DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTINEEDLE ELECTRORESISTIVITY PROBE FOR MEASURING BUBBLE CHARACTERISTICS IN MOLTEN-METAL BATHS

Precise information on the behavior of rising bubbles in molten metals is of essential importance for the enhancement of current metal-refin ing processes as well as the development of new refining processes agi tated by gas injection. In particular, the total interfacial area betw een bubbles and molten metal is a key parameter, but it cannot be eval uated unless the shape of bubbles is given. Getting information on the shape of rising bubbles has been very difficult for nontransparent li quids. In this study, we developed a multineedle electroresistivity pr obe to detect the shape of bubbles rising in molten metal baths. The a ccuracy of the presently developed probe was examined for water-air an d Wood's metal-He systems using a conventional two-needle electroresis tivity probe and a high-speed video camera.