Flow in the vicinity of free surface induced by a bubble plume

Abstract

Flow in the vicinity of free surface induced by a bubble plume is utilized as one of effective ways to control the surface floating substances on lakes, oceans, as well as in various kinds of reactors handling a free surface. In this work, a two-dimensional flow analysis based on Eulerian-Lagrangian model and particle tracking velocimctry measurement have been carried out in order to elucidate the surface flow generation process in detail. The present results explore the following points; 1) Surface velocity profile can be predicted by the Eulerian-Lagrangian model with a good agreement with experimental results, 2) maximum velocity of the surface flow increases as large void fraction with small bubble size is supplied. 3) The surface flow is effectively generated in case of bubble plume compared to liquid jet flow because distortion point appears in the vicinity of surface.