The Principal Investigator (PI) proposes to study gas mass transfer from microbubbles. Microbubbles, also known as colloidal gas aphrons, are surfactant-stabilized bubbles about 50 microns in diameter that are formed using a spinning-disk apparatus. Predictive models of microbubble mass transfer and coalescence are to be developed, and rates of gas mass transfer and bubble coalescence are to be measured for a range of surfactant types. The utility of microbubble dispersions for synthesis-gas fermentations is also to be studied. Fermentation productivities using conventional gas sparging and microbubble sparging will be compared. Productivities of these fermentations is currently limited by the slow rate of gas mass transfer.
