Bubble Mapping Method for Transient Taylor Bubble Flows

The phenomenon of Taylor bubbles is usually created in gas-liquid flows and is commonly found in many chemical and process industries. Therefore, the visualisation and understanding of their flow dynamics is of crucial importance for the industries. Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) is generally used as non-intrusive method for the visualisation of multiphase flows. However, due to its low spatial resolution, the sharp interfaces as well as the small bubbles are not able to be seen. A newly established method, called bubble mapping, enables three-dimensional visualisation of gas bubble size and distribution in gas-water flows. Bubble mapping (BM) is based on the transformation of the cross-sectional gas concentration tomograms to air bubbles. This paper specialises on the visualisation of the Taylor bubble and its dynamic transient. Taylor bubble has been generated using the University of Leeds facilities by applying low water superficial velocity and gas. Tomograms containing Taylor bubble and bubble transient are captured with ERT sensors. Based on the conductivity difference between water and gas, the bubble can be visualised. The performance of the bubble mapping method for visualise the size and shape of the Taylor bubble, as well as bubble flow dynamics, were explored, providing this potential to examine and reveal the transient dynamics of two phase flow in an opaque pipe.