Air Bubble Resorption

Abstract

This paper describes an analysis and experiment directed at determining the laws governing the rate of solution of a gas bubble in turbulent liquid. The object of the research was to determine methods for resorbing air bubbles which have been freed from the water in a water tunnel. A basic equation governing the resorption process which has been developed and partially verified in the work is presented as Eq. (13) in the text. Useful approximate forms of this equation are given as Eqs. (14b) and (14d) in the text.

The basic equation has led to several suggested methods for accomplishing resorption in water tunnel. These include: (1) a resorber method already developed at the California Institute of Technology[1]*; (2) a method in which air in solution in water would be completely replaced in the closed water tunnel circuit by another gas such as carbon dioxide; and (3) a method in which a lengthened return circuit would be combined with a fin-scale turbulence, introduced in the return circuit to hasten air bubble resorption while keeping the bubble from rising. The time required for resorption by any of these methods may be estimated from the basic equation.