfer–induced entropy generation can be maximized with the increase of mass transfer rate,based on which the velocity field can be optimized.The oxygen gas–liquid mass transfer is the major rate–limiting step of the toluene emissions biodegradation process in bubble column reactor,so the entropy generation due to oxygen mass transfer is used as the objective function,and the conservation equations of the gas–liquid flow and species concentration are taken as constraints.This optimization problem is solved by the calculus of variations,the optimal liquid flow pattern is obtained and the relationship of the maximum mass transfer enhancement on viscous dissipation is revealed,which can be used to improve the design of internal structure of the bubble column reactor.

Different efficiency toward the biomimetic aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol in microchannel and bubble column reactors: Hydrodynamic characteristics and gas–liquid mass transfer

The selective aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde has attracted considerable attention because benzaldehyde is a high value-added product. The rate of this typical gas–liquid reaction is significantly affected by mass transfer. In this study, CoTPP-mediated(CoTPP: cobalt(II) mesotetraphenylporphyrin) selective benzyl alcohol oxidation with oxygen was conducted in a membrane microchannel(MMC) reactor and a bubble column(BC) reactor, respectively. We observed that 83% benzyl alcohol was converted within 6.5 min in the MMC reactor, but only less than 10% benzyl alcohol was converted in the BC reactor. Hydrodynamic characteristics and gas–liquid mass transfer performances were compared for the MMC and BC reactors. The MMC reactor was assumed to be a plug flow reactor,and the dimensionless variance was 0.29. Compared to the BC reactor, the gas–liquid mass transfer was intensified significantly in MMC reactor. It could be ascribed to the high gas holdup(2.9 times higher than that of BC reactor), liquid film mass transfer coefficient(8.2 times higher than that of BC reactor), and mass transfer coefficient per unit interfacial area(3.8 times higher than that of BC reactor). Moreover,the Hatta number for the MMC reactor reached up to 0.61, which was about 15 times higher than that of the BC reactor. The computational fluid dynamics calculations for mass fractions in both liquid and gas phases were consistent with the experimental data.

Analysis of deformation and internal flow patterns for rising single bubbles in different liquids

Gas–liquid multiphase flow is a significant phenomenon in chemical processes. The rising behaviors of single bubbles in the quiescent liquids have been investigated but the internal flow patterns and deformation rules of bubbles, which influence the mass transfer efficiency to a large extent, have received much less attention. In this paper, the volume of fluid method was used to calculate the bubble shapes, pressure, velocity distributions,and the flow patterns inside the bubbles. The rising behavior of the bubbles with four different initial diameters,i.e., 3 mm, 5 mm, 7 mm and 9 mm was investigated in four various liquids including water, 61.23% glycerol,86.73% glycerol and 100% glycerol. The results show that the liquid properties and bubble initial diameters have great impacts on bubble shapes. Moreover, flow patterns inside the bubbles with different initial diameters were analyzed and classified into three types under the condition of different bubble shapes. Three correlations for predicting the maximum internal circulation inside the bubbles in 86.73% glycerol were presented and the R-square values were all bigger than 0.98. Through analyzing the pressure and velocity distributions around the bubbles, four rules of bubble deformation were also obtained to explain and predict the shapes.

Study on the Flow Field around Two Parallel Moving Bubbles and Interaction Between Bubbles Rising in CMC Solutions by PIV

The flow fields surrounding two parallel moving bubbles rising from two identical orifices submerged in non-Newtonian fluid of carboxymethylcellulose （CMC） solution of three different mass concentration were measured experimentally by the use of particle image velocimetry （PIV）. The influences of gas flowrate, solution mass concentration, orifice interval and the angle between two bubble centers line and vertical direction on the flow field surrounding bubbles were discussed respectively by analyzing the velocity vector, velocity contours as well as individual velocity components. The results show that the liquid velocity both in front of two bubbles and behind increases with gas flowrate duo to shear-thinning effect of previous bubbles, whereas decreases with the increase of CMC concentration due to the increase of drag force acting on bubbles. The effect of the orifice interval on the flow field around two moving bubbles becomes gradually obvious as the interval becomes closer. Moreover, two adjacent side-by-side bubbles repulse each other during rising, leading to the practical interval between them increased somewhat above the orifice interval. When the distance between bubbles is less than the orifice interval 10 mm, the interaction between two neighboring bubbles changed from mutual repellence to attraction with the decrease of the angle of the line of linking two bubble centers to the vertical direction.

The Effect of Sparger Geometry on Gas Bubble Flow Behaviors Using Electrical Resistance Tomography

By electrical resistance tomography (ERT) the cross sectional profiles of gas hold-up in a φ56mm bubble column are obtained with four designs of gas sparger. The effect of sparger geometry on the bubble distribution is re-vealed by applying a sensitivity conjugated gradients reconstruction method (SCG). Experimental results show that over-all hold-up obtained by ERT is generally in good agreement with those measured with the pressure transducer and the ERT system produces informative evidence that the radial profiles of hold-up is very similar to the sparger design in the lower section of bubble column. Meanwhile, the rise velocity of bubble swarm and the Sauter mean bubble size are evaluated using ERT based on dynamic gas disengagement theory. The experimental results are in good agreement with correlations and conventional estimation obtained using pressure transmitter methods.

Experimental detection of bubble-wall interactions in a vertical gas–liquid flow

Bubble motions and bubble-wall interactions in stagnant liquid were experimentally investigated by high-speed CCD and PIV technique with the main feature parameters such as E?tv?s numbers Eo = 0.98–1.10, Morton number Mo = 3.21 × 10^(-9)and Reynolds numbers Re = 180 ~ 190. The effect of bubble injecting frequency and the distance S between the gas injection nozzle and the wall on the statistical trajectory of bubbles, average velocity distribution of flow field and Reynolds shear stress were studied in detail. It was shown that the combination of bubble injecting frequency and the distance S caused different bubble motion forms and hydrodynamic characteristics.When the normalized initial distance was very little, like S*≈ 1.2(here S*= 2S/d_e, and deis the bubble equivalent diameter), bubbles ascended in a zigzag trajectory with alternant structure of high and low speed flow field around the bubbles, and the distribution of positive and negative Reynolds shear stress looked like a blob. With the increase of distance S*, bubbles' trajectory would tend to be smooth and straight from the zigzag curve. Meanwhile, with the increase of bubble injecting frequency, the camber of bubble trajectory at 20<y<60 mm had a slight increase due to the inhibitory effect from the vertical wall. Under larger spacing, such as S*≈ 3.6, the low-frequency bubbles gradually moved away from the vertical plane wall in a straight trajectory and the high-frequency bubbles gradually moved close to the vertical wall in a similar straight trajectory after an unstable camber motion. Under the circumstances, high-speed fluid was mainly distributed in the region between the wall and the bubbles, while the relative large Reynolds shear stress mainly existed in the region far away from the wall.

Effects of Orifice Orientation and Gas-Liquid Flow Pattern on Initial Bubble Size

In many gasliquid processes, the initial bubble size is determined by a series of operation parameters along with the sparger design and gasliquid flow pattern. Bubble formation models for variant gasliquid flow pat terns have been developed based on force balance. The effects of the orientation of gasliquid flow, gas velocity, liquid velocity and orifice diameter on the initial bubble size have been clarified. In ambient airwater system, thesultable gasllquid flow pattern is important to obtain smaller bubbles under the low velocity liquid crossflow con ditions with stainless steel spargers. Among the four types of gasliquid flow patterns discussed, the horizontal orifice in a vertically upward liquid flow produces the smallest initial bubbles. However the orientation effects of gas and liquid flow are found tobe insgnifican whenliq.uid velocity is.higher than. 3.2 m;sa or theorifice diameter is small enough.

Simple Model for Gas Holdup and Liquid Velocity of Annular Photocatalytic External-Loop Airlift Reactor Under both Bubble and Developing Slug Flow

Based on the momentum conservation approach, a theoretical model was developed to predict the superficial liquid velocity, and a correlation equation was established to calculate the gas holdup of an annular external-loop airlift reactor(AELAR)in the bubble flow and developing slug flow pattern. Experiments were performed by using tap-water and silicone oil with the viscosity of 2.0 mm^2/s(2cs-SiO)and 5.0 mm^2/s(5cs-SiO)as liquid phases. The effects of liquid viscosity and flow pattern on the AELAR performance were investigated. The predictions of the proposed model were in good agreement with the experimental results of the AELAR. In addition, the comparison of the experimental results shows that the proposed model has good accuracy and could be used to predict the gas holdup and liquid velocity of an AELAR operating in bubble and developing flow pattern.

A single-phase turbulent flow numerical simulation of a cyclonic-static micro bubble flotation column

Improved fluid dynamics can enhance the separation efficiency of flotation methods. A Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation using FLUENT was performed to model the fluid environment of a cyclonic-sta- tic micro bubble flotation column. The simulation results visually show the interior flow and illustrate mix- ing of the different flows within the apparatus. An analysis of the distribution in velocity and vorticity was used to analyze the separation mechanism and the synergism of the component parts and to strengthen the design of each unit. The conclusions are that axial back mixing and vortexes still exist in the separation unit even in the presence of packing media. The inverted cone structure near the tangential inlet （cone 1 ） within the cyclonic unit is the main reason for this. The cone 1 structure enhances swirling and focuses energy within the inner area of the cone where there are abundant bubbles. As a result slowly floating minerals are forcibly recovered and railings are effectively separated within this unit. However, cone 1 also reduces the vorticity downstream from it, which reduces the efficiency of railings separation within this part. Therefore, the design of cone 1 should be based on the principles of lessening disturbances to the column unit while strengthening the separation effect of the cyclonic unit. Also, the axial distance between the paired cyclonic structures at the bottom of the column （cone 2） and cone 1 poses tough requirements because of an interaction between separation of the middlings and railings.

Comparison of a Full Second-Order Moment Model and an Algebraic Stress Two-Phase Turbulence Model for Simulating Bubble-Liquid Flows in a Bubble Column

A full second-order moment (FSM) model and an algebraic stress (ASM) two-phase turbulence modelare proposed and applied to predict turbulent bubble-liquid flows in a 2D rectangular bubble column. Predictiongives the bubble and liquid velocities, bubble volume fraction, bubble and liquid Reynolds stresses and bubble-liquidvelocity correlation. For predicted two-phase velocities and bubble volume fraction there is only slight differencebetween these two models, and the simulation results using both two models are in good agreement with the particleimage velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Although the predicted two-phase Reynolds stresses using the FSM are insomewhat better agreement with the PIV measurements than those predicted using the ASM, the Reynolds stressespredicted using both two models are in general agreement with the experiments. Therefore, it is suggested to usethe ASM two-phase turbulence model in engineering application for saving the computation time.

Numerical simulation of bubble breakup phenomena in anarrow flow field

Based on the boundary integral method, a 3D bubble breakup model in a narrow flow field is established, and a corresponding computation program is developed to simulate the symmetrical and asymmetrical bubble breakup. The calculated results are compared with the experimental results and agree with them very well, indicating that the numerical model is valid. Based on the basic behavior of bubbles in a narrow flow field, the symmetrical and asymmetrical bubble breakup is studied systematically using the developed program. A feasibility rule of 3D bubble breakup is presented. The dynamics of sub-bubbles after splitting is studied. The influences of characteristic parameters on bubble breakup and sub-bubble dynamics are analyzed.

An Underwater Image Bubble Noise Removal Method Based on Optical Flow

It is very important for underwater robots to accurately detect and locate target objects. However,under many circumstances,it is difficult to clearly observe the target object due to the existence of bubble noise. In this paper,we proposed a method to solve this problem. First,we used the LK optical flow algorithm to calculate the motion vector of the image background and compensate for the background motion.Then,the optical flow field of the bubbles was calculated by the HS optical flow algorithm,and the area where the bubble existed was obtained by binarizing the image. Finally,we used the adjacent frame image to repair the bubble area. We carried out a bubble noise removal experiment. The results show that this method can effectively remove the bubble noise in the image.

Optimal Concentration of the Bubble Drainage Agent in Foam Drainage Gas Recovery Applications

Foam drainage is theflow of liquid through the interstitial spaces between bubbles driven by capillarity and grav-ity and resisted by viscous damping.The so-called foam drainage gas recovery technology is a technique tradi-tionally used to mitigate the serious bottom-hole liquid loading in the middle and late stages of gas well production.In this context,determining the optimal concentration of the bubble drainage agent is generally cru-cial for the proper application of this method.In this study,a combination of indoor experiments and theoretical analysis have been used to determine the pressure drop related to the foam-carrying capacity in a representative gasfield.Dynamic and static experiments were designed with a bubble drainage agent concentration varying in the range 0.3%–0.6%.Using thefield formation water data,the optimal soaking agent concentration was obtained and pressure drop test experiments on the foam carrying capacity were conducted accordingly.These tests have revealed that the optimal foam displacement agent concentration is 0.5%,and the foam quality at the optimum concentration is between 0.78–0.98.A theoretical method for calculating the pressure drop at the optimum soak-away concentration based on experimental data has also been introduced.The error of the proposed method is within 15%compared to the experimental measured value,demonstrating that it is highly accurate and simple.

Experimental study of gas-water elongated bubble flow during production logging

In order to improve the interpretation of production log data on gas-water elongated bubble （EB） flow in horizontal wells, a multi-phase flow simulation device was set up to conduct a series of measurement experiments using air and tap water as test media, which were measured using a real production logging tool （PLT） string at different deviations and in different mixed flow states. By understanding the characteristics and mechanisms of gas-water EB flow in transparent experimental boreholes during production logging, combined with an analysis of the production log response characteristics and experimental production logging flow pattern maps, a method for flow pattern identification relying on log responses and a drift-flux model were proposed for gas-water EB flow. This model, built upon experimental data of EB flow, reveals physical mechanisms of gas-water EB flow during measurement processing. The coefficients it contains are the specific values under experimental conditions and with the PLT string used in our experiments. These coefficients also reveal the interference with original downhole flow patterns by the PLT string. Due to the representativeness that our simulated flow experiments and PLT string possess, the model coefficients can be applied as empirical values of logging interpretation model parameters directly to real production logging data interpretation, when the measurement circumstances and PLT strings are similar.

Reconstructing bubble profiles from gas-liquid two-phase flow data using agglomerative hierarchical clustering method

The knowledge of bubble profiles in gas-liquid two-phase flows is crucial for analyzing the kinetic processes such as heat and mass transfer, and this knowledge is contained in field data obtained by surface-resolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. To obtain this information, an efficient bubble profile reconstruction method based on an improved agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) algorithm is proposed in this paper. The reconstruction method is featured by the implementations of a binary space division preprocessing, which aims to reduce the computational complexity, an adaptive linkage criterion, which guarantees the applicability of the AHC algorithm when dealing with datasets involving either non-uniform or distorted grids, and a stepwise execution strategy, which enables the separation of attached bubbles. To illustrate and verify this method, it was applied to dealing with 3 datasets, 2 of them with pre-specified spherical bubbles and the other obtained by a surface-resolved CFD simulation. Application results indicate that the proposed method is effective even when the data include some non-uniform and distortion.

Analysis of Bubble Behavior in a Horizontal Rectangular Channel under Subcooled Flow Boiling Conditions

Experiments on subcooled flow boiling have been conducted using water in a rectangular flow channel.Similar to the coolant channel in internal combustion engines(IC engines),the flow channel in this experiment was asymmetrically heated.Bubble images were captured using a high speed camera from the side view of the channel.The experimental conditions in terms of bulk temperature,bulk velocity,pressure and heat flux ranged from 65°C–75°C,0.25 m/s–0.75 m/s,1–1.7 bar and 490 kW/m2–700 kW/m2,respectively.On the basis of these tests,a statistical analysis of the bubble size has been conducted considering a population of 1400 samples.It has been found that the mean Sauter bubble diameter increases with the decrease of subcooling,bulk velocity,pressure and increased heat flux.A modified correlation has been finally proposed to predict the mean Sauter bubble diameter under subcooled flow boiling conditions upstream of the onset of significant void,which shows good accuracy with the experimental results.

Numerical Simulation of Unsteady-State Flowsin Bubble Column Reactors

Unsteady-state operation has been widely applied in chemical engineering, such as optimizing a process, increasing yield and saving energy, etc. But the knowledge of the flow characteristics in bubble column reactors(BCRs) under unsteady state control is far from enough. In order to study the flow structures in this operation, the volume of fluid (VOF) model and the standard k-ε model to simulate the evolution of gas-liquid flow in BCRs under the start-up state are combined. For both the symmetry and asymmetry flow, the layout of the gas-inlets, the gas-in velocity, the liquid viscosity and the aspect ratio of the BCR all have effects on the liquid velocity distribution. The simulation results could provide some information for the design and scale-up of the BCRs.