Generalized correlation for bubble motion

Abstract

The motion of a single gas bubble rising steadily in an uncontaminated Newtonian viscous fluid of infinite extent is reviewed. Using experimental data gathered from the literature over the past century, a data bank is set up for bubble velocities as a function of their diameters. These data provided a very broad range of liquid properties and bubble hydrodynamic regimes as density (722-1,380 kg/m3), viscosity (2.2 × 10-4 -18 Pa · s), surface tension (15.9-91.0 mN/m), Reynolds number (1.9 × 10-7 -1.1 × 104), and Morton number (1.0 × 10-11 l.0 × 107). From a dimensional analysis, a single equation is proposed to predict bubble velocities. The simplicity and good precision over the whole range of parameters facilitate its use in design calculations of chemical engineering.