Mechanisms of stability of armored bubbles: FY 1995 progress report

Experimental and theoretical studies of stabilization of liquid films between bubbles were undertaken as part of an effort to model gas release in waste tanks at the Hanford nuclear reservation. Synthetic Hanford waste created here showed solids accumulation at bubble surfaces and some stabilization of bubbles in a froth upon sparging with nitrogen. Dilational interfacial rheological measurements indicate increasing hydrophobicity with increasing EDTA concentration in the wastes. There is greater dilational elasticity of the interface with solid particles present on the interface. Theoretical modeling of a 2D liquid film between bubbles containing one row of solid particles suggests that in 3D such a film would be unstable unless the solids all touch. This hints at a possible mechanism for bubble stabilization, if it can be argued that slowly evolving interfaces, as bubbles grow toward each other in the sludge, have solids closely packed, but that rapid expansion of gas during a rollover event forces the films to expand without additional solids