Mass Transfer from a Single Stationary Bubble in Highly Turbulent Flow

Abstract

A single CO₂ bubble was held in a downward highly turbulent flow field realized in a tapered pipe. The dissolution process of the bubble was recorded with a CCD camera and the images were processed on a personal computer to determine the mass transfer coefficient for the bubble. An empirical equation was proposed for the mass transfer coefficient by referring to the previously obtained experimental findings. The equation is expressed as a function of the size of the bubble and the turbulence intensity in addition to the well-known Schmidt number and Reynolds number. The measured values of the mass transfer coefficient were approximated by the equation within a scatter of ±60%. Such estimation accuracy is acceptable in this kind of measurement.