Characterization of the bubble swarm trajectory in a jet bubbling reactor

Abstract

Abstract The bubble swarm trajectory in the jet bubbling reactor is measured through the bubble image velocimetry (BIV) technique. The result shows that the bubble swarm rises straightly when the jet Reynolds number is lower than 7,000. However, when the jet Reynolds number exceeds 14,000, the bubble swarm exhibits vortex‐like motion, and the bubble vortices oscillate periodically. The oscillating frequency of bubble vortices under the gas bubbling condition is lower than the flapping frequency of pure liquid jet. Moreover, the moving region and oscillating frequency of bubble vortices increase with the jet Reynolds number. The superficial gas velocity has little effect on the bubble swarm trajectory and the oscillating frequency. An empirical correlation between the oscillating frequency of bubble vortices and the jet Reynolds number is built based on the simple harmonic vibration theory.