Modeling of bubble plume design and oxygen transfer for reservoir restoration

A one-dimensional bubble plume model is described to predict the gaseous mass transfer of air bubbles into ambient water and the appropriate design criteria of a bubbler for a linearly stratified reservoir. The bubble plume behavior is governed by two dimensionless parameters: G, the strength of stratification, and M, the source strength (via airflow rate). Mechanical efficiency, an indicator of bubbler operating cost; the rate of plume entrainment flux, an indicator of mixing effectiveness; and the oxygen dissolution efficiency are analyzed as functions of G and M for different air bubble sizes to describe optimum bubbler design conditions. A bubble radius close to 1 mm is recommended as it favors higher mechanical efficiency and oxygen dissolution efficiency.