Experimental Investigation of Film Thickness in Wastewater Airlift Pumps by an Image Processing Method

Abstract

The airlift pump is a key part of wastewater treatment and is employed as an innovative and feasible collection tool. However, as one of the key factors in the lifting capability of airlift pumps, film thickness in the gas–liquid two-phase flow operating in pumps is still an unknown topic because it is difficult to measure. This paper proposes a visualization method for measuring film thickness and investigates the film thickness when operating under gas flow with a high rate in airlift pumps using experiments. Firstly, a simulation experiment platform was built, and the images of the film structure were acquired by a high-speed camera. Then, image-processing technology and an image distortion correction were proposed to extract the gas–liquid interface for studying the thickness of the film. The experimental results demonstrated that a large film thickness ranging from 0.15 D to 0.24 D was found in airlift pumps and that its film thickness kept a constant value, even under a high gas superficial velocity, maintaining a large output liquid flow from airlift pumps. As wastewater was carried by wastewater treatment, a larger film thickness of the annular film will benefit the high lifting rate of wastewater. The works in this paper offer valuable insights for the higher performance of working airlift pumps and wastewater treatment efficiency.