Void Fraction Measurements in Transient Bubble Columns by Needle-Shaped Conductivity Probes

The presented work aimed at the experimental determination of rapidly changing void fraction distributions. The main idea was to apply arrays of needle shaped conductivity probes to a transient two-phase flow. The goal was to provide a time resolution in the range of tenth of a second. For a first application, a bubble column was investigated. The transient process was initiated by sudden changes of the flow rate of the injected gas (air). The experimental setup consisted in a vertical cylindrical column with an inner diameter of 0.24 m and a height of 2 m. In the bottom of the column a special injection plate was installed. About 200 steel cannulae served as injection nozzles. The injection nozzles were divided into two groups, which were fed from separate air distribution chambers. Both groups were equally distributed over the cross section of the column. This measure allowed to double or to halve the air flow rate without effecting the diameter of the generated bubbles, when the air supply of one of the distribution chambers is switched on and off. For the purpose of gas fraction measurement, 8 single wire probes were mounted on a movable probe comb. The diameter of the sensitive tip was 0.2 mm. The tran-sient void fraction distribution was measured on elevations of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 m. The transient process was initiated repeatedly by opening and closing the magnetic valve of the air supply system. After the changes, the air flow was kept constant for intervals of 10 s. The signals of the 8 void fraction probes were recorded and averaged over periods of 0.2 s for each realisation of the transient process. The data acquisition process was synchronised with the control of the magnetic valve. Afterwards, the obtained void fraction courses were superimposed. By repeating the transition process more than 400 times, an effective measuring time of at least 80 s for each void fraction value was achieved. The rapid change of the gas fraction pofiles and the gas fraction wave propagating through the column was measured.