Experimental Observations of Bubble Breakage in Turbulent Flow

Robert P. Hesketh, Arthur W. Etchells, T. W.Fraser Russell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

107 Scopus citations

Abstract

Bubble and drop breakage in turbulent liquid flow in a pipeline was observed to determine the mechanism of breakup. Bubble breakage sequences from high-speed movie film were examined to determine a breakage time, the number of bubbles formed, and bubble sizes. Bubble breakage was observed only at dimensionless radii greater than 0.5 and only two bubbles were formed. The bubble breakage is caused by a surface disturbance which eventually deforms the bubble into a dumbbell shape. The sizes of the resulting two bubbles have a higher probability of being of unequal volume than equal volume. Preliminary results from drop breakage experiments indicate that bubbles and drops have similar breakage mechanisms and that the time to break ranges from 0.01 to 0.1 s.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)835-841
Number of pages7
JournalIndustrial and Engineering Chemistry Research
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 1991
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

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