An experimental method for determining turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate in bubbly flows

Many flow regimes in chemical engineering are gas-liquid flows with a continuous liquid phase and a dispersed gaseous phase. The turbulence of the liquid phase influences the local distribution of the dispersed phase, bubble coalescence and breakup and other important flow characteristics. Because of the importance of turbulence, it is necessary to consider its modification by bubbles.
A bubble column provides good experimental systems for the study of turbulent phenomena in bubbly flows and the development of computational models. In the present work, the combination of Particle Tracking Velocimetry system with Kolmogorov-order spatial and temporal resolutions and Particle Image Velocimetry was used for determining the liquid velocity fields in a bubble column. With this high-resolved measurement technique turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rate is able to be accurately estimated based on an existing correction method.
Additionally, the data available cover one-point statistics for the liquid and the bubble distribution for different bubble Reynolds numbers. These completed measurement data are ideally suited for assessment of the existing bubble-induced turbulence models, not only in the traditional way by comparison of TKE but rather the values of the particular terms to be closed in the TKE equation of the liquid phase.