Air Injection in Water with Different Nozzles
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 4
Abstract
Air injection systems have a wide range of environmental engineering applications. In this study, we conducted experiments on air injection in a relatively large water tank to investigate the effect of nozzle type, including single/multiple orifice nozzles and a porous airstone, on the characteristics of the bubbles and the induced flow structure. Measurements of bubble characteristics and flow field surrounding the bubble core were obtained using a double-tip optical probe and particle image velocimetry, respectively. The results revealed that bubble velocity did not change significantly with different nozzles, but bubble size decreased significantly while interfacial area, liquid entrainment rate, and kinetic energy of the mean and turbulent flow increased significantly by using the porous airstone instead of nozzles with large orifices. The results for a nozzle with multiple orifices of small diameter are comparable to those for the airstone, which suggests the suitability of its use for systems susceptible to clogging of the pores. Correlations using adequate length and velocity scales are also proposed to describe both bubble and liquid flow characteristics. Finally, applications of the results for different artificial aeration/mixing systems are presented.
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Acknowledgments
The first writer is supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel Foundation (CAPES), Ministry of Education, Brazil. The writers are grateful to Perry Fedun and Chris Krath for building the experimental apparatus.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 4 • April 2008
Pages: 283 - 294
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 25, 2006
Accepted: Oct 8, 2007
Published online: Apr 1, 2008
Published in print: Apr 2008
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