Development and validation of a measurement technique for interfacial velocity in liquid-gas separated flow using IR-PTV

A measurement technique of interfacial velocity in air-water separated flow by particle tracking velocimetry using an infrared camera (IR-PTV) was developed. As infrared light with wavelength in the range of 3-5 um could hardly penetrate water, IR-PTV can selectively visualize only the tracer particles existing in depths less than 20 um underneath the air-water interface. To validate the measurement accuracy of the IR-PTV technique, a measurement of the interfacial velocity of the air-water separated flow using Styrofoam particles floating in water was conducted. The interfacial velocity values obtained with the two different measurement techniques showed good agreement with errors less than 5%. It was found from the experimental results obtained using the developed technique that with increasing air velocity, the interfacial velocity proportionally increases, likely because of the increased interfacial stress.