Abstract
An experiment to visualize small gas bubbles injected into mercury flowing in a test loop using proton radiography was conducted at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) in December 2006. Radiograph images of bubbles were obtained through two mercury thicknesses: 22 mm and 6 mm. Two jet bubblers and two needle bubblers were operated individually over a range of mercury flow speeds (0 - 1 m/s) and gas injection rates (0.1 - 500 sccm). Helium was most commonly used but Argon and Xenon were injected for limited test conditions. The smallest discernable bubbles were about 0.24 mm in diameter. Resolution was limited by image contrast which was notably improved with 6 mm of mercury thickness. Analysis of the radiograph images from jet bubbler conditions provided data on bubble size distribution and total bubble void fraction. In a few cases radiographs captured a large fraction of the injected gas, but generally 20 to 90% of injected gas was not captured in the images. In all more than 400 radiographs were made during the experiment in addition to several movies. Sound recordings of needle bubbler operation were also made and used to quantify bubble formation rate and size; these results are compared to theoretical predictions. This paper describes the experiment goals, scope and equipment; key results are presented and discussed.
