Molecular Tagging Fluorescence Velocimetry (MTFV) to Measure Meso- to Micro-Scale Thermal Flow Fields

The development of a molecular tagging fluorescence velocimetry (MTFV) system is discussed and measurement results are presented for a meso-scale flow field of thermally driven capillary pore of 5-mm inner diameter that is tilted 5° from the horizon. The developed technique uses caged Dextran conjugates of caged fluorescene dyes of less than 10 nm in size for tracers. The frequency-tripled UV band (λ = 355 nm) of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser uncages the molecules by photo-cleaving that is decomposition of a caging chemical group and a fluorescence chemical group. Then a CW blue Argon-ion laser (λ = 488 nm) pumps the fluorescence of only those uncaged molecules, whose emmission band is centered at λ = 518 nm, and a sequential recording of the fluorescence images are digitally recorded and analyzed for Lagrangian velocity field mapping. The use of the technique allows detailed measurements of the thermally driven three-dimensional flow inside a heated capillary pore. The measurement shows that the meniscus surface flow is mainly driven by the thermocapillary stress field, occurring due to the surface temperature gradient, while the bulk flow inside the pore is driven largely by the natural convection buoyancy. The whole capillary flow is made by a combination of these two different flow effects. As to the heater position, above or below the interface, the three dimensional flow patterns are measured totally in the opposite way.