Patrick F. Dunn, Flint O. Thomas, James B. Leighton, Dayu LV
Patrick F. Dunn, Flint O. Thomas, James B. Leighton, Dayu LV
Patrick F. Dunn, Flint O. Thomas, James B. Leighton, Dayu LV
Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 19 May 2010
Received in revised form 24 November 2010
Accepted 26 November 2010
Available online 10 December 2010
Keywords:
Aviation fuel
Polytropic constant
Diffusion coefcient
Henrys law constant
Bubble
a b s t r a c t
The volume change of air microbubbles on surface nucleation sites was studied experimentally and compared with predictions. Measurements were used to determine the polytropic constant, the diffusion
coefcient, and the Henrys law constant of air in distilled water, dodecane, and JP-8 aviation fuel. The
liquids were exposed to sub-atmospheric pressures, but above their vapor pressures. In one type of
experiment, bubble size reduction was recorded as the liquids ambient pressure was increased from a
low pressure to atmospheric pressure though a series of step increases. The results were used to determine the polytropic constant. In another type of experiment, bubble growth was monitored in time following a sudden reduction in the liquids pressure from ambient. The EpsteinPlesset model of mass
diffusion was coupled with a Lipschitzian optimization technique to determine the values of the diffusion
coefcient and Henrys law constant.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
This paper presents the results of an investigation to determine
the polytropic constant, the diffusion coefcient, and Henrys law
constant for air in JP-8 aviation fuel. The study was undertaken because of a lack of this information in the open literature. Such property information is a necessary part of the larger effort to
understand cavitation behavior in modern aircraft-fuel systems
[1].
Cavitation in an aircraft-fuel system can lead to unexpected
degradation in system performance and/or damage to fuel system
components. These systems often are characterized by complex
internal ow geometries that involve very narrow ow path
restrictions and sharp turns. Such geometries can lead to localized
regions of high uid velocity and low static pressure. For some scenarios in which the static pressure is close to but above the liquid
vapor pressure, gaseous cavitation occurs. For other scenarios, the
static pressure can go below the liquid vapor pressure, leading to
both gaseous and vaporous cavitation. The present study focused
on bubble growth related to gaseous cavitation.
It is well known that nucleation sites on surfaces are necessary
to catalyze the bubble growth that produces cavitation. The nucleation of bubbles into gaseous or vaporous cavities have been
classied into four different types of events [2]. Two types of nucle-
1258
2. Experimental approach
Two different series of experiments were performed using the
same experimental apparatus and diagnostics. These characterized
the volumetric change of air microbubbles on surface nucleation
sites immersed in a static, constant-temperature liquid. The liquid
was exposed to sub-atmospheric pressures, but above its vapor
pressure. In the rst series, the relatively instantaneous volumetric change was recorded as the liquids ambient pressure was increased from a low pressure to atmospheric pressure though a
series of step increases. This determined the microbubbles pVk
(pressurevolume) behavior, as characterized by its polytropic
constant, k. In the second series, the microbubbles longer-term
(diffusional) growth was monitored in time following a sudden
reduction in the liquids ambient pressure. This information was
used to determine values of the diffusion coefcient, D, and
Henrys law constant, H. Similar techniques have been employed
in the past to determine the diffusion coefcients for a gas in a liquid, such as O2, N2, and He in water and in organic liquids [10].
A schematic is shown in Fig. 1. Further details of the experimental apparatus and diagnostics used for the present experiments are
described [11]. The test cell, mounted on a three-axis microtraverse, consisted of a hollow steel cube (5 cm-length side) with
six circular ports used for either viewing windows or instrument
feed-through. The bottom port held a pedestal that extended into
the near center of the cell. Three side ports were used for windows
to view the interior of the test cell. The fourth side port was used as
a feed-through for a type-K thermocouple that monitored the liquid temperature. The top port supported an adapter that connected the test cell to a vacuum system.
The test cell was illuminated using two ber-optic light guides
(positioned at each of the side-port windows) connected to a halogen lamp. A CCD camera with a macro lens and 6 extension tube
was used to monitor the microbubbles volume change. This magnication produced a resolution of 3.7 lm (a zero-order uncertainty
for a length measurement of 1.9 lm at the 95% condence level
[12]). The cameras framing rate was 33 Hz. The output of the camera was recorded by a personal computer. Individual frames of the
captured video subsequently were analyzed using MATLAB.
A pressure transducer was used to measure the static pressure
within the test cell. A ball valve isolated the test cell from a 3.8-L
reservoir. This reservoir was maintained at a desired pressure (to
as low as 0.5 psia for up to 2 h with only a 0.02 psia decrease in
pressure). The overall uncertainty in the measured pressure was
0.25 kPa (0.04 psi), estimated at the 95% condence level. The liquid temperature was monitored and remained at 295 1 K during
all experiments.
The top surface of a stainless steel pedestal contained the
microbubble nucleation site. This was a 1 mm-deep hole drilled
into the surface with 319 lm-diameter drill bit. This is shown
schematically in Fig. 2.
Three uids were used: aviation fuel (JP-8), dodecane (C12H26),
and distilled water. Dodecane served as a single-component hydrocarbon surrogate of JP-8, being its largest mass fraction component
(23%) and having a well dened vapor pressure. Distilled water
was used to validate the experimental technique and to provide
a baseline for comparison with the other uids.
The properties of the three uids used are summarized in Table
1. It is important to note that the property values of JP-8 can differ
because of the variability in its mixture, as well as its storage
history and location. For example, the vapor pressure of JP-8 gathered from seven different locations in the US ranged from 74 Pa to
430 Pa (at 294 K [70 F]), with an average vapor pressure of 240 Pa
[14]. The static pressures used in the present investigation were
above this range of JP-8s vapor pressures and those of dodecane
and water.
JP-8 in its natural, unsettled state contains solid microparticles
in the form of iron oxides and silicates. Data provided by the Honeywell Corporation indicated a particle mass concentration of
2 mg/L fuel and a number concentration of 107 particles/L fuel.
Each of the liquids used in the present experiments was essentially
free of particles. The distilled/deionized water was obtained from a
ltered laboratory water-purication system. The dodecane was
purchased commercially in 5-L containers. While the JP-8 did contain microparticles, as described previously, these were effectively
ltered from the JP-8 over time by gravitational settling in the storage tanks.
In the present experiments, JP-8 was stored at ambient temperature and pressure (295 K and 101.3 kPa, respectively) in
closed, 3.8-L containers until an experiment was performed. Under
these ambient conditions, the dissolved content of air in JP-8 is
0.139 mm3 air/mm3 fuel (based upon 78% of N2 and 21% O2, having
solubilities of 0.120 mm3 N2/mm3 fuel and 0.215 mm3 O2/mm3
fuel, respectively) [7]. The fuel was obtained commercially and
was not degassed prior to experiment. This was done to examine
the behavior of JP-8 stored under typical conditions without any
special treatment or handling such that the results were more relevant for typical situations.
Voltmeter
Analog Pressure Gauge
Digital Pressure
Transducer
Ball Valve 1
Astrovid 2000
CCD Camera
Vivitar Pentax
Macro Lens
w/ 6x Extension
Ball Valve 2
Reservoir
Test Cell
Thermocouple
and Readout
Pressure
Release Valve
Computer
3-Axis Traverse
Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental apparatus.
Vacuum Pump
1259
that occurs across the microbubbleliquid interface. In the rst series, the microbubble radius is measured before and after a step increase in pressure, both at steady state. In the second series, the
microbubble radius is measured over the time following a step decrease in pressure.
For all three liquids examined in these experiments, the liquid
pressure, either before or after the imposed change in pressure,
was on the order of 101000 greater than the liquid vapor pressure and the interface pressure change. Thus, for these experiments, pg(t)pl(t) and the microbubbles content is primarily air.
For this situation, the change in the microbubble volume is governed by the mass diffusion of primarily air (mainly N2 and O2).
Vb
Rb
Rc
Vh
Table 1
Properties of uids used in the experiments. Values obtained from [1315].
Water
C12H26
JP-8
18.015
997
0.99
72
2123
170.34
752
1.34
25
16
173
796
1.62
23
240
V log10 V i =V f
3. Results
and
For both series of experiments described in the following, a
change in microbubble volume occurs as a result of an imposed
change in liquid pressure. The pressure of the gas inside the microbubble, pg(t), is given by
pg t pl t pv 2r=Rt;
where pl(t) is the liquid pressure, pv the vapor pressure of the liquid,
r is the surface tension of the liquid, and R(t) is the radius of the
microbubble. The term 2r/R(t) represents the change in pressure
Here, V is the entire volume of the gas microbubble (Vg + Vh), where
Vg is the volume of the microbubble per se and Vh is the constant
volume of the nucleation site hole (refer to Fig. 2). The subscripts
i and f denote initial and nal steady-state values, respectively. In
each case, the solid line depicts the least-squares linear regression
ts of the data and the dashed lines indicate the lower and upper
95% condence interval limits.
2.8
dimensionless volume
Isothermal Model
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4
0
0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
2.4
2.8
dimensionless pressure
Fig. 3. Dimensionless volume versus dimensionless pressure for water. The solid line is the linear best-t of the 39 data pairs; the dashed lines are the lower and upper 95%
condence limits. The regression coefcient is 0.9826 for 39 data values.
1260
1
0.9
Isothermal Model
dimensionless volume
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
Linear Regression Fit
(k = 1.01)
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
dimensionless pressure
Fig. 4. Dimensionless volume versus dimensionless pressure for dodecane. The solid line is the linear best-t of the 39 data pairs; the dashed lines are the lower and upper
95% condence limits. The regression coefcient is 0.9624 for 39 data values.
1.6
1.4
Linear Regression Fit
(k = 0.96)
dimensionless volume
1.2
1
Isothermal Model
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.6
dimensionless pressure
Fig. 5. Dimensionless volume versus dimensionless pressure for JP-8. The solid line is the linear best-t of the 49 data pairs; the dashed lines are the lower and upper 95%
condence limits. The regression coefcient is 0.9887 for 49 data values.
1261
1000
900
800
16.55 kPa
radius, m
700
600
500
14.48 kPa
400
300
200
100
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
time, s
Fig. 6. Bubble radius versus time for two different-pressure water cases. Solid curve depicts model; solid circles data.
650
5.52 kPa
600
13.79 kPa
radius, m
550
500
450
400
350
300
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
time, s
Fig. 7. Bubble radius versus time for two different-pressure dodecane cases. Solid curve depicts model; solid circles data.
dR D pi pRu T=MW 1
1
R0
p 1 p 2 ;
dt H
p 2r=R
R
pDt
2R
The last term in brackets on the right hand side of Eq. (4) is a
present modication to the original equation to account for the reduced surface area of the bubble being in contact with a solid surface. The actual surface area of the bubble in contact with the
liquid, Ab, equals the surface area of a bubble of radius R minus that
of a truncated spherical cap of radius Rc (refer to Fig. 2). This difference can be nondimensionalized
by the surface area of a bubble to
p
become v 1 Rc = 2R2 . In the experiments, v was initially
0.5. As time progressed, v rapidly approached unity, reaching a
value of 0.93 at R = 10Rc.
Using the initial condition R(0) = R0, which is determined experimentally, Eq. (4) can be integrated numerically using a 4th-order
RungaKutta technique to nd R(t). For the present situation, this
1262
300
4.14 kPa
13.79 kPa
22.07 kPa
250
26.89 kPa
radius, m
200
150
33.79 kPa
100
50
0
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
time, s
Fig. 8. Bubble radius versus time for ve different-pressure JP-8 cases. Solid curve depicts model; solid circles data.
Table 2
Reference values for H and D. Units are kPa for pressure, MPa m3/kg for Hcr, and (m2/
s) 109 for Dcr. Values are for atmospheric pressure. Subscript cr for H and D denotes
values obtained computation and/or published reference. Superscripts denote sources
for values:
Liquid
Hcr
Dcr
JP-8
Dodecane
Water
4.34a
4.33c
3.975.90d
0.872.50b
1.203.50b
2.104.73d; 2.03e; 1.63.0f
Table 3
Determined values of H and D. Units are kPa for pressure, MPa m3/kg for H, and (m2/
s) 109 for D. Subscript m for H and D denotes values obtained from minimization
search.
Fluid
Pressure
Hm
Dm
JP-8
JP-8
JP-8
JP-8
JP-8
Dodecane
Dodecane
Water
Water
33.79
26.89
22.07
13.79
4.14
13.79
5.52
14.48
16.55
4.80
4.80
4.80
4.80
4.80
4.40
4.40
4.70
4.70
7.5
12.7
13.6
19.5
40.2
20.8
33.1
13.2
8.4
1263
10
D, m2/s
10
10
Datm = 2.63 x
109 m2/s
10
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
pressure, kPa
Fig. 9. Diffusion coefcient versus pressure for ve JP-8 cases. Solid curve depicts Dp1 = constant best-t; solid circles optimized data values. The dashed and dotted curves
are 10% and 30% deviations from the solid curve, respectively.
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