Carbon Dioxide in Bottled Carbonated Waters and Subsequent Bubble Nucleation under Standard Tasting Condition.

Abstract

Experimental and theoretical developments, including gas-liquid thermodynamics and bubble nucleation, were made relevant to the conditioning and service of three various commercial carbonated bottled waters holding different levels of dissolved carbon dioxide comprised between about 3 g L-1 and 7 g L-1. The strong dependence in temperature of the partial pressure of gas-phase CO2 found within the three batches of bottled carbonated waters was determined. Moreover, in a glass of carbonated water, the process by which the diffusion of dissolved CO2 in tiny immersed gas pockets enabled heterogeneous bubble nucleation was formalized, including every pertinent parameter at play. From this assessment, the minimum level of dissolved CO2 below which bubble nucleation becomes thermodynamically impossible was determined and found to strongly decrease by increasing the water temperature and size of the gas pockets acting as bubble nucleation sites. Accordingly, the total number of bubbles likely to form in a single glass of sparkling water was theoretically derived to decipher the role played by various key parameters. Most interestingly, for a given level of dissolved CO2, the theoretical number of bubbles likely to form in a glass was found to increase by increasing the water temperature.