The Environmental Multi-Phase Flow Laboratory (EMPFL)

Laboratory Head: Prof. René van Hout
Location: Turbo & Jet Eng. Tark-Recu Building
Phone: 04-8295982
Website: https://empfl.net.technion.ac.il/

Research in The Environmental Multi-Phase Flow Laboratory (EMPFL) is directed towards (environmental) fluid flow and heat transfer problems such as

  1. Particle-laden flows: dispersal of (bio-) aerosols in the atmospheric boundary layer, canopy flows and related particle dispersal/capture, erosion and particle deposition.
  2. Fluid-structure interaction: Mitigation of structural damage or maximizing energy harvesting from structures undergoing vortex-induced vibrations (VIV).
  3. Convective heat transfer: Study of (pulsating) impinging jets in order to understand the physical mechanisms of enhanced heat removal.
  4. Canopy Flows: The effect of roughness (canopies) on atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flows is not well understood and research is aimed at elucidating the effect of canopy heterogeneities on the heat and mass transfer in the ABL.

Advanced Equipment:

The EMPFL has state-of-the-art equipment for the measurement of the flow field as well as particle dispersion characteristics, such as tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) as well as a high speed holographic cinematography.

Existing experimental facilities:

  1. A square (50×50 mm2) water channel: aimed to study particle dynamics in turbulent flow as well as fluid-structure interaction. The fine scale structure of the turbulent boundary layer and its effect on particle entrainment and deposition is studied using both (high-speed) PIV as well as 3-D holographic particle tracking technique.
  2. Isotropic, homogeneous turbulence chamber (40x40x40 cm3): In this transparent cubic chamber we generate isotropic, homogeneous turbulence by means of eight woofers mounted on the each corner of the chamber. We introduce particles into this flow in order to study the effect of isotropic turbulence on the particle dispersal characteristics. For example, small droplet behavior in clouds, spherical vs. non-spherical particle behavior and the effect of turbulence on settling velocities.
  3. A small low velocity windtunnel (20×20 cm2 cross section) used for the study of flow patterns around (biological) structures that have morphological structures that may have an effect on particle release or capture. The windtunnel is versatile and has been used for (pulsating) impinging jet studies.