Breakup of gas bubbles rising in molten metals

Abstract

A theory on the breakup of rising bubbles is developed on the basis of long-term experiments with bubbles rising in different liquids. The probability of bubble breakup is expressed in terms of half-life as a dimensionless function of the bubble volume and liquid properties. The results are applied to develop a mathematical model of bubbles rising in a column of high density liquid under a low external pressure. The model predicts that in typical steelmaking equipment the size of bubbles approaching the liquid level depends mostly on the external pressure and it is quite independent of the original size of the bubbles.