Mass transfer from single carbon dioxide bubbles in a vertical pipe is measured using a stereoscopic image processing method to develop a mass transfer correlation applicable to a wide range of bubble and pipe diameters. The pipe diameters are 12.5, 18.2 and 25.0 mm and the bubble diameter ranges from 5 to 26 mm. The ratio, λ, of bubble diameter to pipe diameter is therefore varied from 0.2 to 1.8, which covers various bubble shapes such as spherical, oblate spheroidal, wobbling, cap, and Taylor bubbles. Measured Sherwood numbers, Sh, strongly depend on bubble shape, i.e., Sh of Taylor bubbles clearly differs from those of spheroidal and wobbling bubbles. Hence two Sherwood number correlations, which are functions of the Peclet number and the diameter ratio λ, are deduced from the experimental data: one is for small bubbles (λ < 0.6) and the other for Taylor bubbles (λ > 0.6). The applicability of the proposed correlations for the prediction of bubble dissolution process is examined through comparisons between measured and predicted long-term bubble dissolution processes. The predictions are carried out by taking into account the presence of all the gas components in the system of concern, i.e. nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. As a result, good agreements for the dissolution processes for various bubble sizes and pipe diameters are obtained. It is also demonstrated that it is possible to evaluate an equilibrium bubble diameter and instantaneous volume concentration of carbon dioxide in a bubble using a simple model based on a conservation of gas components.
Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in a Concentric Internal Jet-Loop Airlift Bioreactor Equipped with a Deflector