Abstract:
In recent years, much work has been done on bubble breakage, coalescence, and
bubble size distributions in gas-liquid dispersions. Few of them however,
considered both breakage and coalescence phenomena simultaneously in
estimating bubble size distribution. In present study an attempt is made to develop
a model that considers both breakage and coalescence based on existing frame
works and recent advances described in the literature. Two-step mechanisms are
considered for both the breakage and coalescence models. The bubble breakage is
structured as the product of the bubble-eddy collision frequency and breakage
efficiency in gas-liquid dispersions. The coalescence function considers the
product of bubble-bubble collision frequency and coalescence efficiency. The
model overcomes several limitations observed in previous efforts such as
determination of parameters through experiment, narrow range of operating
conditions, and narrow range of geometries. Favorable agreement is found between
the predictions of the model and the experimental data obtained for the 'average
bubble size and bubble size distribution. The percentage of error was estimated and
found within"' 17%. The model is also extended to examine the influence of
physical properties on bubble size distribution.
