Mechanism of Microbubbles and Cavitation Effect on Bubble Breakage in a Venturi Bubble Generator

Abstract

Venturi bubble generators have been extensively studied because of having a simple structure and high foaming efficiency, while producing a uniform bubble size. The effect of a noncondensable gas on hydraulic cavitation was considered to improve the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri cavitation model. This improved model and a population balance model were used to study the effect of cavitation on bubble fragmentation. The CFD-PBM results were compared with experimental results, and the accuracy of the improved calculation method was verified in terms of the distributions for the cavitation cavity, gas phase, and bubble size. The calculation results showed that increasing the noncondensable gas content over a certain range promoted the development of hydraulic cavitation, and the cavitation intensity could be indirectly controlled by adjusting the noncondensable gas content. With increasing cavitation intensity, the average bubble size decreased, and the bubble size distribution became narrower. Therefore, a high-pressure pulse generated by cavitation could effectively break bubbles. The development process of microbubbles was studied. The main controlling factors for bubble formation were determined to be the turbulent shear force of the fluid and the collapse impact force of the cavitation group, which provides a theoretical basis for optimizing the design of bubble generators.