Growth of bubbles in liquid

Boris M. Smirnov, R. Stephen Berry

Evolution of a gas injected in a liquid is analyzed using the example of the behavior of oxygen molecules in water in which bubbles of gas molecules grow slowly by attachment of gas molecules to bubbles, the bubbles then associate and finally flow up to the liquid-gas interface and pass into the gas phase. Two methods are considered for gas injection in a liquid, insertion of individual molecules and injection of small gas bubbles via gas penetration through a porous material. The behavior of oxygen bubbles in water and growth of those bubbles is analyzed. Subsequently, these grown bubbles float up and disappear, or reach the water boundary as a result of turbulent motion of the liquid. It is shown that measurement of the size distribution function of micron-size bubbles in various regions of the water container allows one to establish the flow current lines on the basis of the theory of bubble growth. Graphical abstract:Schematic diagram of energies of molecules in the gas phase, in bubbles and bound to solvent.