Jet Flow Validation of Positron Emission Particle Tracking Utilizing High Speed Video

Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) generates 4D Lagrangian particle trajectories and is used to evaluate flow in granular media and complex geometries where optical interrogation methods are not possible. A Multi-Particle PEPT (Multi-PEPT) approach was developed by the University of Tennessee Thermal Fluids Group capable of finding and tracking many particles simultaneously to extend the utility of the PEPT method. This thesis compares 4,014 trajectories generated using the Multi-PEPT method with 3,055 trajectories generated from High Speed Video (HSV) data. All trajectories are acquired in an acrylic test section with water flow using resin beads. The flow geometry includes a flow restriction producing a jet of Reynolds number 23,500 ± 800, with mean velocity 1.08 ± 0.04 m/s, and two recirculation zones. Variation between measurement outcomes is generally less than 0.1 m/s, and measured variations fall within validation uncertainties. Data co-location uncertainty contributes most to variation between Multi-PEPT and HSV velocities in regions of steep velocity gradients.