The influence of water turbulence on surface deformations and the gas transfer rate across an air-water interface.

We present experimental results of a study on oxygen transfer rates in a water channel facility with varying turbulence inflow conditions set by an active grid. We compare the change in gas transfer rate with different turbulence characteristics of the flow set by four different water channel and grid configurations. It was found that the change in gas transfer rate correlates best with the turbulence intensity in the vertical direction.

Catastrophic Phase Inversion in High-Reynolds-Number Turbulent Taylor-Couette Flow.

Emulsions are omnipresent in the food industry, health care, and chemical synthesis. In this Letter the dynamics of metastable oil-water emulsions in highly turbulent (10^{11}≤Ta≤3×10^{13}) Taylor-Couette flow, far from equilibrium, is investigated. By varying the oil-in-water void fraction, catastrophic phase inversion between oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions can be triggered, changing the morphology, including droplet sizes, and rheological properties of the mixture, dramatically.