Snap-off of gas bubbles in smoothly constricted noncircular capillaries

Journal Article · Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987 · A.I.Ch.E. J.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.690330508· OSTI ID:5569612

Ransohoff, T C; Gauglitz, P A; Radke, C J

A corner flow hydrodynamic theory is outlined for the time to snap-off of a gas bubble moving through a smoothly constricted noncircular capillary as a function of the pore geometry and the capillary number, Ca. Above a transition capillary number the time to snap-off is independent of Ca, while below it the time to snap-off is inversely proportional to the capillary number. Thin films of liquid deposited along the capillary walls are shown to play a minor role; they are accordingly neglected in the analysis. The proposed theory is compared to new experimental results for snap-off in two constricted square capillaries (dimensionless constriction radii of 0.3 and 0.5) over a range of capillary numbers (10/sup -5/ to 10/sup -3/), wetting-liquid viscosities (1.0 to 8.5 mPa . s), and surfactant types. Good agreement is found between theory and experiment.

• Research Organization: Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720
• OSTI ID: 5569612
• Journal Information: A.I.Ch.E. J.; (United States), Vol. 33:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
GASES
CAPILLARY FLOW
HYDRODYNAMICS
BUBBLES
GAS FLOW
POROSITY
SURFACTANTS
VISCOSITY
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
MECHANICS
420400* - Engineering- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow