Foam Engineering
Fundamentals and Applications
1. Edition February 2012
548 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Containing contributions from leading academic and industrial researchers, this book provides a much needed update of foam science research.
The first section of the book presents an accessible summary of the theory and fundamentals of foams. This includes chapters on morphology, drainage, Ostwald ripening, coalescence, rheology, and pneumatic foams.
The second section demonstrates how this theory is used in a wide range of industrial applications, including foam fractionation, froth flotation and foam mitigation. It includes chapters on suprafroths, flotation of oil sands, foams in enhancing petroleum recovery, Gas-liquid Mass Transfer in foam, foams in glass manufacturing, fire-fighting foam technology and consumer product foams.
Key features:
* Foam fractionation is an exciting and emerging technology, starting to gain significant attention
* Discusses a vital topic for many industries, especially mineral processing, petroleum engineering, bioengineering, consumer products and food sector
* Links foam science theory to industrial applications, making it accessible to an engineering science audience
* Summarizes the latest developments in this rapidly progressing area of research
* Contains contributions from leading international researchers from academia and industry
Contributors xvii
Preface xix
1 Introduction 1
Paul Stevenson
1.1 Gas-Liquid Foam in Products and Processes 1
1.2 Content of This Volume 2
1.3 A Personal View of Collaboration in Foam Research 3
Part I Fundamentals 5
2 Foam Morphology 7
D. Weaire, S.T. Tobin, A.J. Meagher and S. Hutzler
2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Basic Rules of Foam Morphology 7
2.3 Two-dimensional Foams 11
2.4 Ordered Foams 15
2.5 Disordered Foams 19
2.6 Statistics of 3D Foams 20
2.7 Structures in Transition: Instabilities and Topological Changes 21
2.8 Other Types of Foams 22
2.9 Conclusions 24
3 Foam Drainage 27
Stephan A. Koehler
3.1 Introduction 27
3.2 Geometric Considerations 29
3.3 A Drained Foam 33
3.4 The Continuity Equation 35
3.5 Interstitial Flow 36
3.6 Forced Drainage 38
3.7 Rigid Interfaces and Neglecting Nodes: The Original Foam Drainage Equation 41
3.8 Mobile Interfaces and Neglecting Nodes 43
3.9 Neglecting Channels: The Node-dominated Model 46
3.10 The Network Model: Combining Nodes and Channels 48
3.11 The Carman-Kozeny Approach 50
3.12 Interpreting Forced Drainage Experiments: A Detailed Look 51
3.13 Unresolved Issues 53
3.14 A Brief History of Foam Drainage 54
4 Foam Ripening 59
Olivier Pitois
4.1 Introduction 59
4.2 The Very Wet Limit 59
4.3 The Very Dry Limit 61
4.4 Wet foams 65
4.5 Controlling the Coarsening Rate 69
5 Coalescence in Foams 75
Annie Colin
5.1 Introduction 75
5.2 Stability of Isolated Thin Films 76
5.3 Structure and Dynamics of Foam Rupture 78
5.4 What Are the Key Parameters in the Coalescence Process? 81
5.5 How Do We Explain the Existence of a Critical Liquid Fraction? 86
5.6 Conclusion 89
6 Foam Rheology 91
Nikolai D. Denkov, Slavka S. Tcholakova, Reinhard Höhler and Sylvie Cohen-Addad
6.1 Introduction 91
6.2 Main Experimental and Theoretical Approaches 93
6.3 Foam Visco-elasticity 95
6.4 Yielding 103
6.5 Plastic Flow 105
6.6 Viscous Dissipation in Steadily Sheared Foams 106
6.7 Foam-Wall Viscous Friction 112
6.8 Conclusions 114
7 Particle Stabilized Foams 121
G. Kaptay and N. Babcsán
7.1 Introduction 121
7.2 A Summary of Some Empirical Observations 123
7.3 On the Thermodynamic Stability of Particle Stabilized Foams 125
7.4 On the Ability of Particles to Stabilize Foams during Their Production 131
7.5 Design Rules for Particle Stabilized Foams 135
7.6 Conclusions 138
8 Pneumatic Foam 145
Paul Stevenson and Xueliang Li
8.1 Preamble 145
8.2 Vertical Pneumatic Foam 145
8.3 Horizontal Flow of Pneumatic Foam 158
8.4 Pneumatic Foam in Inclined Channels 162
8.5 Methods of Pneumatic Foam Production 162
9 Non-aqueous Foams: Formation and Stability 169
Lok Kumar Shrestha and Kenji Aramaki
9.1 Introduction 169
9.2 Phase Behavior of Diglycerol Fatty Acid Esters in Oils 173
9.3 Non-aqueous Foaming Properties 174
9.4 Conclusion 203
10 Suprafroth: Ageless Two-dimensional Electronic Froth 207
Ruslan Prozorov and Paul C. Canfield
10.1 Introduction 207
10.2 The Intermediate State in Type-I Superconductors 208
10.3 Observation and Study of the Tubular Intermediate State Patterns 211
10.4 Structural Statistical Analysis of the Suprafroth 215
Part II Applications 227
11 Froth Phase Phenomena in Flotation 229
Paul Stevenson and Noel W.A. Lambert
11.1 Introduction 229
11.2 Froth Stability 233
11.3 Hydrodynamic Condition of the Froth 235
11.4 Detachment of Particles from Bubbles 236
11.5 Gangue Recovery 238
11.6 The Velocity Field of the Froth Bubbles 241
11.7 Plant Experience of Froth Flotation 242
12 Froth Flotation of Oil Sand Bitumen 251
Laurier L. Schramm and Randy J. Mikula
12.1 Introduction 251
12.2 Oil Sands 251
12.3 Mining and Slurrying 253
12.4 Froth Structure 265
12.5 Physical Properties of Froths 272
12.6 Froth Treatment 274
12.7 Conclusion 278
13 Foams in Enhancing Petroleum Recovery 283
Laurier L. Schramm and E. Eddy Isaacs
13.1 Introduction 283
13.2 Foam Applications for the Upstream Petroleum Industry 284
13.3 Foam Applications in Wells and Near Wells 287
13.4 Foam Applications in Reservoir Processes 289
13.5 Occurrences of Foams at the Surface and Downstream 298
13.6 Conclusion 299
14 Foam Fractionation 307
Xueliang Li and Paul Stevenson
14.1 Introduction 307
14.2 Adsorption in Foam Fractionation 310
14.3 Foam Drainage 315
14.4 Coarsening and Foam Stability 316
14.5 Foam Fractionation Devices and Process Intensification 317
14.6 Concluding Remarks about Industrial Practice 324
15 Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer in Foam 331
Paul Stevenson
15.1 Introduction 331
15.2 Non-Overflowing Pneumatic Foam Devices 334
15.3 Overflowing Pneumatic Foam Devices 336
15.4 The Waldhof Fermentor 338
15.5 Induced Air Methods 340
15.6 Horizontal Foam Contacting 341
15.7 Calculation of Specific Interfacial Area in Foam 342
15.8 Hydrodynamics of Pneumatic Foam 343
15.9 Mass Transfer and Equilibrium Considerations 345
15.10 Towards an Integrated Model of Foam Gas-Liquid Contactors 347
15.11 Discussion and Future Directions 349
16 Foams in Glass Manufacturing 355
Laurent Pilon
16.1 Introduction 355
16.2 Glass Foams in Glass Melting Furnaces 363
16.3 Physical Phenomena 365
16.4 Experimental Studies 373
16.5 Modeling 386
16.6 Measures for Reducing Glass Foaming in Glass Melting Furnaces 395
16.7 Perspective and Future Research Directions 400
17 Fire-Fighting Foam Technology 411
Thomas J. Martin
17.1 Introduction 411
17.2 History 413
17.3 Applications 415
17.4 Physical Properties 416
17.5 Chemical Properties 430
17.6 Testing 448
Concentration (CMC) 451
17.7 The Future 453
18 Foams in Consumer Products 459
Peter J. Martin
18.1 Introduction 459
18.2 Creation and Structure 463
18.3 Sensory Appeal 470
18.4 Conclusions 473
Index