LAUSR

Organic matter deposition on internal surfaces constitutes a drawback that impairs the efficiency of several industrial processes. To overcome this problem, sparging a train of bubbles could be useful since its presence strongly increases the wall shear stress. A detailed numerical mass transfer study between a finite soluble wall and the liquid around a rising Taylor bubble was performed, simultaneously solving velocity and concentration fields. The bubble passage throws solute backwards and is responsible for radial dispersion. There is also an increase in the transfer rate with enhancements between 10-20% (depending on liquid average velocity and bubble length) compared to single-phase flow. Mass transfer coefficients along the different hydrodynamic regions around the bubble - nose, liquid film and wake – were characterized and their values compared with those from literature. The results suggest a promising potential of bubble train flow to enhance organic matter removal from walls in biological systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.