Aquarium

This is a multi-purpose glass tank of rectangular cross section (125 x 30 cm) filled with deionized water. To minimize heat leakage to ambient air, water at the room temperature was used, and 5 cm thick styrofoam thermal insulation encased the tank on all sides. The top insulation isolates the tank from ambient air, thus ensuring two-dimensionality of the flow and absence of secondary circulation. A removable window in the insulation allowed optical access to the flow. A unit serving as a 15.6 cm x 30 cm heated slope was custom manufactured, which consisted of an array of densely packed heating wires embedded in silicon rubber. Different bottom heating experiments can be conducted using this assembly. It is installed with a Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) system, a Laser Induced Fluorescence System as well as a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) System.