Bubbly drag reduction using a hydrophobic inner cylinder in Taylor-Couette turbulence

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates how a hydrophobic, micro-rough inner cylinder in a Taylor-Couette setup affects bubbly drag reduction in turbulent water flow, revealing conditions for effective drag decrease.

Contribution

It demonstrates that hydrophobic rough surfaces can reduce turbulence drag with bubbles at higher volume fractions, balancing roughness effects and hydrophobicity.

Findings

Drag decreases at air volume fractions ≥ 4% with hydrophobic rough surface.

Surface roughness increases drag at low bubble concentrations (<4%).

Drag reduction saturates at around 6% bubble volume fraction.

Abstract

In this study we experimentally investigate bubbly drag reduction in a highly turbulent flow of water with dispersed air at $5.0 \times 10^{5} \leq \text{Re} \leq 1.7 \times 10^{6}$ over a non-wetting surface containing micro-scale roughness. To do so, the Taylor-Couette geometry is used, allowing for both accurate global drag and local flow measurements. The inner cylinder - coated with a rough, hydrophobic material - is rotating, whereas the smooth outer cylinder is kept stationary. The crucial control parameter is the air volume fraction $\alpha$ present in the working fluid. For small volume fractions ($\alpha < {4}\,\%$), we observe that the surface roughness from the coating increases the drag. For large volume fractions of air ($\alpha \geq 4\,\%$), the drag decreases compared to the case with both the inner and outer cylinders uncoated, i.e. smooth and hydrophilic, using the same volume fraction of air. This suggests that two competing mechanisms are at place: on the one hand the roughness invokes an extension of the log-layer - resulting in an increase in drag - and on the other hand there is a drag-reducing mechanism of the hydrophobic surface interacting with the bubbly liquid. The balance between these two effects determines whether there is overall drag reduction or drag enhancement. For further increased bubble concentration $\alpha = {6}\,\%$ we find a saturation of the drag reduction effect. Our study gives guidelines for industrial applications of bubbly drag reduction in hydrophobic wall-bounded turbulent flows.