Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.27, No.11, 1206-1211, 2004
Liquid oxygenation improvement by interaction of bubbles and vibration fields
Gas bubble motion characteristics and bubble size are important factors in various technological processes involving the interaction between liquid and gaseous systems. The present work studies the effect of vibration fields on the characteristics of bubble motion and bubble size. Bubble retention time in the liquid (rise velocity) and bubble mean diameter were chosen as main parameters effecting the oxygen mass transfer rate. A device for mechanical vibration of the aerated liquid was used. The influence of the device design parameters on the chosen bubble parameters is studied experimentally and discussed in this work. The results obtained show the possibility of controlling bubble retention time and bubble size by employing vibration fields. Thus, by applying rather simple techniques, one can considerably improve the process of liquid oxygenation.