Mathematics Commons^™

A Theoretical Study Of Bubble Motion In Surfactant Solutions, Yanping Wang

Dissertations

We examine the effect of surfactants on a spherical gas bubble rising steadily in an infinite fluid at low and order one Reynolds number with order one and larger Peclet numbers. Our mathematical model is based on the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with a convection-diffusion equation together with appropriate interfacial conditions. The nonlinearity of the equations and boundary conditions, and the coupling between hydrodynamics and surfactant transport make the problem very challenging.

When a bubble rises in a fluid containing surface-active agents, surfactant adsorbs onto the bubble surface at the leading edge, convects to the trailing edge by the surface flow …