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The use of vitamins as tracer dyes for laser-induced fluorescence in liquid flow applications

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Abstract

Tracers commonly used in experimental flow studies are mostly nocuous to the environment and human health. Particularly, in large flow installations, this can become a problem. In this study, a solution of this problem is presented, based on using water-soluble vitamins. Five of them are examined here for their applicability in flow studies. Vitamins B2 and B6 turned out to be the most promising candidates, and the dependency of their fluorescence intensity on parameters like concentration, laser energy, temperature, and pH are determined for two commonly used laser excitation wavelengths (532, 355 nm). Two examples of application in a static mixer and a spray flow are shown and demonstrate the applicability of the vitamin tracers.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank her student Wiebke Seydel for her help and patience in doing the parametric experiments in the cuvettes. Christian Gollmer helped for doing the experiments in the mixer and spray configuration. Their contribution was much appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Strömungsmechanik und Strömungstechnik, Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Katharina Zähringer

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  1. Katharina Zähringer
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Correspondence to Katharina Zähringer.

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Zähringer, K. The use of vitamins as tracer dyes for laser-induced fluorescence in liquid flow applications. Exp Fluids 55, 1712 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-014-1712-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-014-1712-x

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