Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan, Vol.33, No.2, 336-341, 2000
Formation map of air-liquid hollow profile under microgravity
From the viewpoint of oxygen recovery and supply in a space station, the formation of an air-liquid hollow profile which has a suitable interface shape to cultivate microalgae under microgravity conditions is experimentally investigated. The air-liquid interface profiles in a rotating vessel were? observed and recorded. The effects of the modified Weber number and modified Reynolds number on formation of the air-liquid hollow profile were experimentally investigated. We developed a basis for judging conditions forming the air-liquid hollow profile from the video images, When the volume ratio of the liquid/ vessel is 0.60 and the modified Weber number is greater than 2.2, it is found that the air-liquid hollow profile forms and is independent of the modified Reynolds number. From the experimental results using liquids with different surface tension, the validity of using the modified Weber number is confirmed as a dimensionless number for judging the formation of the air-liquid hollow profile. It is experimentally found that the formation conditions for the air-liquid hollow profile under microgravity can be determined by the modified Weber number and the volume ratio of the liquid/vessel. In a map of the volume ratio of the liquid/vessel vs. the modified Weber number, the discrimination of the formation of the air-liquid hollow profile is performed by a line experimentally obtained in this study.