Abstract
This paper describes visualization of particle and bubble behaviors in a micro-scale three-phase flow. In our experiments, microbubbles are injected into still water from a bubble generator that is set at the bottom of the tank, while microparticles are injected from a particle injector that is set at the top of the tank. In the case of a microparticle whose specific gravity is 1.01, no particle cluster appears in the flow field. On the other hand, in the case of a microparticle whose specific gravity is 1.18, particle clustering occurs due to microbubble injection. It is expected that the particle clustering results mainly from the direct interaction between microparticles that have larger inertia than the surrounding liquid and microbubbles whose motions are restricted in a bubble swarm.
