Chris Boyce has been awarded the NSF CAREER Award for his work in engineering structured bubbling patterns in multiphase flows and developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to characterize these systems. Bubbly multiphase flows have the promise to revolutionize technologies ranging from sustainable mining separations to hydrogen-powered vehicles, yet these currently suffer from chaotic motion which prevents control and optimization of devices. The Boyce Group has recently developed methods to structure bubble motion by vibrating flow systems. Boyce seeks to develop MRI techniques to characterize the interior of flow systems in 3D to provide unprecedented insight into the structured flow patterns formed, similar to how MRI has revolutionized medicine by allowing doctors to “see” inside the human body. Together, these efforts funded by the NSF CAREER Award will enable the Boyce Group engineer controlled flows and reveal the underlying physics creating structured patterns using novel characterization to ultimately enable climate and health solutions.
