Ultrasonic pulse echography for bubbles traveling in the proximity of a wall

The behavior of a bubbly two-phase flow in the vicinity of a wall affects heat, mass, and momentum transfer; therefore, there is great interest in developing a quantitative technique to monitor this behavior. Herein we propose a new method based on ultrasound echo signal processing that it feasible for industrial applications where the boundary layer is modified by traveling bubbles. By introducing time-resolved direct waveform analysis at 100 MHz, we have succeeded in the spatio-temporal detection of bubble surfaces at echographic profiling frequencies in the range of 15–20 kHz. Unlike conventional approaches, which use short pulses, a relatively long pulse length is applied to allow ultrasound Doppler velocimetry in the liquid phase. Examination of the horizontal bubbly two-phase turbulent channel flows demonstrated the feasibility of this method; spatio-temporal echography of moving bubble surfaces is successfully achieved as the bubbles travel on length scales smaller than the spatial ultrasonic pulse length near the wall. The applicable range of parameters (e.g. bubble size and shape, and flow speed) was determined by 3D numerical analysis of the wave equation and its application to bubbles flowing beneath a flat-bottom model ship.