3-DIMENSIONAL PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY FOR USE IN 3-PHASE FLUIDIZATION SYSTEMS

A three-dimensional particle image velocimetry (5-DPIV) system is deve loped to measure the three-dimensional local flow properties of gas-li quid and gas-liquid-solid fluidization systems. The 3-DPIV system requ ires one camera to simultaneous record orthogonal views of the flow fi eld created by a special optical arrangement. The 3-DPIV has been succ essfully calibrated and is capable of providing qualitative and quanti tative flow information including three-dimensional, full-field, insta ntaneous velocities, accelerations and holdups of each phase. In this study, sample results of the application of the 3-DPIV technique to a three-dimensional gas-liquid-solid fluidization system operating in th e dispersed bubble flow regime demonstrate that the 3-DPIV technique i s an effective instrument in studying the local, transient flow phenom ena in multiphase systems.