Affiliations: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hosei
University, Kajinocho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo 184-8584, Japan. | Opus System, Inc., 3-35-20 Okusawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
158-0083, Japan.
Abstract: Bubbles and dissolved gases in liquids greatly influence the
performance of fluid power systems, coating solutions, plants in the food
industry and so on. To eliminate bubbles from working fluids and to prevent
degradation of liquids as well as to avoid possible damage of fluid components
is an important engineering issue. Recently one of the authors, Ryushi Suzuki,
has developed a new device using swirling flow with the capability of
eliminating bubbles and of decreasing dissolved gases in fluids. This device is
called "Bubble Eliminator." The swirling flow pattern and pressure
distributions in the bubble eliminator greatly influence the effective
performance of the bubble removal. In this paper the swirl flow pattern in a
transparent bubble eliminator is experimentally visualized and processed as
digital images by a high-speed video camera system. Velocity profiles and
pressure distributions in the bubble eliminator are calculated and graphically
visualized by a three-dimensional numerical simulation. The results of the flow
visualization are compared with the numerical simulation. The performance
evaluation of the bubble removal effectiveness is numerically and
experimentally verified. It is also proposed to augment understanding of 3D
flow fields for the swirling flow in the bubble eliminator with scientific flow
visualization methods, which combine graphics or real images with haptic
displays.
