JPH08313393A - Bubble generating device for micro gravity environment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To freely generate even large bubbles. CONSTITUTION: A solenoid valve 25 is operated to feed gas from a gas supply source 24 to a bubble generating nozzle 18. Bubbles of diameter dimension to be obtained are thereby generated from the bubble generating nozzle part 21 of the bubble generating nozzle body 18 insert-disposed at a storage tank 10 stored with liquid 9, and bubbles of optional diameter dimension can be generated by changing the bubble generating nozzle body 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bubble generator for a microgravity environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the progress of space development has been remarkable, but in order to progress space development more efficiently, it is important to manufacture various equipment suitable for outer space. It is necessary to study in detail how physical phenomena in space are different from those on the ground.

[0003] Among them, it is an important subject to investigate how bubbles contained in the liquid move when the liquid flows, when the liquid is used in outer space.

In order to investigate the movement of bubbles, a bubble generator for a microgravity environment as shown in FIG. 6 is currently used.

The bubble generating apparatus for a microgravity environment shown in FIG. 6 has an injection needle 3 on the upper surface of a closed storage tank 2 capable of storing a liquid 1.
Insert the syringe 4 by inserting the
A driving device 5 such as a cylinder capable of pushing the piston is provided, and a bubble observing device 6 such as a CCD camera, an ultrasonic detector or an X-ray detector is provided on the side surface of the storage tank 2.

The storage tank 2 may be made by mounting a transparent acrylic plate on a frame (not shown) or by combining metal plates. When the storage tank 2 is a transparent acrylic plate, the bubble observing device 6 mainly uses a CCD camera, but when the storage tank 2 is made of a metal plate, the bubble observing device 6 includes an ultrasonic detector or an X-ray detector. A line detector is used.

As the liquid 1, water, oil, various refrigerants, molten metal, or liquid 1 having a viscosity close to these is used.

As the gas to be inhaled into the syringe 4, air is mainly used, but it is not particularly limited to air.

In the figure, 7 is a bubble generated in the storage tank 2.

The bubble generating apparatus for a microgravity environment creates a microgravity environment only for a short time by allowing it to fall freely in a drop tower experimental facility, or
Create a microgravity environment for a short time by loading it on an airplane and performing ballistic flight, or by carrying it out under a microgravity environment by mounting it on a rocket or a space shuttle. To be placed.

In the meantime, the driving device 5 such as a cylinder is extended by remote control to push the piston of the syringe 4 to inject the gas in the syringe 4 from the injection needle 3 into the liquid 1 in the reservoir 2. To create bubbles 7 in the liquid 1.

The generated bubbles 7 move to the lower side of the figure as they are due to the momentum of the gas injection by the injector 4, so the movement of the bubbles 7 is provided by a CCD camera or an ultrasonic detector provided on the side surface of the storage tank 2. Observation is performed with the bubble observation device 6 such as an X-ray detector.

[0013]

However, the conventional bubble generating apparatus for a microgravity environment has the following problems.

That is, conventionally, since the bubble 7 is formed by using the injection needle 3, only a small bubble 7 having a diameter of about 2 to 4 mm can be generated, and only the behavior of the small bubble 7 should be studied. I couldn't.

On the ground, however, because of the influence of gravity on the ground, large bubbles 7 are difficult to form, and even if large bubbles 7 are formed, they will be destroyed immediately, so the size of the bubbles 7 is not a problem, but it is very small. Since the influence of gravity is small in a gravitational environment, large bubbles 7 are easily formed, and once large bubbles 7 are formed, they tend to move as large bubbles 7 without being broken. It becomes important to do.

In view of the above situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bubble generating device for a microgravity environment in which large bubbles can be freely created.

[0017]

According to the present invention, a bubble generating nozzle body having a bubble generating nozzle portion having a diameter corresponding to a diameter of a bubble to be obtained can be replaced in a storage tank storing a liquid. The present invention relates to a bubble generating device for a microgravity environment, which is inserted and arranged, and a gas supply source is connected to a bubble generating nozzle body via an electromagnetic valve.

[0018]

The operation of the present invention is as follows.

By operating the solenoid valve to send the gas from the gas supply source to the bubble-generating nozzle body, the bubble-generating nozzle portion of the bubble-generating nozzle body inserted and arranged in the storage tank storing the liquid, Bubbles of the desired diameter are generated.

Then, by exchanging the bubble generating nozzle body, it becomes possible to generate bubbles having an arbitrary diameter.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention.

A storage tank 10 capable of storing the liquid 9 is mounted inside the frame-shaped casing 8.

The storage tank 10 is made by mounting a transparent acrylic plate on a frame (not shown) or by combining metal plates.

Further, the storage tank 10 has an opening 11 on the upper surface thereof, and a closing lid member 13 is attached to the flange portion 12 formed on the upper surface by a bolt 14 so as to be closed.

A shaft supporting portion 16 having a through hole 15 is formed in the closing lid member 13, and a bubble generating nozzle body 18 is exchangeably inserted through the through hole 15 of the shaft supporting portion 16 via a seal 17. .

Reference numeral 19 is a fixing bolt screwed to the shaft support portion 16 for fixing the bubble generating nozzle body 18.

The bubble generating nozzle body 18 has a shaft portion 20 which can be inserted into the through hole 15 in the upper portion of the drawing, and has a bubble generating nozzle portion 21 in the lower portion.

The shaft portion 20 has a gas supply hole 22 extending in the axial direction thereof. Also, the bubble generating nozzle portion 2
1 has a hemispherical outer shape, and has a hemispherical gas space 23 communicating with the gas supply hole 22 therein.

Several types of bubble generating nozzle bodies 18 are prepared according to the diameter of the bubble 29 to be obtained. The outer shape of the bubble generating nozzle portion 21 and the shape of the gas space 23 are not limited to the hemispherical shape, but the hemispherical shape is most preferable in order to make the shape of the generated bubbles 29 spherical quickly. .

The storage tank 1 in the casing 8
A gas supply source 24 such as a gas cylinder is arranged on the side of 0,
A gas passage 26 including an electromagnetic valve 25 is connected between the gas supply source 24 and the gas supply hole 22 of the bubble generating nozzle body 18.

Further, a bubble observation device 27 such as a CCD camera, an ultrasonic detector or an X-ray detector is provided on the side surface of the storage tank 10.

Further, when the storage tank 10 is a transparent acrylic plate, the bubble observation device 27 mainly uses a CCD camera, but when the storage tank 10 is made of a metal plate, ultrasonic detection is performed as the bubble observation device 27. A detector or X-ray detector is used.

Numeral 28 is a command signal sent to the solenoid valve 25, and numeral 30 is a diameter of the bubble generating nozzle portion 21.

Next, the operation will be described.

First, the bubble generating nozzle body 18 is selected from among several kinds of bubble generating nozzle bodies 18 prepared in advance, and the bubble generating nozzle body 18 is selected according to the diameter of the bubble 29 to be obtained. The shaft portion 20 of 18 is inserted into the through hole 15 of the closing lid member 13 removed from the storage tank 10 from the lower side of the drawing, and both are fixed using a fixing bolt 19.

In this state, the closing lid member 13 is provided with an opening 11 of a storage tank 10 filled with water, oil, a refrigerant, a molten metal, or a liquid 9 prepared to have the same viscosity as these.
Abut on the closing lid member 13 and the flange portion 1 of the storage tank 10.
No. 2 is closed with a bolt 14 and further the bubble generating nozzle body 18 is projected from the shaft supporting portion 16 to the outside.
In the gas supply hole 22 of the shaft portion 20 in
The gas flow path 26 from is connected.

Further, by sending a command signal 28 to the solenoid valve 25, the solenoid valve 25 is opened only for a short time, and as shown in the figure,
In the gas space 23 of the bubble generating nozzle portion 21, the gas space 2
Make sure to store a small amount of gas that fits in 3.

In this state, the casing 8 is allowed to freely fall in the drop tower experimental facility to create a microgravity environment for a short time, or it is loaded on an airplane for a ballistic flight to create a microgravity environment for only a short time. Create a microgravity environment, or place it in a microgravity environment by putting it on a rocket or a space shuttle, and put it in a microgravity environment.

When the casing 8 is placed in a microgravity environment, a command signal 28 is sent to the solenoid valve 25 by remote control to open the solenoid valve 25.

Then, from the gas supply source 24 to the gas flow path 2
6 and the shaft portion 20 of the bubble generating nozzle body 18, gas is injected into the gas space 23 of the bubble generating nozzle portion 21, and the gas in the gas space 23 increases as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Then, the gas expands to the outside of the gas space 23.
In addition, by storing a small amount of gas in the gas space 23 in advance so that it fits in the gas space 23, the gas can be inflated quickly.

When the bulge of the gas reaches the limit size determined by the diameter dimension 30 of the bubble generating nozzle portion 21, as shown in FIG. 4, the gas generating pressure is used to inject the bubble generating nozzle portion 21. And a large-diameter bubble 29 is generated.

As shown in FIG. 5, the large-diameter bubble 29 thus generated moves downward in the figure as it is due to the gas injection pressure when it is separated from the bubble-generating nozzle portion 21.
At the same time, the surface tension tends to make it spherical.

The movement of the bubble 29 at this time is observed by the bubble observing device 27 such as a CCD camera, an ultrasonic detector or an X-ray detector provided on the side surface of the storage tank 2, and the behavior of the bubble 29 having a large diameter is observed. To be studied.

When it is desired to change the diameter of the bubble 29 to be generated, the bubble generating nozzle body 21 is replaced with a different bubble generating nozzle body 18 to perform the above.

If a bubble-generating nozzle body 18 having a needle-shaped bubble-generating nozzle portion 21 is prepared, it is possible to generate bubbles 29 having a small diameter.

As described above, in the present invention, since the plurality of bubble generating nozzle bodies 18 can be exchanged, it is possible to reliably generate bubbles having a desired diameter dimension with high reproducibility.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0049]

As described above, according to the bubble generating apparatus for a microgravity environment of the present invention, it is possible to produce an excellent effect that large bubbles can be freely created.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a bubble generation process.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a bubble generation process following FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a bubble generation process following FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a bubble generation process following FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Liquid 10 Storage Tank 18 Bubble Generation Nozzle 21 Bubble Generation Nozzle 24 Gas Supply Source 25 Solenoid Valve 29 Bubble 30 Diameter

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bubble-generating nozzle in which a bubble-generating nozzle body having a bubble-generating nozzle portion having a diameter corresponding to a diameter of a bubble to be obtained is replaceably inserted in a storage tank storing a liquid. A bubble generator for a microgravity environment, characterized in that a gas supply source is connected to the body via a solenoid valve.