Applications of foams and foaming are found in many industries like the flotation of minerals, enhanced oil recovery, drilling in oil reservoirs, insulation, construction and refining processes such as Vacuum distillation and Delay-Coker reactors. However, foaming and defoaming are not yet understood. Foams trap gas and are not wanted in many applications. Guitian and Joseph (1997) proposed fundamental studies of their observations on foam suppresion experiments they carried out in a cold slit bubble reactor. In this page we present our most recent findings.

The Project

Experimental Setup

Foaming Criterion

Foam Formation in a Bubble Column With a Good Distributor

Foam Control Using a Fluidized Bed of Particles

Publications

• Joseph, D.D., "Questions in Fluid Mechanics: Understanding Foams and Foaming." Technical Forum. Journal of Fluids Engineering, 119, 497-498 (1997).
• Guitian, J. and D. Joseph, "How Bubbly Mixtures Foam and Foam Control Using a Fluidized Bed." To be published in the International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 1997.
• Mata, C. and D. Joseph, "Foam Control Using a Fluidized Bed of Hydrophobic Particles." To be published in the International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 1997.

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