Effects of the geometrical configuration of air–water mixer on the size and distribution of microbubbles in aeration systems
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
The objective of this work is to present a novel geometrical configuration for microbubble generators (MBGs) to improve dissolved-oxygen levels in water. Among various methodologies from the literature, Orifice and Venturi tubes have been considered as baseline cases. Experimental data from the literature are used to verify a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) case developed for a better understanding of the dynamics of MBGs. As a result, the validated CFD setup has been implemented on a modified Venturi-type generator, where air is injected coaxially with respect to the tube axis, whereas a helicoid wall at variable pitch angle is used. Results show a reduction in the mean bubble diameter distribution from the baseline Venturi tubes, particularly, at low-speed inlet velocities. This is of interest, especially to decrease the energy requirement for most common water aeration systems.
Keywords
CFD simulation, dissolved oxygen in water, microbubble generator, swirling flow
Divisions
fac_eng
Funders
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council under the grant agreement no. EP/P018211/1, in collaboration between Teesside University, UK, and University of Malaya, Malaysia
Publication Title
Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering
Volume
13
Issue
6
Publisher
Wiley