Reduksjon av gassbobler i blodbanen: metoder for å forebygge ugunstige effekter av dekompresjon. Når en dykker returnerer til overflaten etter dykking, kan det dannes gassbobler i kroppen som følge av overmetning av gasser. Slike gassbobler kan igjen føre til trykkfallsyke, men det gjenstår fremdeles å finne alle mekanismene bak denne sammenhengen. Gassbobler er derimot gode indikatorer på risiko for trykkfallsyke, og den gjennomgående arbeidshypotesen i denne avhandlingen har vært at gassbobler i blodbanen er den bakenforliggende årsaken til alvorlig trykkfallsyke. Det å redusere mengden gassbobler vil dermed øke sikkerheten for dykkeren. Avhandlingen består av tre studier som på forskjellige måter forsøker å redusere boblemengden ved trykkreduksjon. Alle arbeidene er gjennomført med bruk av gris som forsøksdyr, og alle dykkene er simulert i trykk-kammer spesielt laget for slike studier. For å måle gassbobler har vi benyttet ultralydavbildning, samt at vi har tatt ut kar for å måle eventuelle funksjonelle endringer i disse i etterkant av dykkene. Den første studien demonstrer en ny metode for å redusere gassbobledannelsen ved dekompresjon. Ved kortvarig å øke trykket under pågående trykkreduksjon kan boblemengden signifikant reduseres, resultatene viser at en modell som tar hensyn til bobledannelse beskriver resultatene bedre enn en tradisjonell modell som bare tar hensyn til overmetningen. I den andre studien har vi for første gang vist at gassbobler i blodbanen kan påvirkes medikamentelt også hos store dyr under dekompresjon fra metning. Ved å gi nitrater umiddelbart før dekompresjonen startet, ble mengden gassbobler signifikant redusert sammenlignet med kontrollene som ikke fikk tilført nitrater. Studien åpner veien for videre studier av biokjemiske prosesser involvert i både dannelsen av og effektene av gassbobler. I den siste studien undersøkte vi om en behandlingsprosedyre for trykkfallsyke til bruk når et trykk-kammer ikke er tilgjengelig ville være effektiv om behandlingstrykket ble redusert fra 190 kPa til 160 kPa med pusting av ren oksygen. Vi viste her at trykket var tilstrekkelig for å fjerne boblene etter dykket, men vi forhindret ikke skader på blodkarene. Kandidat: Andreas Møllerløkken Institutt: Institutt for sirkulasjon og bildediagnostikk Veileder: Professor Alf O. Brubakk Finansieringskilder: Statoil, Norsk Hydro, Phillips Petroleum Company Norway og Petroleumstilsynet gjennom programmet forskning og utvikling innen dykking, kontraktsnr. 4600002328 med Norsk Undervannsintervensjon (NUI). Ovennevnte avhandling er funnet verdig til å forsvares offentlig for graden Philosophia Doctor i medisinsk teknologi Disputas finner sted i Auditoriet, Medisinsk teknisk forskningssenter Tirsdag 15.01.08 , kl. 12.15

The effect of additives on friction loss in upward turbulent flow was investigated in this experimental study. Additives such as air bubbles, frother and polymer were added to water flow to study their influence on the friction factor. In order to perform this research an experimental set-up was designed and developed. The test sections of the set-up consisted of three vertical pipes of different diameters. The set-up was equipped with three pressure transducers, a magnetic flowmeter, gas spargers and a gas rotameter. The first phase of the experimental program involved calibration of the various devices and pipelines test-sections. The single-phase pressure loss data obtained from the pipelines exhibited good agreement with the standard equations. The second phase of the experimental program dealt with the effect of air bubbles and additives (frother and polymer) on drag reduction in turbulent flows. The experimental results showed that bubbles in the range of 1 mm-3 mm increased the wall shear stress. Therefore, no drag-reduction effect was observed. On the contrary, a significant increase in friction factor was observed at low Reynolds numbers as a result of larger bubble sizes and lower turbulence intensities. The friction factor at low Reynolds numbers could be decreased by decreasing the bubble size by addition of frother to the flow system. The combination of polymer and air bubbles showed a drag reduction of up to 60%. It is also evident from the experiment results that the addition of polymer to bubbly flow system leads to fully homogeneous mixture.

The effect of additives on friction loss in upward turbulent flow was investigated in this experimental study. Additives such as air bubbles, frother and polymer were added to water flow to study their influence on the friction factor. In order to perform this research an experimental set-up was designed and developed. The test sections of the set-up consisted of three vertical pipes of different diameters. The set-up was equipped with three pressure transducers, a magnetic flowmeter, gas spargers and a gas rotameter. The first phase of the experimental program involved calibration of the various devices and pipelines test-sections. The single-phase pressure loss data obtained from the pipelines exhibited good agreement with the standard equations. The second phase of the experimental program dealt with the effect of air bubbles and additives (frother and polymer) on drag reduction in turbulent flows. The experimental results showed that bubbles in the range of 1 mm-3 mm increased the wall shear stress. Therefore, no drag-reduction effect was observed. On the contrary, a significant increase in friction factor was observed at low Reynolds numbers as a result of larger bubble sizes and lower turbulence intensities. The friction factor at low Reynolds numbers could be decreased by decreasing the bubble size by addition of frother to the flow system. The combination of polymer and air bubbles showed a drag reduction of up to 60%. It is also evident from the experiment results that the addition of polymer to bubbly flow system leads to fully homogeneous mixture.

The main objective of this research is to analyze the performance of micro direct methanol fuel cell (£gDMFC) and observe the bubble behavior of carbon dioxide in the anode flow channel. The flow plate adopted in this study was manufactured through deep UV lithography manufacturing and micro-electroforming manufacturing process. The geometrical configuration of the flow field is in the serpentine form. Transparent acrylic (PMMA: Polymethylmethacrylate) was used to make the terminal plate placed on both sides of the cell in order to facilitate the observation of the bubble behavior of carbon dioxide in the anode flow channel. In this experiment, Micro Particle Image Velocimetry (£gPIV) is used in order to investigate the generation / removal process of carbon dioxide from the anode of micro direct methanol fuel cell (£gDMFC) through a visualized observation method. The behavior of carbon dioxide bubbles in liquidized methanol solution and micro flowfield is also explored. Major parameters of the experiment operation that consist of flow rate of anode and cathode, density of methanol and operational temperature are used to explore their influences on the fuel cell¡¦s polarization curve and power density. The results are presented by V-I curve and P-I curve. The relation between carbon dioxide bubble movement and behavior according to the anode pressure drop are also discussed.

The Lagrangian formalism utilized by Ilinskii, Hamilton and Zabolotskaya [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 121, 786-795 (2007)] to derive equations for the radial and translational motion of interacting bubbles is extended here to obtain a model for the dynamics of interacting bubbles and elastic particles. The bubbles and particles are assumed to be spherical but are otherwise free to pulsate and translate. The model is accurate to fifth order in terms of a nondimensional expansion parameter R/d, where R is a characteristic radius and d is a characteristic distance between neighboring bubbles or particles. The bubbles and particles may be of nonuniform size, the particles elastic or rigid, and external acoustic sources are included to an order consistent with the accuracy of the model. Although the liquid is assumed initially to be incompressible, corrections accounting for finite liquid compressibility are developed to first order in the acoustic Mach number for a cluster of bubbles and particles, and to second order in the acoustic Mach number for a single bubble. For a bubble-particle pair consideration is also given to truncation of the model at fifth order in R/d via automated derivation of the model equations to arbitrary order. Numerical simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effects of key parameters such as particle density and size, liquid compressibility, particle elasticity and model order on the dynamics of single bubbles, pairs of bubbles, bubble-particle pairs and clusters of bubbles and particles under both free response conditions and sinusoidal or shock wave excitation. / text

A Hamiltonian model for the radial and translational dynamics of clusters of coupled bubbles in an incompressible liquid developed by Ilinskii, Hamilton, and Zabolotskaya [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 121, 786-795 (2007)] is extended to included the effects of compressibility in the host liquid. The bubbles are assumed to remain spherical and translation is allowed. The two principal effects of liquid compressibility are time delay in bubble interaction due to the finite sound speed and radiation damping due to energy lost to acoustic radiation. The incorporation of time delays produces a system of delay differential equations of motion instead of the system of ordinary differential equations in models of bubble interaction in an incompressible medium. The form of the Hamiltonian equations of motion is significantly different from the commonly used models based on Rayleigh-Plesset equations for coupled bubble dynamics, and it provides certain advantages in numerical integration of the time-delayed equations of motion. Corrections for radiation damping in clusters of interacting bubbles are developed in the form of a time-delayed expression for bubble self-action following the method of Ilinskii and Zabolotskaya [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 92, 2837-2841 (1992)]. A set of approximate series expansions of this delayed expression is calculated to first order in the ratio of bubble radius to the characteristic wavelength of acoustic radiation from the bubble, and to varying orders in the ratio of bubble radius to characteristic bubble separation distance. Stability of the delay differential equations of motion is analyzed with four successive levels of approximation for the effects of radiation damping and time delay. The stability is analyzed with and without the effects of viscous and thermal damping. The effect of time delay and radiation damping on the pressure radiated by small systems of bubbles is considered. An approximate method to account for the delays in bubble interaction in a weakly compressible liquid is presented. This method converts the system of delay differential equations into an approximate system of ordinary differential equations, which may simplify numerical integration. Several sets of model equations incorporating propagation time delay in bubble interactions are solved numerically with existing algorithms specialized for delay differential equations. Numerical simulations of the dynamics of single bubbles, pairs of bubbles, and clusters of bubbles are used to compare the different levels of approximation for compressibility effects for low- and high-amplitude radial motion in systems of bubbles under free response and pulsed excitation by an external pressure source. / text

Encapsulated microbubbles, whose diameters are on the order of microns, are widely used to provide acoustic contrast in biomedical applications. But well below the resonance frequencies of these microbubbles, any acoustic contrast is due solely to their relatively high compressibility compared to the surrounding medium. To estimate how well microbubbles may function as acoustic contrast agents in applications such as borehole logging or underground flow mapping, it must be determined how they behave both at atmospheric and down-well conditions, and how their presence affects the bulk acoustic properties of the surrounding medium, most crucially its specific acoustic impedance. Resonance tube experiments were performed on several varieties of acoustic contrast agents to determine their compressibility as a function of pressure and temperature, and the results are used to estimate the effect on sound propagation when they are introduced into rock formations. / text

Gas-liquid, two-phase flow is encountered in a wide variety of industrial equipment. A few examples are steam generators, condensers, oil and gas pipelines, and various components of nuclear reactors. Slug flow is one of the most common and complex flow patterns and it occurs over a broad range of gas and liquid flow rates. In vertical tubes, most of the gas is located in large, bullet-shaped bubbles (Taylor bubbles) which occupy most of the pipe cross section and move with a relatively constant velocity. The objectives of this work are to increase our understanding of slug flow in vertical tubes, to provide reliable data for validation of numerical models developed to predict the behaviour of slug flow, to interpret the behaviour of Taylor bubbles based on knowledge of the velocity field, and to determine the shape of the Taylor bubbles rising in stagnant and upward flowing liquid under various experimental conditions. To achieve these objectives, an experimental facility was designed and constructed to provide instantaneous two-dimensional (2-D) velocity field measurements using particle image velocimetry (PIV) around Taylor bubbles rising in a vertical 25 mm tube containing stagnant or upward moving liquids at Reynolds number based on the superficial liquid velocity (ReL = 250 to 17,800). The working fluids were filtered tap water and mixtures of glycerol and water (µ = 0.0010, 0.0050 and 0.043 Pa•s) and air. Mean axial and radial velocity profiles, axial turbulence intensity profiles, velocity vectors, and streamlines are presented for Taylor bubbles rising in stagnant and upward flowing liquids. The measurements were validated by a mass balance around the nose of the bubble. In stagnant liquids, the size of the primary recirculation zone in the near wake of the Taylor bubble depends on the inverse viscosity. For low viscosity liquid, the length of the primary recirculation zone is 1.23D (D is the tube diameter), for the intermediate viscosity it is 1.2D, and for the high viscosity it is 0.68D. Based on the velocity measurements, the minimum stable liquid slug length (the minimum distance needed to re-establish a fully-developed velocity distribution in the liquid in front of the trailing Taylor bubble) for stagnant cases was found to be in the range of 2~12D. In the flowing liquid, the flow structure of the wake depends on the relative motion between the two phases and the liquid viscosity. The wake is turbulent in all cases except at high viscosity where the wake is transitional. In general, the length of the primary recirculation zone increases with increasing liquid flow rate. For low viscosity cases, in a frame of reference moving at the bubble velocity, the length of the recirculation zone is 1.73D for ReL =9,200 and become essentially constant at 1.90D for ReL ≥ 13,600. For the intermediate viscosity, the length of the recirculation zone is 1.22D for ReL = 1,500. The length of the recirculation zone is increased to 1.34D for ReL = 3,900. For the high viscosity, the length of the recirculation region is elongated to 1.4D for ReL = 260. As the liquid flow rate increases the oscillations of the bottom surface increase and the number of small bubbles shed from the bubble bottom increases. The liquid slug minimum stable length for turbulent upward flowing liquid is around 12D. For laminar flow, the minimum stable length is 10D for ReL = 260 (high viscosity) and > 28D for ReL=1,500 (intermediate viscosity) and depends on the wake flow pattern and the liquid flow rate.

No description available.

Bubbles in water are stabilised against coalescence by the addition of salt. The white froth in seawater but not in freshwater is an example of salt-stabilised bubbles. A range of experiments have been carried out to investigate this simple phenomenon, which is not yet understood.¶ The process of thin film drainage between two colliding bubbles relates to surface science fields including hydrodynamic flow, surface forces, and interfacial rheology. Bubble coalescence inhibition also stands alongside the better known Hofmeister series as an intriguing example of ion specificity: While some electrolytes inhibit coalescence at around 0.1M, others show no effect. The coalescence inhibition of any single electrolyte depends on the combination of cation and anion present, rather than on any single ion.¶ The surfactant-free inhibition of bubble coalescence has been studied in several systems for the first time, including aqueous mixed electrolyte solutions; solutions of biologically relevant non-electrolytes urea and sugars; and electrolyte solutions in nonaqueous solvents methanol, formamide, propylene carbonate and dimethylsulfoxide. Complementary experimental approaches include studies of terminal rise velocities of single bubbles showing that the gas-solution interface is mobile; and measurement of thin film drainage in inhibiting and non-inhibiting electrolyte solution, using the microinterferometric thin film balance technique.¶ The consolidation of these experimental approaches shows that inhibiting electrolytes act on the non-equilibrium dynamic processes of thin film drainage and rupture between bubble surfaces – and not via a change in surface forces, or by ion effects on solvent structure. In addition, inhibition is driven by osmotic effects related to solute concentration gradients, and ion charge is not important.¶ A new model is presented for electrolyte inhibition of bubble coalescence via changes to surface rheology. It is suggested that thin film stabilisation over a lifetime of seconds, is caused by damping of transient deformations of film surfaces on a sub-millisecond timescale. This reduction in surface deformability retards film drainage and delays film rupture. It is proposed that inhibiting electrolyte solutions show a dilational surface viscosity, which in turn is driven by interfacial concentration gradients. Inhibiting electrolytes have two ions that accumulate at the surface or two ions that are surface excluded, while non-inhibiting electrolytes have more evenly distributed interfacial solute. Bubble coalescence is for the first time linked through this ion surface partitioning, to the ion specificity observed at biological interfaces and the wider realm of Hofmeister effects.¶