Experimental Study of Flow around a Circular Cylinder inside a Bubble Plume

This study experimentally explores the flow around a cylinder with circular cross-section placed inside a bubble plume. Small gas bubbles with diameter smaller than 0.06 mm are released from electrodes on the bottom of a water tank by electrolysis of water. The bubbles induce water flow around them as they rise because of buoyancy. Inside the generated bubble plume, a cylinder with diameter D of 30 mm is placed at 6.5D above the electrodes. The bubbles and water flow around the cylinder are visualized, and the bubble velocity distribution is measured. The experiments elucidate the bubble behavior around the cylinder, the separated shear layers originating at the cylinder surface, their roll-up, the bubble entrainment in the resultant large-scale eddies behind the cylinder, and the vortex shedding from the cylinder.

Detachment Size Measurement of Two Interacting Bubble Plumes Formed at Neighboring Needles Using an Acoustic Method

Detachment size determination with an acoustic method has been carried out for two interacting bubble plumes formed at neighboring needles in quiescent water. Two sets of needle pairs, one with 1.5mm and 0.8mm inner diameters and the other with the equal 1.5mm inner diameters, were separately used as the bubble pair injectors in the experiments. Consequently, four typical patterns of bubble plumes interaction could be observed in the two cases of needle pair matches. Through measuring the pressure pulses radiated by the bubble pairs immediately after their 'pinching-off ' and by making use of a sophisticated relation between oscillation frequency of volume mode and radius of gas bubble, the detachment size of the bubble plumes have been determined from the amplitude/frequency spectrum of the sound pressure pulses. The experimental results demonstrate that the acoustical method is valid in both of the interacting and non-interacting circumstances in bubble field and the bubble size measurements by this acoustical method agree well with the measurements from photographic analysis. Finally, a comparison has been made on the strong and weak points of the acoustical method with the other size determination methods.

THE FLOW PATTERNS OF BUBBLE PLUME IN AN MBBR

The flow patterns of the gas-liquid two-phase flow in a Moving-Bed Biofilm Reactor （MBBR） have a critical effect upon the mass transfer by the convection. Bubble plumes promote unsteadily fluctuating two-phase flows during the aeration. This article studies the unsteady structure of bubble plumes through experiments. The time-serial bubble plume images in various cases of the tank are analyzed. The Recursive Cross Correlation-Particle Image Velocimetry （RCC-PIV） is used to calculate the velocities in those cases, and then the time-serial vortex, the total turbulence intensity, the time-serial streamline are obtained. It is shown that the aspect ratio and the void fraction are the dominant factors influencing the unsteady structure of bubble plumes. When the aspect ratio is unity and the void fraction is high, the bubble plumes see a symmetrical vortex structure with a long residence time, which is beneficial for optimizing the aeration system and enhancing the applied range of bubble plumes.

The effect of bubble plume on oxygen transfer for moving bed biofilm reactor

The movement of the bubble plume plays an important role in the operation of a moving bed biofilm reactor （MBBR）, and it directly affects the contact and the mixture of the gas-liquid-solid phases in the aeration tank and also the oxygen transfer from the gas phase to the liquid phase. In this study, the velocity field is determined by a 4-frame PTV as well as the time-averaged and timedependent velocity distributions. The velocity distribution of the bubble plume is analyzed to evaluate the operating efficiency of the MBBR. The results show that the aeration rate is one of the main factors that sway the velocity distribution of the bubble plumes and affect the operating efficiency of the reactor.

Sound Scattering From Rough Bubbly Ocean Surface Based on Modified Sea Surface Acoustic Simulator and Consideration of Various Incident Angles and Sub-surface Bubbles＇ Radii

The aim of the present study is to improve the capabilities and precision of a recently introduced Sea Surface Acoustic Simulator(SSAS) developed based on optimization of the Helmholtz–Kirchhoff–Fresnel(HKF) method. The improved acoustic simulator, hereby known as the Modified SSAS(MSSAS), is capable of determining sound scattering from the sea surface and includes an extended Hall–Novarini model and optimized HKF method. The extended Hall–Novarini model is used for considering the effects of sub-surface bubbles over a wider range of radii of sub-surface bubbles compared to the previous SSAS version. Furthermore, MSSAS has the capability of making a three-dimensional simulation of scattered sound from the rough bubbly sea surface with less error than that of the Critical Sea Tests(CST) experiments. Also, it presents scattered pressure levels from the rough bubbly sea surface based on various incident angles of sound. Wind speed, frequency, incident angle, and pressure level of the sound source are considered as input data, and scattered pressure levels and scattering coefficients are provided. Finally, different parametric studies were conducted on wind speeds, frequencies, and incident angles to indicate that MSSAS is quite capable of simulating sound scattering from the rough bubbly sea surface, according to the scattering mechanisms determined by Ogden and Erskine. Therefore, it is concluded that MSSAS is valid for both scattering mechanisms and the transition region between them that are defined by Ogden and Erskine.

Multi-beam and seismic investigations of the active Haima cold seeps,northwestern South China Sea

To confirm the seabed fluid flow at the Haima cold seeps,an integrated study of multi-beam and seismic data reveals the morphology and fate of four bubble plumes and investigates the detailed subsurface structure of the active seepage area.The shapes of bubble plumes are not constant and influenced by the northeastward bottom currents,but the water depth where these bubble plumes disappear(630–650 m below the sea level)(mbsl)is very close to the upper limit of the gas hydrate stability zone in the water column(620 m below the sea level),as calculated from the CTD data within the study area,supporting the“hydrate skin”hypothesis.Gas chimneys directly below the bottom simulating reflectors,found at most sites,are speculated as essential pathways for both thermogenic gas and biogenic gas migrating from deep formations to the gas hydrate stability zone.The fracture network on the top of the basement uplift may be heavily gas-charged,which accounts for the chimney with several kilometers in diameter(beneath Plumes B and C).The much smaller gas chimney(beneath Plume D)may stem from gas saturated localized strong permeability zone.High-resolution seismic profiles reveal pipe-like structures,characterized by stacked localized amplitude anomalies,just beneath all the plumes,which act as the fluid conduits conveying gas from the gas hydrate-bearing sediments to the seafloor,feeding the gas plumes.The differences between these pipe-like structures indicate the dynamic process of gas seepage,which may be controlled by the build-up and dissipation of pore pressure.The 3D seismic data show high saturated gas hydrates with high RMS amplitude tend to cluster on the periphery of the gas chimney.Understanding the fluid migration and hydrate accumulation pattern of the Haima cold seeps can aid in the further exploration and study on the dynamic gas hydrate system in the South China Sea.

Modeling the Flow Regime Near the Source in Underwater Gas Releases

Recent progress in calculating gas bubble sizes in a plume, based on phenomenological approaches using the release conditions is a significant improvement to make the gas plume models self-reliant. Such calculations require details of conditions Near the Source of Plume （NSP）; （i.e. the plume/jet velocity and radius near the source）, which inspired the present work. Determining NSP conditions for gas plumes are far more complex than that for oil plumes due to the substantial density difference between gas and water. To calculate NSP conditions, modeling the early stage of the plume is important. A novel method of modeling the early stage of an underwater gas release is presented here. Major impact of the present work is to define the correct NSP conditions for underwater gas releases, which is not possible with available methods as those techniques are not based on the physics of flow region near the source of the plume/jet. We introduce super Gaussian profiles to model the density and velocity variations of the early stages of plume, coupled with the laws of fluid mechanics to define profile parameters. This new approach, models the velocity profile variation from near uniform, across the section at the release point to Gaussian some distance away. The comparisons show that experimental data agrees well with the computations.

Experimental study of non-uniform bubbles in a plume

The bubble plume is an important flow phenomenon, ubiquitous in many fields. The non-uniform bubbles in a plume are often simply considered as uniform and moving with a same slip velocity in an integral model. This study aims to have a better understanding of the behavior of the non-uniform bubbles in a plume. A set of experiments are conducted in a transparent water tank, in which the air plumes are generated through different injectors to vary the spectrum of the bubble size. The shadow images of the bubbles are simultaneously recorded with the illumination of a plane backlight. The algorithm used in the image analysis for tracing the bubbles is a newly developed multi-frame method based on the predictor-corrector method, with a good accuracy in estimating the size and the velocity of the overlapped bubbles based on the bubble shadow images. The bubbles are divided into several groups by their equivalent diameters with an interval of 0.5 mm. The spectrums of the bubble size and the void fraction are measured. It is found that the bubbles of different sizes show different dynamics features, resulting in a difference in the radial distribution. It is shown that the large bubbles gather in the center of the plume, while the medium bubbles spread the widest and even wider than the small bubbles. The difference can be explained by the effects of the transverse lift force and the amplitude of the bubble oscillation.

A Significant Look at the Effects of Persian Gulf Environmental Conditions on Sound Scattering Based on Small Perturbation Method

The main goal of this paper is to investigate sound scattering from the sea surface, by Kuo＇s small perturbation method （SPM）, in the Persian Gulf＇s environmental conditions. Accordingly the SPM method is reviewed, then it is demonstrated how it can accurately model sound scattering from the sea surface. Since in Kuo＇s approach, the effects of surface roughness and sub-surface bubble plumes on incident sounds can be studied separately, it is possible to investigate the importance of each mechanism in various scattering regimes. To conduct this study, wind and wave information reported by Arzanah station as well as some numerical atmospheric models for the Persian Gulf are presented and applied to examine sound scattering from the sea surface in the Persian Gulf region. Plots of scattering strength by Kuo＇s SPM method versus grazing angle for various frequencies, wave heights, and wind speeds are presented. The calculated scattering strength by the SPM method for various frequencies and wind speeds are compared against the results of critical sea tests 7 （CST-7）. The favorable agreement achieved for sound scattering in the Persian Gulf region is indicative of the fact that the SPM method can quite accurately model and predict sound scattering from the sea surface.

Lance Design for Argon Bubbling in Molten Steel

Three lance designs for argon bubbling in molten steel are presented. Bottom bubbling is considered too. Geometries considered are straight-shaped, T-shaped, and disk-shaped. The bubbling behavior of these lances is analyzed using Computational Fluid Dynamics, so transient three dimensional, isothermal, two-phase, numerical simulations were carried out. Using the numerical results, the bubble distribution and the open eye area are analyzed for the considered lance geometries. The plume volume is calculated from the open eye area and the lance immersion depth using geometrical considerations. Among the three lance designs considered, disk-shaped lance has the bigger plume volume and the smaller mixing time. As the injection lance is deeper immersed, the power stirring is increased and the mixing time is decreased.