Time evolution of diameter of micro-bubbles generated by a pressurized dissolution method

Size distributions of micro-bubbles and concentrations of dissolved oxygen in water in a square duct downstream of the decompression nozzle were measured to investigate the time evolution of bubble diameter and the mass transfer of dissolved gas between bubbles and water after bubble generation in a pressurized dissolution method. A numerical simulation based on the Rayleigh-Plesset equation was also carried out to predict time evolutions of bubble diameter and concentration of dissolves gas. The validity of the prediction was discussed through the comparison between the predictions and the experiments. As a result, the following conclusions were obtained: (1) When cavitation does not occur in the decompression nozzle, few micro-bubbles are generated at the nozzle and the mass transfer rate between bubbles and water in the downstream region of the nozzle is low due to a low interface area concentration. The mass transfer due to bubble nucleation is negligibly small in the downstream region of the decompression nozzle in spite of the supersaturated concentration of the dissolved gas. (2) When cavitation occurs in the nozzle, a lot of micro-bubbles are generated at the nozzle and therefore, the mass transfer rate between the phases becomes high. Hence, the bubble diameter and the void fraction increase and the concentration of dissolved gas in water decreases with the time elapsed after the bubble generation. (3) The proposed numerical method can reasonably predict time evolution of bubble size distributions, void fractions and concentrations of dissolved gas, provided that a reliable initial condition is available. Since the numerical simulation assumes that no bubble nucleation occurs in the downstream region of the nozzle, the agreement between the prediction and the experiments proves low influence of the bubble nucleation on the mass transfer between the phases.