Two types of converging–straight–diverging dye cells have been fabricated for validating computational results. The evolution of velocity profiles along the flow direction in the dye cell has been obtained using the computational fluid dynamics model as well as particle image velocimetry (PIV). The computational results are qualitatively compared with the results obtained from the PIV technique. The two-dimensional velocity profiles along the flow direction as well as perpendicular to it have been obtained using PIV. The flow characteristic of the dye cells is studied with commonly used dye solvents and the onset of cavitation in the diverging section of the dye cell has been observed. The flow characteristic of the dye cell is an important parameter for selecting the appropriate dye flow system for dye lasers, so that the obligatory flow velocities could be achieved for high-repetition-rate pulsed operation. The dye cell was tested with a grazing-incidence grating cavity pumped by a 9 kHz copper vapour laser. The effect of a binary solvent on the tuning range and conversion efficiency of the dye laser has been studied. The redshift in the peak wavelength of the sulforhodamine 101 (SRh101) dye laser with the binary solvent of ethanol and de-mineralised water was obtained.