Experimental investigation of supersaturation decay induced by bubble evolution in a pipe flow

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Abstract

Bubble formation caused by oxygen supersaturation can influence gas–liquid separation and heat exchange in polymer-electrolyte-membrane (PEM) electrolyser loops, yet the rate at which the dissolved-oxygen level relaxes toward equilibrium in turbulent pipe flow is poorly quantified. This study measures that relaxation in a dedicated test facility. Oxygen-saturated water (170 mg/l, 3.86 bar, 18 °C) was depressurised to 1 bar, generating a saturation ratio of 3.86. The liquid then flowed through three PVC pipes of different lengths (inner diameter = 20 mm) at seven volumetric flow rates corresponding to Reynolds numbers between 6 500 and 27 000. Outlet concentrations were obtained with a self-developed in-situ sampling technique whose combined uncertainty, propagated from the primary measurements, is ±0.06 in the dimensionless degree of desorption Θdes, excluding potential systematic bias from the sampling process. Θdes rose with contact length—0.32 (short), 0.40 (medium) and 0.48 (long)—but was independent of flow velocity, showing that the residence-time reduction at higher velocities is offset by a proportional increase in the mass-transfer coefficient. Even after the long configuration (up to 35 s residence) roughly half of the initial supersaturation remained, confirming strong kinetic limitations. A previously published axial cell model reproduced the data when the turbulent mass-transfer coefficient was calculated with the Kress–Keyes correlation; alternative correlations (Lamont–Scott, Avdeev) over-predicted desorption. The results provide benchmark data for oxygen release in a turbulent water flow at moderate supersaturation.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number123435
JournalChemical Engineering Science
Volume325
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 105029083951
ORCID /0000-0001-6727-8769/work/207308073

Keywords

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