Geometrical Optimization of a Venturi-Type Microbubble Generator Using CFD Simulation and Experimental Measurements

Dillon Alexander Wilson,Kul Pun,Faik Hamad,Poo Balan Ganesan

doi:10.3390/designs5010004

Dillon Alexander Wilson, Kul Pun + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/designs5010004

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Journal: Designs	Publication Date: Jan 7, 2021
Citations: 11	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Teesside University, University of Malaya

Abstract

Microbubble generators are of considerable importance to a range of scientific fields from use in aquaculture and engineering to medical applications. This is due to the fact the amount of sea life in the water is proportional to the amount of oxygen in it. In this paper, experimental measurements and computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation are performed for three water flow rates and three with three different air flow rates. The experimental data presented in the paper are used to validate the CFD model. Then, the CFD model is used to study the effect of diverging angle and throat length/throat diameter ratio on the size of the microbubble produced by the Venturi-type microbubble generator. The experimental results showed that increasing water flow rate and reducing the air flow rate produces smaller microbubbles. The prediction from the CFD results indicated that throat length/throat diameter ratio and diffuser divergent angle have a small effect on bubble diameter distribution and average bubble diameter for the range of the throat water velocities used in this study.

Highlights

One of the most common uses of microbubbles in industry is water-waste treatment and disinfection [1,2,3] which is done via microbubble aeration
When microbubbles are introduced into the water pollutants, the small particles as well as bacteria attach themselves to the bubbles, which are brought to the surface as the bubble rises to the surface of the water
In order to examine the effect of low water flow rate on microbubble size, a computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Summary

Introduction

One of the most common uses of microbubbles in industry is water-waste treatment and disinfection [1,2,3] which is done via microbubble aeration. When microbubbles are introduced into the water pollutants, the small particles as well as bacteria attach themselves to the bubbles, which are brought to the surface as the bubble rises to the surface of the water. At this point, the foam of pollutants and sediments including the bacteria can be removed from the water leaving a clean disinfected volume of water behind. There is the potential to significantly increase the farm’s production through the application of microbubble generators that increase dissolved oxygen which improves sea life metabolism. Aquafarming has the potential to significantly increase the amount of seafood collected from ocean farms through the application of microbubble generators [4]

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