Investigation of trajectory and rise velocity of loaded and bare single bubbles in flotation process using video processing technique

In flotation, among the key parameters that dictate the hydrodynamic characteristics are bubble rising velocity and trajectory. This study aims to investigate the trajectory and rise velocity of loaded and bare bubbles using an experimental setup and video processing technique. After acquiring the videos of rising bubbles, using the background subtraction algorithm, bubbles were detected and their rise velocity and trajectory were determined with regard to the changes in the coordinates of bubbles' centers. It was shown that bare bubbles have a zigzag trajectory, while for loaded bubbles the trajectory was close to the straight vertical path. In addition, with increasing bubble size, the rise velocity and the deviation from the straight path increase.