Simultaneous measurement of the solid and liquid phase velocities of flow in channels

Abstract

A method for the simultaneous measurement of the solid and liquid phase velocity fields of flow in channels with suspended solids was developed using the Particle Image Velocimetry technique (PIV). The use of fluorescent particles of different sizes, one for each phase, was proposed. Plastic particles of 63 to 105 μm in diameter, painted with rodamine to scatter light at 570 nm, were used as the solid phase. Water was the liquid phase, seeded with fluorescent microspheres of 13 to 16 μm in diameter scattering at 520 nm. Two video cameras equipped with appropriate optical filters that allow the passing of scattered light of the particles of one of the phases were used. Using an adaptive correlation process, the velocity field of each phase was obtained and their superposition permitted the analysis of the relative behavior and the verification of the spatial and temporal resolution of the system used. The successful results obtained with this method open the way for new studies of the complex interaction between flow structures and suspended particles in two-phase channel flows.