Characterization of Air-Entrainment in a Plunging Water Jet System Using Image Processing: An Educational Approach

This paper outlines a proposed experimental setup and image processing techniques using MATLAB for the characterization of the average dynamic behavior of the air/water mixture under the free surface of water penetrated by a plunging jet. The proposed setup focuses on the dynamics of air entrainment below the free surface and the identification of the major regimes related to the entrainment process of bubbles in water, namely: (a) no-entrainment, (b) incipient entrainment, (c) intermittent entrainment, and (d) continuous entrainment. The experimental setup allows students to observe the flow behavior below the free liquid surface and determine the penetration depth of the bubble plumes using image processing techniques in MATLAB. The focal point of the experiment is image analysis for qualitative and quantitative characterization of the bubble plume.