Experimental investigation of Taylor bubble in narrow tubes with constrictions

Gas Taylor bubbles in millichannels are characterized by an elongated shape, bullet-shaped bubbles nose and a comparatively flat bottom. Because of dominant interfacial tension forces, such bubbles occupy most of the cross-sectional area of the tube. There exist many experimental or numerical investigations. Most of them consider Taylor bubbles moving in a straight pipe with constant cross-section, such as a tube or square duct. In this work, we report a new finding for a vertical tube equipped with a geometrical singularity. The dynamics of an individual Taylor bubble in a counter-current flow is presently investigated. We find that a small tube constriction, with only 5 % obstruction, has a significant influence on the flow and interfacial dynamics. Various regimes, characterized for increasing channel obstruction, are here established. High experimental and numerical reproducibility is observed.