Bubble generation in quiescent and co-flowing liquids

A numerical simulation has been accomplished to analyze the problem of dynamic bubble formation from a submerged orifice in an immiscible Newtonian liquid under the condition of constant gas inflow. We have considered two cases for the surrounding liquid, namely the liquid in a quiescent condition and the liquid as a co-flowing stream with the gas. The full cycle, from formation to detachment of the bubbles and the corresponding bubble dynamics, was simulated numerically by using a coupled level-set and volume-of-fluid (CLSVOF) method. The role of the liquid to gas mean velocity ratio, the Bond number and the Weber number in the bubble formation process was studied and the order of magnitude of forces involved in bubble dynamics are presented. Our simulation results show that the minimum radius of the neck decreases with a power law behavior and the power law exponent in a co-flowing liquid is less than 1/2 as predicted by the Rayleigh-Plesset theory for quiescent inviscid liquids. Single periodic and double periodic bubbling (with pairing and coalescence) regimes are observed in the present investigation. It is identified that a moderate co-flowing liquid may inhibit the bubble coalescence. The volume of the bubble and the bubble formation time decrease with increasing liquid to gas mean velocity ratios. For small Bond numbers, significant differences pertaining to bubble dynamics are observed between the co-flowing liquid and the quiescent liquid. Furthermore, the generation and breakup of the Worthington jet after bubble pinch-off and formation of tiny drops inside the detached bubbles are observed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.