Multiphase Flow Regime Detection Algorithm for Gas-Liquid Interface Using Ultrasonic Pulse-Echo Technique

Efficiency of the cooling process for cryogenic
propellant boiling in engine cooling channels on space applications is
relentlessly affected by the phase change occurs during the boiling.
The effectiveness of the cooling process strongly pertains to the
type of the boiling regime such as nucleate and film. Geometric
constraints like a non-transparent cooling channel unable to use
any of visualization methods. The ultrasonic (US) technique as a
non-destructive method (NDT) has therefore been applied almost
in every engineering field for different purposes. Basically, the
discontinuities emerge between mediums like boundaries among
different phases. The sound wave emitted by the US transducer is
both transmitted and reflected through a gas-liquid interface which
makes able to detect different phases. Due to the thermal and
structural concerns, it is impractical to sustain a direct contact
between the US transducer and working fluid. Hence the transducer
should be located outside of the cooling channel which results in
additional interfaces and creates ambiguities on the applicability
of the present method. In this work, an exploratory research is
prompted so as to determine detection ability and applicability of
the US technique on the cryogenic boiling process for a cooling
cycle where the US transducer is taken place outside of the channel.
Boiling of the cryogenics is a complex phenomenon which mainly
brings several hindrances for experimental protocol because of
thermal properties. Thus substitute materials are purposefully selected
based on such parameters to simplify experiments. Aside from
that, nucleate and film boiling regimes emerging during the boiling
process are simply simulated using non-deformable stainless steel
balls, air-bubble injection apparatuses and air clearances instead
of conducting a real-time boiling process. A versatile detection
algorithm is perennially developed concerning exploratory studies
afterward. According to the algorithm developed, the phases can be
distinguished 99% as no-phase, air-bubble, and air-film presences.
The results show the detection ability and applicability of the US
technique for an exploratory purpose.




References:
[1] L. Olh, Manual of Neurosonology: 1 - Ultrasound principles.
Cambridge University Press, 2016.
[2] M. Luque de Castro and F. Capote, Analytical Applications of
Ultrasound: Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry:
Volume 26. Elsevier Science, 2006.
[3] T. Richter, K. Eckert, X. Yang, and S. Odenbach, “Measuring the
diameter of rising gas bubbles by means of the ultrasound transit time
technique,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, vol. 291, pp. 64–70, 2015.
[4] T. Nguyen, H. Kikura, H. Murakawa, and N. Tsuzuki, “Measurement of
bubbly two-phase flow in vertical pipe using multiwave ultrasonic pulsed
doppler method and wire mesh tomography,” The Fourth International
Symposium on Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems, INES-4, vol. 71, pp.
337–351, 2015.
[5] M. Hussein, W.and Khan, J. Zamorano, F. Espic, and N. Yoma, “A novel
ultrasound based technique for classifying gas bubble sizes in liquids,”
Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 25, pp. 1–11, 2014.
[6] L. Kinsler, A. Frey, A. Coppens, and J. Sanders, Fundamentals of
Acoustics: Reflection and Transmission, 4th Edition. John Wiley &
Sons, 2000.
[7] J. Yoo, “Data sheet of olympus for the immersed us transducer,” Idaho
National Laboratory, 2016.
[8] F. Randall and F. Gregory, Cryogenic Heat Transfer, Second Edition.
CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group, 2016.
[9] I. Pioro, W. Rohsenow, and S. Doerffer, “Nucleate pool-boiling heat
transfer: Review of parametric effects of boiling surface,” International
Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 47, pp. 5033–5044, 2004.
[10] A. Molina, “Experimental study of boiling in water and liquid nitrogen,”
The von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics - Reseach Master Project
Report, 2014.
[11] W. Lei, Z. Kang, X. Fushou, M. Yuan, and L. Yanzhong, “Prediction of
pool boiling heat transfer for hydrogen in microgravity,” International
Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 94, pp. 465–473, 2016.
[12] M. Kida, Y. Kikuchci, O. Takahashi, and I. Michiyosh, “Pool-boiling
heat transfer in liquid nitrogen,” Journal of Nuclear Science and
Technology, 1980.
[13] X. Zhang, J. Chen, W. Xiong, and T. Jin, “Visualization study of nucleate
pool boiling of liquid nitrogen with quasi-steady heat input,” Cryogenics,
vol. 72, pp. 14–21, 2015.
[14] J. Yoo, “Bubble departure diameter and bubble release frequency
measurement from tamu subcooled flow boiling experiment,” Idaho
National Laboratory, 2016.
[15] J. Yoo, C. Estrada-Perez, and Y. Hassan, “Experimental study on bubble
dynamics and wall heat transfer arising from a single nucleation site at
subcooled flow boiling conditions part 1: Experimental methods and
data quality verification,” International Journal of Multiphase Flow,
vol. 84, pp. 315–324, 2016.