Gas Transfer During Bubbler Destratification of Reservoirs

In this paper, dimensional analysis has been carried out to derive general equations that predict: the total gas transferred to the ambient reservoir water from an air bubbler, total volume entrained, and total energy consumed for a known or equivalent linear stratification. The equations are tested by comparison with a one-dimensional bubbler model developed by the authors. It is shown that the oxygen transfer to the water column can be significant if small bubbles are used. The mechanical destratification efficiency (eta)mech (%), destratification time per unit surface area (gamma)  (s/m2), oxygen dissolution efficiency (omega)(%), and oxygen transferred per unit input energy are examined as functions of bubble size. It is concluded that an average bubble radius of 1  mm should be considered for design purposes. However, if oxygen transfer from the bubbler is not considered important, then a bubble size of up to 4  mm is acceptable for destratification purposes.