Mass transfer into a spherical bubble

Abstract

A numerical study has been conducted to investigate the mass transfer inside a spherical bubble at low to moderate Reynolds numbers. The Navier–Stokes and diffusion–convection equations were solved numerically by a finite difference method. The effect of the bubble Schmidt number (over the range 0.1<Scd<5) and of the internal Reynolds number (over the range 0.1<Red<13) on mass transfer is investigated. The results show that the mass transfer is strongly dependent on the Reynolds number and the Schmidt number. From the numerical results, a predictive equation for the Sherwood number in terms of the Schmidt number and the Reynolds number is derived.