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I. INTRODUCTION the zone close to the nozzle and by the buoyancy force
A L T H O U G H gas injection has been practiced in the exerted by the bubbles in the region above.
A fundamental feature of bubble plumes in liquids is
steelmaking industry for about 130 years, there is still
the fluctuating character, both in time and space, of the
no complete quantitative understanding of the dynamics
plume properties. This means that in the determination
of these gas/liquid systems. Consequently, more re-
of time averages for gas fraction, bubble frequency, and
search is needed to find suitable correlations with which
velocity, due consideration has to be given to these fluc-
flow velocities, gas fraction, and bubble size can be pre-
tuations, and that the methods of statistics may be used
dicted. In the present work, the behavior of center-injected
for proper design of the experimental program and the
gas jets in the system air/water has been investigated in
analysis of the data. tz 8]
pilot scale. One of the goals of this research was to ex-
amine whether the correlations for the gas concentration
which are available from bench scale experiments are III. E X P E R I M E N T A L TECHNIQUE
valid in a system of much larger dimension. Another aim The experimental setup is shown schematically in
was to establish correlations for the velocity of both Figure 1. The polypropylene vessel size approximates
phases. The dynamic behavior of the system received that of a 30-ton ladle for steel. It is cylindrical and has
special attention. an ID of 1600 mm and a height of 2250 mm. There is
a nozzle adapter at the bottom at the center of the vessel.
Cylindrical nozzles made of stainless steel or brass can
II. GENERAL DESCRIPTION be inserted into the adapter. The upper end of the nozzle
OF GAS STIRRED GAS/LIQUID SYSTEMS is flush with the vessel bottom. The length of the nozzle
bore is 10 times its ID. Ten glass windows of about 25
When a gas jet is discharged into a liquid at the bottom x 25 cm 2 are distributed in the wall of the basin in order
of a vessel, there are two main flow regimes along its
to permit visual observation of the plume. An x-y tra-
trajectory3 ~ Immediately above the nozzle, there is a
versing table is mounted at the top of the basin to which
transition zone in which the disintegration of the gas the probe holder is attached. The movement of the holder
stream into bubbles takes place. At some distance up- in the x-y plane is driven by DC micromotors which are
ward, the disintegration of the gas stream is completed controlled by a computer. The holder consists of a
and the bubble zone becomes fully developed. The bub- stainless-steel lance of 25-ram external diameter into which
ble zone may be subdivided into a lower region, where the measuring probe can be inserted.
the gas still has some of its initial momentum, and into Filtered air was supplied from pressure vessels, which
its main part, where the motion of the gas relative to the were fed by a screw compressor. The flow rate and pres-
liquid is buoyancy driven. In terms of physics, the upper sure were measured with a rotameter and a manometer,
part is similar to a one-phase plume driven by density respectively. The air temperature was taken as ambient
differences and should be called a plume (bubble plume) room temperature, 20 ~ The atmospheric air pressure
rather than a jet. The motion of the liquid phase is caused was 0.942 bar. Generally, gas was blown for at least
by momentum transfer from the gas jet to the liquid in 15 minutes to stabilize the plume pattern before starting
measurements. The experimental conditions are listed in
MARCO A.S.C. CASTELLO-BRANCO, formerly Scientist, Institut Table I.
fiir Allgerneine Metallurgie, Technical University of Clausthal, is with The water was filtered. The height of the bath was
M a n n e s m a n n S.A., 30,000 Belo Horizonte, Brazil. KLAUS kept constant at 1800 mm. Some salt (0.35 pct
SCHWERDTFEGER, Professor, is with the Institut fiJr Allgemeine
Metallurgie, Technical University of Clausthal, 38678 Clausthal- Na2C104-H20 in experiment 3, 0.145 pct NaC1 in the
Zellerfeld, Germany. other experiments) was added to the bath to increase its
Manuscript submitted January 22, 1993. electrical conductivity.
-- " 25 ~_~
~6 --
A . M e a s u r e m e n t o f Gas Fraction The lance to which the probe was attached served as
and B u b b l e F r e q u e n c y a counterelectrode. The probe was connected to a
Wheatstone bridge network. The current of high fre-
The available measuring techniques for gas/liquid flow
quency (15.6 kHz) was used to eliminate polarization
systems have been adequately described by several au- effects. The output of the sensor circuit was an amplitude-
thors t9-1s] and will not be reviewed in this article. We modulated sine wave which was filtered and demodu-
used a double-tip electrical resistivity probe for the lated. The final signal consists of a DC output of 5 V
measurements of gas fraction, bubble frequency, and gas when the tip meets a bubble and 0 V when it is in the
velocity (22 in Figure 1). The principle of the technique liquid. The output signal was fed to an analog/digital
is to measure the electrical resistance between the elec- converter (conversion time = 20/zs) of a computer pro-
trodes, which is low if the probe is in the conducting grammed to give values of gas fraction and bubble fre-
liquid and high if the contact is interrupted by a bubble. quency. Because the probe does not always give ideal
15
18 i 5
S | | m m I | e m m | | | I m | I i I
i 4
2 laverae of ninina of fluctuations[
-~
0
8
i
Q.
'' 25 9 , , , I ~ , , , , , , , , , , 1 ,
Z9- , , , , , , ', , , , , , , , ,
28
zs
E laverage uf ~a+<;na of f+uctuationst
o 15
i 26
15'
r
r
19
(b) #
i
f f 2.4-
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
t
Typical examples for the radial profiles of gas con- 2.0- ' !
centration e and bubble frequency n are given in
Figure 5. Figure 6 shows examples for the radial profiles N I z = t+OOmm
of gas velocity ug and Figure 7 for the radial profiles of
liquid velocity ul (vertical component). The lower curves
in Figures 5(a) and (b) and the lower diagram in
Figure 7 reflect the average values e(av), n(av), and u~(av)
over the measuring time t,, of 300 seconds. The upper 0.8 v o6...,oc,
~
curves in Figures 5(a) and (b) and the upper diagram in z = 1600ram
Figure 7 represent the maximum values e(max), n(max),
and u](max) (averages of the three highest values in
300 seconds after time integration with tz = 10 seconds).
0.4
It was observed that the position of the maxima of the
plume properties did not usually coincide with the axis 0
of the nozzle, which is a result of the lateral wandering. -260 -160 260
The profiles of gas fraction and bubble frequency are radiat coordinate r , mm
qualitatively very similar, except at the distance z = Fig. 6 - - T y p i c a l radial profiles of gas velocity9
e 0.8. [ V. N O N D I M E N S I O N A L
CORRELATIONS FOR AXIAL VALUES
06
The most important data of the bubble plume are the
momentary axial maxima and the momentary half-width
..-=~. 0./., i' t of the radial profiles of the various quantities. In pre-
vious literature, correlations have been deduced for de-
scribing these quantities. Usually, the measurements were
carded out with small vessels, in which the extent of the
lateral wandering of the jet is comparatively small. Hence,
the radial profiles do not fluctuate much with time and
I
are indeed identical to the "momentary" profiles or very
- o 2 ~ , , , : close to them. This is also true in a large vessel at small
12 i i i ~ i i i
heights over the nozzle. However, at larger height, the
l
Experiment No 6 average radial profiles contain not only the spatial shape
1.0 12:2500NEm3s_ , ~-z:200mm of the momentary profiles, but also the time function of
the lateral wandering. Consequently, they are more com-
d =Smm II plex than the momentary profiles. So, if a relationship
E 0.8.
(b) is to be established between the present data and pre-
vious data obtained in small-scale experimentation, it is
-~_0.6 deemed more appropriate to use the "max" values, which
are close to the momentary values, rather than the "av"
values. Correlations will be derived for these quantities,
?,
v're z =6~Omm and it will be investigated whether the previous non-
dimensional relationships deduced from the small-scale
experimentation can be extended to include the behavior
o-
of large-scale bubble plumes.
~ 0
A, Gas Fraction
-0.2
-800 -4bo-ioo o 260 460 660 800 Figure 8 gives the dependence of axial gas fraction E
radial coordinate r , mm on distance z from the orifice for experiments 3, 4, and
6 of the present work. Included are data from the pre-
Fig. 7--Typical radial profiles of liquid velocity.
vious work, ~u~ carried out on a small 445-mm ID vessel.
Near the nozzle, the gas fraction approaches 100 pct.
The gas fraction then decreases with increasing z. The
100 mm, where the bubble frequency usually exhibited data show that below about 50 pct, the decrease can be
a minimum around r = 0. HSI This is probably owing to represented by a power law E - z -v, which is indicated
the "gas core" still existing at this height. The radial by the straight lines in the double logarithmic plot. The
profiles of gas velocity and of liquid velocities show the curves cover ranges which depend considerably on the
usual maximum close to the center of the vessel. But volumetric gas flow rate Q and the nozzle diameter d,
negative liquid velocity values appear at large radial co- but they can be brought together by using the non-
ordinates, indicating that the liquid flows downward. This dimensional coordinate z/zo, where z0 is the height over
is a result of the recirculatory nature of the liquid flow. the nozzle at which E has a specified value. We have
The most important characteristic quantity of the ra- chosen z0 as the z value for E = 50 pct, as in the previous
dial profiles is their maximum value at the center of the investigation, t~3] Figure 9 shows that the data below
bubble plume. Table II contains the numerical values. E = 50 pct can be represented by the relationship
Three kinds of axial values can be read from the e, n,
and uj radial profiles. The first kind are the maxima on
(;00)-v
Z Z
the profiles of the average quantities e(av), n(av), and E=50 pct, with 3'= 1.22 for--= 1 [1]
Z0
ul(av) (e.g., average over t,, = 300 seconds). They are
denoted by E(av), N(av), and U,(av). The second kind
of axial values are the maxima on the radial profiles of There is no difference in this nondimensional plot be-
the maximum values e(max), n(max), and u~(max). They tween the recent and previous data 1~3~obtained in large-
are denoted by E(max), N(max), and U~(max). Third, scale or small-scale experiments, respectively. Also, above
there are the "real" axial values obtained by visually E = 50 pct, a unique relationship between E and Z/Zo
exists. F i g u r e 10 shows the data in this range. The an- The data o f other authors ll3'~3-251 also prove the valid-
alytical relationship ity o f z d e p e n d e n c e o f E according to the p o w e r law [1]
b e l o w a gas fraction o f about 50 pct. H o w e v e r , different
E= 100-50 +A 1 - pct, exponents have been found. Particularly, 3, is smaller in
liquid metals.[13] W e pointed out this fact p r e v i o u s l y , II31
and it can also be d e d u c e d from recent data o f Xie
Z et al. t26t for the n i t r o g e n / W o d d ' s metal system.
for0<--< 1 [21
Z0
The axial position z0 (at which E = 50 pct) is o f fun-
d a m e n t a l interest. It m a y be taken as the "penetration
was chosen, w h i c h is continuous in value and in slope depth" o f the j e t gas core, or as the distance from which
with Eq. [1] at Z/Zo = 1. The coefficient A and the ex- the b u b b l e / l i q u i d mixture is fully d e v e l o p e d . I131 Dukler
ponents a a n d / 3 were d e t e r m i n e d by a least-squares fit, and Taite, tzTl studying transition criteria for flow patterns
y i e l d i n g A = 150, a = 1.59, a n d / 3 = 2.73. in g a s / l i q u i d systems, explain this coordinate from the
60-
. . . . . ." ". " %. - _ _ ~ , . ~ - \-\ . pet:_ . . . .
. . . . . 50
50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
z,a ', ",\ \N.
"5 ",,,,, -'I,, \" \ ! ~ E = 5 0 ( z / z 0 )-t2z
~. ", %,, \ ~ \
;,, ",\\\
o , ", " ~ \ ' ~ . tad
-20" Cl,Ncm3s -I d ,ram I r I
[] 25oo 203 !
-- . air/water ., X ~'oN,
='* ,. 0, , Ncm s-I d rnm ", ,, \\\ o 6389 5.0FIarge vessel
= .~
o 25oo
c~,~^ ~Lpresent
.
work,' \, 9 \ x
",. v 7778 10.01 , -~oo I
E o JUUU ~.qr"
"~ O 6389 5.0]largevessel "\, N o~ 5" ~ 2500 5.0] I t~\' t
E 9 58 o51 ',
" 58 0"5] previous work, .E 9 151 05Lprevious work, v ~ NI
9 703 I0 i" small vesset " 703 I"0 F small vessel
9 950 2.0]
2, 9 95o i0] :
I
10 ~0 4'0 6'0 160 2do t+do 660 '10bo 000 I
I
distance from nozzle z , rnrn
I
Fig. 8 - - M a x i m u m value in radial profile of gas fraction as a function 0.1 0'.2 0'.5 1 } 5 10
of distance from nozzle. (For present work, E values are E(max) val- dimensionless disfance from nozzle z / z o
ues for experiments 3 and 4 and E(visual) values for experiment 6).
Fig. 9 - - Maximum gas fraction as a function of nondimensional dis-
tance from nozzle. The data of the present work are the E(max)values
for experiments 1 through 5 and E(visual) values for experiment 6.
perspective o f a m a x i m u m allowable packing of the
bubbles. In their argumentation, bubbles are considered
as having a spherical shape and being arranged in a cubic
lattice. For such a geometry, the gas fraction can be
52 pct at most, which confirms the 50 pct boundary cho- "~ ,,
sen previously. 9 ~ - - E=50 (z--Yln
Table I contains the derived values of z0. From 90- I ~ 9 \ -~z0~
Figure 11, it is evident that the ratio zo/d can be cor- '
related with the modified Froude number Q~ p~.b/g d 5 P~ 9
.- E=I00-50( o
according to the equation
80- .iso(
115,(I_
Z 1.59 Z 2.73 ~ I.
2 ,0.272
z0 \
-- = 6.8 [3] o=
,:-- v r
d \g dSp,/ 70- k
This relationship is close to that proposed previously, t~31 air/water ~ ,
It covers our data on the small- and large-scale jets, and ~,~,o,<>,v.~ present work "_ NC,,,
the data o f other authors 123,e4,26,zsJ on several gas/liquid =E 60" Q,Ncm 3s-1 d,mm " N~,
systems, and thus appears by now to be well established. "~
E 9 58 05| ~ %,
By combining Eqs. [1] and [3], one obtains the follow- m ,, 151 015/ . " \_
- 273 1.0~ previous 50pcf 9
ing for E _-< 50 pct: S0---- 703 10|._ WOrK . . . . . . . . . . l,~_.
9 950 2.0|
E = 50" 6.8 ~ [ ~dbPb,g \~/ pct [4]
- 2452 2.0_I I ""
I
I
40 I
0 0'.2 0'.4 0'.6 0'.8 to u
where y depends on the gas/liquid combination. For air/ dimension[ess distance from nozzle z / z o
water with 7 -- 1.22, Eq. [4] becomes
Fig. I O - - M a x i m u m gas fraction as a function of nondimensional dis-
tance in the range close to the nozzle. The data of the present work
are the E(max) values for experiments 1 through 5, and the E(visual)
E = 518 \ g - - - ~ P t / pet [5]
values for experiment 6.
For the range close to the nozzle, for which Eq. [2] is
used in the present work, other authors 123,251also applied function applies and that, for z ~ 0, E will go to infinity
the Eq. [5] type relationship. So, they used two Eq. [5] rather than becoming 100 pct.
type equations with different values for the numerical
constant and exponents in the ranges with very high E
and lower E, respectively. However, the disadvantage
B. Liquid Velocity
o f using a function E ~ z -~ also in the high E range is The quantity o f most interest to the metallurgists and
that there will be an intermediate range where neither chemical engineers is the velocity o f the liquid.
10-
Fig. 11 - - N o n d i m e n s i o n a l correlation for the gage length z0, the distance from the nozzle at which the m a x i m u m gas fraction E is 50 pct.
Figure 12 shows the dependence of axial liquid velocity an independent variable. In view of the functional de-
U~ (max values) on distance z from the nozzle. There is pendence Eq. [3], d can be replaced by z0. Hence,
a decrease of Um with increasing z, which is first strong U1 = f(Z,Zo,Qb,Pg.b,Pl,g)" The correlation cannot be sim-
but then very gradual, and an increase of U~ with in- ple, because close to the nozzle, the liquid velocity is
creasing volumetric gas flow rate Q. For the derivation due to momentum transfer from the gas jet and, at larger
of a dimensionless correlation, it may be assumed that distance, is induced by buoyancy. Previously, we cor-
U1 is determined (same as E) in an isothermal system by related Ul with the equation U~/Ul(Zo) = B(z/zo) -~ +
the distance z, the nozzle diameter d, the volumetric gas C(z/zo) -'7, in which U~(zo) is the liquid velocity at z = z0
flow rate at the nozzle exit Qb, the pressure at the nozzle (where E = 50 pct) ll5'291 and Ul(zo) is related to the Froude
exit Pb, the densities Pg.b and Pl, and gravity g; U~ = number. However, there is the disadvantage in this pro-
f(z,d,Qb,Pb,pg.b,pl,g). If only nitrogen and air are used cedure that the U~(zo) values are not so precise, contain-
as gases, which have almost the same molecular mass, ing the errors of the E measurements in addition to those
Pb is determined by Pg,b and, consequently, vanishes as of the U l measurements. It is more appropriate to form
a dimensionless liquid velocity from a combination
of Ul and Qb. We first used Uld2/Qb. This quantity
| I I I I
was plotted against dimensionless distance Z/Zo with the
6 Froude number Q2/gd5 being a constant parameter for
each experiment. Then Uld /Qb values at constant Z/Zo
~) air/water
4- were read from the Uld2/Qb - Z/Zo curves and plotted
"7 against the Froude number, finding U~d2/Qb
E (Q2b/gd5)-o with the exponent O being close to 0.4. From
Uld2/Qb = (Q2b/gdS!~L4f(z/zo) follows that Ul = g O.a
~- 2 QKf(Z/Zo) or U1/g ~ QK = f(z/zo).
Figure 13 shows the dimensionless liquid velocity
-4--
I_1
9
Ul/g~ ~ as a function of Z/Zo. The relationship rep-
0
resenting our data is
1 -2. o
E06-
"'1
E
[]
13
2500
7222
2.0
3.5 + t.10
(zt-~176
- for z / z o > 0 . 8 [6]
X
~ 0~" o 5000 5.0 \ Zo/
E
0 6389 5.0
The first term is large only at a small distance from the
2500 5.0
nozzle since it decreases rapidly with increasing Z/Zo,
02 and far away from the nozzle, only the second term is
100 20b 40'0 'i0 0 2000 important. These two terms may be taken to represent
the contributions of the momentum transfer and of buoy-
distance from nozzle z , m m ancy, respectively. Eq. [6] is not valid very close to the
Fig. 12--Maximum value in radial profile of liquid velocity as a nozzle (z --> 0), where the liquid is accelerated from zero
function of distance from nozzle lU)(rnax) values]. (at z = 0) to some maximum value before it decays again
U,(zo)
gO,~O~u; - 2.05 [7]
scale vessels, 126,3~1 some with very high and some with 100 260 t,'00 600 ' llJ00 20'00 40'00
small gas flow rates. In the measurements of Kobus, tz~] distance from nozzle z mm
Milgram and van Houten, 1~8~ and of Ebneth and Fig. 1 4 - - D a t a of maximum liquid velocity obtained by other au-
Pluschkell, t~T1there is a gradual decrease of U~ with in- thors 1~7J8.21"26"31~in comparison with our data,
creasing z. In our results, the decrease is stronger. The
data of Xie and Oeters p~ and Schneider p~I show prac-
tically no variation of Uj with z. The data fall in a rather less important in comparison to the second term. For in-
wide range, but they can all be brought together fairly stance, for Z/Zo > 4, the first term in Eq. [6] becomes
well with correlation [6], as is shown in Figure 15. smaller than 4 pct of the second term. Hence, for suf-
The dependence of dimensionless velocity on the den- ficiently large z (z/z o > 4), our Eq. [6] approaches
sity ratio is not determined yet. The data of Xie and
Oeters p~ may indicate that Ul/g~ ~ decreases some- U, ( zt- ~ 176
what with decreasing Pg.b/P~. g0.4Q0.~ - 1. l 0 \20/- [9]
In the previous literature, [3~ equations of the type
which is equivalent to
Ut = K Q~ z -x [8] / \0.02~8
U, = 17.4Q~176176 z --~176 [10]
have been used to describe the liquid velocity Ut, with
\Pl/
K ranging from 0.24 to 0.34 and A either being zero (in-
dicating constant velocity over the liquid height) or very with Ut in cm s -l, Q b i n cm 3 s m, and d a n d z i n cen-
small. This equation is too simple to also cover the range timeters. The effect of d in Eq. [I0] is very small, and
of momentum transfer close to the nozzle. However, with (p~.b/pO~176 for air/water is 0.866. Neglecting d,
increasing z, the first term in our correlation [6] becomes Eq. [10] becomes, for air/water,
~ 0.1
0',6 /, ~ ~ 4b 2/) ~o 6'0 1oo
dimensionless distance from nozzle z / z o t Z ~t-2.0~, Z
velocity with present data. For explanation of symbols see Figure 14.
~=5 /+"
l i i i i i m i i
10 84 o 6389 5.~J
E 8' v 7778 10.
58 05]>previous work r
.,6 I~>l N : 151 0.5] small vessel
E 1-
/+.
,m
0.B" o present work -~
9 previous work _~air/wafer
> E 0.6- +
~, 2
[asfillejos and Brimacombe
o')
x Iguchi et aL
t- 0.4- 9
--~ 0efers et aI.,nitrogen/Wood's metal
E
O | [asti[Iejos and Brimacombe, nitrogen/
"~
E
0.8 t/1
r- mercury
OJ
0.6- E
0.t+ "~ 0.2 lb
20 ~'0 6'0 8'0 ioo 20'0 ~b0 ~8o '~o'oo 20'00 ~oo
distance from nozzle z , m m dimensionless distance from nozzle z/z o
Fig. 16--Maximum value in radial profile of gas velocity as a func- Fig. 18--Comparison of literature data123"24,26'281on maximum gas ve-
tion of distance from the nozzle. locity with Eq. [12].
"7 E Ug
/" v 7778 10.0 & - I13J
200" '\' = 2500 5.0 N
z ,, ~ao,\ '\oN,X
using the max values for E and N (Table II). From
Figure 20, it is evident that Sb decreases strongly within
80, the first 300 mm above the nozzle and then stays con-
stant at Sb ~ 5 mm, which corresponds to an effective
~
& 60
spherical bubble radius of 3.75 mm.
='u t+O
VI. S U M M A R Y AND C O N C L U S I O N S
E
= 20- ~,x~X In the present work, the hydrodynamic characteristics
.g of bubble plumes have been investigated using a large-
x
t~ scale water model. The electroresistivity probe was ap-
E 10- plied to measure gas fraction, bubble frequency, and gas
0B- velocity, and a propeller anemometer was used to mea-
sure the liquid velocity. A complete set of data of the
06-
relevant properties has been obtained in the same inves-
0t, tigation, which hitherto was not available in the literature.
I01 2'00 ~,00 6'00'1d00 20bo t+ooo The nondimensional correlations are derived for the
axial values of the properties. Their structure reflects the
distance from nozzle z , mm different mechanisms of momentum transfer in the jet
Fig. ] 9 - - M a x i m u m value in radial profile of bubble frequency as a region above the nozzle with high gas fraction and in the
function of distance from the nozzle. region above where the bubble plume is fully developed.