Calibration of dual-tip voidage probes for measurement of gas hold-up, bubble size and bubble rise velocity

BTP MID-TERM PRESENTATION INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, DELHI CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARMENT

Presented by: Nipun Agarwal 2008CH10067 Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

OBJECTIVE
Calibration of dual tip voidage probes by the use of

high speed imaging for measurement of the following parameters in dispersed gas-liquid flows:

Gas hold-up Bubble size distribution Bubble rise velocity

APPLICATION & IMPORTANCE

Industrial applications

Air- lift reactor

Gas-liquid stirred tank

Slurry bubble column reactor

Performance of the above reactors depends upon the gas hold-up and bubble size distribution- Interfacial area measurements Interfacial area measurements are important to determine the heat and mass transfer rates

APPLICATION AND IMPORTANCE

Interfacial area affects the extent of reaction as it directly relates the amount of gas and liquid in contact at a particular time
Measurement of hydrodynamic variables Interfacial area measurements Heat and mass transfer rates Extent of reaction

TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE
Two Broad categories of division between techniques
Intrusive Techniques
Voidage Probes

Non Intrusive Techniques

Tomography

Optical Probes

Particle Image Velocimetry

Voidage probe(top), tomography (left), PIV (right)

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1. Buwa and Ranade, 2005 mentions the calibration of voidage probes by high speed imaging and digital image analysis The study compares the average gas hold-up measured through both techniques Calculates Phase Discrimination Threshold for the design by comparing results by both processes Features Column dimensions: 50 cm (height), 5 cm (width), 2 cm (depth) Images recorded (about 100 images) in an interrogation window of 5cm by 5 cm were analyzed to calculate average bubble diameter and hence gas hold up by:
Comparing the gas hold up values by conductivity experiments and photography resulted in a PDT value of 10% which is being used for processing data.

<g>=

=1 6 ,

2. Zaruba et al., 2005 in their paper mention great detail on the study of bubble motion in a rectangular bubble column by means of high speed imaging Bubble Identification Pictures recorded are scaled on a grey scale map varying from 0 (Pure black) to 255 (Pure white). Bubbles as shown in figure below come into the category of lower grey scale A brightness threshold () is applied to clear the image for detection of bubbles Scale(image)> Scale (image)= 255 (white background) Scale(image)< Scale (image)= 0 (black foreground)

Actual image(left), After applying threshold (right)

For calculating velocity of bubbles Centre of mass is assigned to each bubble- centroid of all pixels that belong to the area (assuming every pixel has same weight) Bubble path is traced by superimposing of successive frames Plotting the path of center of gravity of all bubbles (keeping some threshold maximum value for successive frames)
3. Xue et al., 2007 presents a similar study of validation of four point optical probe with high speed imaging for the gas hold-up, bubble size and bubble rise velocity distribution. Uses XCAP software by EPIX to directly calculate the bubble rise velocity distribution with bubble sizes. Compares the data by both methods for comparison

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The setup consists of the following A rectangular column (Width= 5cm, Depth= 2cm and Height= 50cm) made of (PMMA) polymethylmethacrylate

Spargers designed specially for generating a uniform and patterned flow of bubbles
High Speed imaging camera for photographic measurements
Schematic of the set-up

Probes and signal conditioning system for acquiring data

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DESIGN

Rectangular column specially design of the minimum possible thickness Ensures generation of a 2-D array of bubbles important for photographic measurements Ensures that the bubbles do not overlap Small spargers designed specifically for the setup to ensure uniform bubble and inline bubble production

An interrogation window of 5 cm x 5 cm for photographic measurements

Experimental setup

WHY THE NEED OF STUDY?

When a bubble hits a probe tip, the interaction between the tip and the bubble dents the leading edge of the bubble This can happen because of following Properties of liquid: Surface tension, polarity, density

Properties of probe: Material, shape

Therefore to account for the irregularities that may arise in the measurement due to distortion of bubbles on hitting the probe we need to calibrate the method and validate the measurements obtained by the probes with that of high speed imaging

Image Processing Steps

1. Video is broken into images. 2. Appropriate test screen is cut out 3. Photograph is converted to binary 4. Set threshold to distinguish bubbles in the image. 5. Clear the picture of disturbances 6. Analyze the image using ImageJ

METHODOLGY
There has been validation studies validating the gas hold-up by high speed imaging but not much has been reported in terms of validation of bubble size and rise velocity measurements Simultaneous data acquisition by both the voidage probes and by the means of high speed imaging Comparing the data of gas hold-up, bubble size and rise velocity distribution generated by both the process Validating the results and making appropriate changes in the processing methodology or probe design as per the requirements

PRESENT WORK
The column of the required dimension has been acquired Spargers with needle sizes 18, 21 and 23 gauge has been constructed for experimentation with different bubble sizes Performed a preliminary experiment recording a test video by a high speed imaging camera

FUTURE WORK
Simultaneous experiments for both the methods and validating the results with each other Introducing any changes in the probe configuration or processing methodology if required for validation

THANK YOU