Experimental Investigation of Size Effect on the Bubble-Droplet Coalescence in Water

Nowadays, the interaction between gas bubbles and oil droplets plays an important role in the efficiency of many industrial processes. Therefore, it is of great importance to study the influencing factors on these processes. So, in the present paper, the effect of droplet and bubble size on the drainage time of the trapped intervening film between droplet and bubble was investigated. Six series of experiments were conducted for various sizes and three characteristic time scales including drainage time, coverage time, and rupture time were measured. Each of these experiments was repeated at least five times. The results showed that the drainage time changed independently of the droplet/bubble size. Moreover, it was observed that due to the nature of the phenomenon, the measured drainage times in each equivalent size are notably scattered, which means that the microscopic interactions in the water film and between bubble-droplet interfaces have significant impacts on the drainage time. Also, in the current experiment, it was found that the volume of the intervening film between droplet and bubble has no vital role in the drainage time of the mediate water film.