Effect of Geometry on Droplet Generation in a Microfluidic T-Junction

The main aim of this study is to examine how the droplet formation in microfluidic T-junctions is influenced by the cross-section and aspect ratio of the microchannels. Several studies focusing on droplet formation in microfluidic devices have investigated the effect of geometry on droplet generation in terms of the ratio between the width of the main channel and the width of the side arm of the T-junction. However, the contribution of the aspect ratio and thus that of the cross-section on the mechanism of break up has not been examined thoroughly with most of the existing work performed in the squeezing regime. Two different microchannel geometries of varying aspect ratios are employed in an attempt to quantify the effect of the ratio between the width of the main channel and the height of the channel on droplet formation. As both height and width of microchannels affect the area on which shear stress acts deforming the dispersed phase fluid thread up to the limit of detaching a droplet, it is postulated that geometry and specifically cross-section of the main channel contribute on the droplet break-up mechanisms and should not be neglected. The above hypothesis is examined in detail, comparing the volume of generated microdroplets at constant flowrate ratios and superficial velocities of continuous phase in two microchannel systems of two different aspect ratios operating at dripping regime. High-speed imaging has been utilised to visualise and measure droplets formed at different flowrates corresponding to constant superficial velocities. Comparing volumes of generated droplets in the two geometries of area ratio near 1.5, a significant increase in volume is reported for the larger aspect ratio utilised, at all superficial velocities tested. As both superficial velocity of continuous phase and flowrate ratio are fixed, superficial velocity of dispersed phase varies. However this variation is not considered to be large enough to justify the significant increase in the droplet volume. Therefore it can be concluded that droplet generation is influenced by the aspect ratio and thus the cross-section of the main channel and its effect should not be depreciated. The paper will present supporting evidence in detail and a comparison of the findings with the existing theories which are mainly focused on the squeezing regime.

Stability Analysis of Hydropower Stations With Complex Flow Patterns in the Tailrace Tunnel

For some special tailrace tunnels in the hydropower stations, including the changing top-altitude tailrace tunnel and the tailrace tunnel with downstream reused flat-ceiling diversion tunnel, during normal operation and hydraulic transients, the flow patterns inside are relatively complex mainly including the free-surface pressurized flow and partial free flow if the tail water level is lower than the top elevation of tunnel’s outlet. These complex flow patterns have obvious effect on system’s stability, and can not be simulated accurately by the traditional models. Therefore, a characteristic implicit model is introduced to simulate these complex flow patterns for further stability analysis. In some special cases, the characteristic implicit model also fails to completely simulate the mixed free-surface pressurized flow in the flat-ceiling tailrace tunnel. A new method is presented based on both experimental research and numerical simulation, and then, system’s stability is analyzed by compared with traditional ordinary boundary condition. The results indicate that, with different simulation models for the complex water flow in the tailrace tunnel, system’s dynamic characteristic can be actually revealed with the consideration of the effect of complex flow patterns in the tailrace tunnel on system’s stability and regulation performance.

Numerical Investigation of the Coulter Principle in a Microfluidic Device

Coulter counters are analytical microfluidic instrument used to measure the size and concentration of biological cells or colloid particles suspended in electrolyte. The underlying working mechanism of Coulter counters is the Coulter principle which relies on the fact that when low-conductive cells pass through an electric field these cells cause disturbances in the measurement (current or voltage). Useful information about these cells can be obtained by analyzing these disturbances if an accurate correlation between the measured disturbances and cell characteristics. In this paper we use computational fluid dynamics method to investigate this correlation. The flow field is described by solving the Navier-Stokes equations, the electric field is represented by a Laplace’s equation in which the conductivity is calculated from the Navier-Stokes equations, and the cell motion is calculated by solving the equations of motion. The accuracy of the code is validated by comparing with analytical solutions. The study is based on a coplanar Coulter counter with three inlets that consist of two sheath flow inlet and one conductive flow inlet. The effects of diffusivity, cell size, sheath flow rate, and cell geometry are discussed in details. The impacts of electrode size, gap between electrodes and electrode location on the measured distribution are also studied.

Development of a Capacitance Based Void Fraction Sensor for Two-Phase Flow Measurements

The aim of this paper was to develop a capacitance based sensor capable of measuring void fraction in a continuous two-phase flow field. The design methodology and operation of the capacitance based void fraction sensor is discussed. Two designs of capacitance void fraction sensors were developed and tested. Some of the problems associated with the first were identified and a new sensor electrode configuration was developed which presented a more sensitive and repeatable response. Data was collected covering a wide range of void fraction measurements ranging from 0 to 1 for water as the working fluid. Calibration of the sensor required that the air gap or void capacitance (dry signal) be measured followed by an increase in liquid levels (wet signal) to obtain a range of void fraction measurements for static calibration. The static calibration data obtained was nonlinear for the full range of void fraction measurements for water. This paper covers the design requirements, calibration procedure and static calibration data obtained for the developed sensor, and dynamic void fraction data measurements. The sensor was tested in both a horizontal and vertical orientation and proved to be orientation insensitive. The experimental results are promising for water and verify successful operation for measuring void fraction in continuous two-phase flows.

Measurements in the Wake of a Ventilated Hydrofoil

The purpose of this study is to develop the necessary algorithms to determine the bubble size distribution and velocity in the wake of a ventilated or cavitating hydrofoil utilizing background illumination. A simplified experiment was carried out to validate the automatic bubble detection algorithm at Saint Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL) of the University of Minnesota. The experiment was conducted in the high-speed water tunnel. First, particle shadow velocimetry (PSV) images of a bubbly flow were collected. All parts of the image that are above the global threshold are segmented by an edge detection method based on the Canny algorithm. The utilized algorithm was made to detect partly overlapping bubbles and reconstruct missing parts. After all images have been analyzed, the bubble velocity can be determined by applying a tracking algorithm. This study has shown that the algorithm enables reliable analysis of irregularly shaped bubbles even when bubbles are highly overlapped in the wake of the ventilated hydrofoil. It is expected that this technique can be used to determine the bubble velocity field as well as the bubble size distributions.

Real-Time Multi-Color Techniques for Identification and Filtering of Burst Signals in Jet Engine Pyrometers

A Multi-color Pyrometry (MCP) experiment was carried out on a aircraft engine to study the nature of hot particulate bursts generated from the combustor at certain engine conditions. These bursts of hot particulates lead to intermittent high-voltage signal output from the line-of-sight (LOS) pyrometer which is ultimately detected and used by the onboard Digital Engine Controller (DEC). The investigation used a high-speed MCP system designed to detect bursts and identify their properties. Results of the radiant temperature, multi-color temperature and apparent emissivity are presented. The results indicated that the apparent emissivity calculated during the signal burst was lower than that of the blade. The root cause for the signal burst was identified as soot particles generated as by-product of combustion under certain conditions. A digital filter technique is developed to send reliable temperature signal to DEC for robust engine control even under the engine bursting conditions. Simulink model is used to simulate the performances of the design and showed great promise for engine control.

Drop Deposition Technique on Low Energy Surface

In this paper we propose a new technique for drop deposition on low energy surfaces, which addresses the limitations of the classical drop deposition technique. In this classical technique, a drop is deposited on a surface by bringing a needle, holding the drop, in proximity to the solid surface. Therefore, irrespective of whether the solid surface is in air or under a liquid, it becomes extremely difficult to deposit the drop on low energy surfaces owing to the large differences between the drop-needle and the drop-substrate adhesion forces (or surface energies). In our discussed method, we overcome this difficulty for low energy surfaces immersed in a liquid. For surfaces under liquid, there is an interface in addition to the solid-liquid interface: this interface is the air-liquid interface, where the liquid gets exhausted. In our technique, we cater the (un)favorable drop spreading dynamics at this interface to ensure that the drop gets deposited on the under-liquid surface.

Dispersion due to Electroosmotic Flow Through a Circular Tube With Axial Step Changes of Zeta Potential and Hydrodynamic Slippage

The hydrodynamic dispersion of a neutral non-reacting solute due to steady electro-osmotic flow in a circular channel with longitudinal step changes of zeta potential and hydrodynamic slippage is analyzed in this study. The channel wall is periodically micro-patterned along the axial position with alternating slip-stick stripes of distinct zeta potentials. Existing studies on electrically driven hydrodynamic dispersion are based on flow subject to either the no-slip boundary condition on the capillary surface or the simplification of lubrication approximation. Taking wall slippage into account, a homogenization analysis is performed in this study to derive the hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient without subject to the long-wave constraint of the lubrication approximation, but for a general case where the length of one periodic unit of wall pattern is comparable with the channel radius. The flow and the hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient are calculated numerically, using the packages MATLAB and COMSOL, as functions of controlling parameters including the period length of the wall pattern, the area fraction of the slipping region (EOF-suppressing) in a periodic unit, the ratio of the two zeta potentials, the intrinsic hydrodynamic slip length, the Debye parameter, and the Péclet number. The dispersion coefficient is found to show notable, non-monotonic in certain situations, dependence on these controlling parameters. It is noteworthy that the introduction of hydrodynamic slippage will generate much richer behaviors of the hydrodynamic dispersion than the situation with no-slip boundary condition, as slippage interacts with zeta potentials in the EOF-suppressing and EOF-supporting regions (either likewise or oppositely charged).

Evaluation of a Close Coupled Slotted Orifice, Electric Impedance, and Swirl Flow Meters for Multiphase Flow

The feasibility of a multiphase flow meter utilizing closely coupled slotted orifice and swirl flow meters along with an impedance sensor is investigated. The slotted flow meter has been shown to exhibit well behaved response curves to two phase flow mixtures with the pressure difference monotonically increasing with mixture density and flow rate. It has been determined to have less than 1% uncertainty in determining the flow rate if the density of the fluid is known. Flow visualizations have shown that the slotted orifice is a very good mixing device as well producing a homogenous mixture for several pipe diameters downstream of the plate. This characteristic is utilized to provide a homogeneous mixture at the inlet to the swirl meter. This is possible since the slotted orifice is relatively insensitive to upstream and downstream flow disturbances. The swirl meter has been shown to indicate decreased flow rate as the mixture density increases which is opposite to the slotted orifice making the solution of the two meter outputs to obtain density and flow rate feasible. Additional instrumentation is included. Between the slotted orifice and swirl meter where the flow is homogenous a custom manufactured electrical impedance sensor is installed and monitored. This array of instrumentation will provide three independent measurements which are evaluated to determine which system of equations are robust enough to provide accurate density and flow rate measurement over a wide range of gas volume fractions using a very compact system.

Development of PIV System for Jet Mixed Tanks

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a very useful tool to measure fluid velocity in various systems. In the present study, an “in-house” PIV system was developed for fluid flow measurements in a jet mixed tank. The flow profile was observed for a single jet mixer in a rectangular shaped mixing tank with varying liquid height. The jet angle was varied for the studies from 0 to 45° from the center axis. The liquid height was varied from 17–26 cm. To ensure the system was able to provide accurate results, a gravity driven pipe flow problem was first set up. The PIV system was able to accurately capture the parabolic flow profile that is known to result from Poiseuille flow problems. Results from the jet mixing study showed that recirculation in the mixing tank as a result of the jet impingement on the tank walls varied due to the angle of the jet. Low mixing areas, or locations in which the velocity was minimum, was determined from the jets of different angles. Results showed that the velocity along the surface maintained the same profile for each of the three liquid levels studied. The velocity magnitudes decreased as the liquid level was increased.