Drainage and separation factors for static foams containing agglomerates of microbial cells

Abstract

The presence of cell agglomerates has been found to influence significantly the rates of liquid drainage from static foams. The process of drainage has been modelled by considering the foam to be made of pentagonal dodecahedral bubbles yielding films, nearly horizontal and nearly vertical Plateau borders. The films are assumed to drain into both kinds of Plateau borders equally. The horizontal Plateau borders are assumed to receive liquid from the films and drain into the vertical Plateau borders, which, in turn, form the main flow paths for gravity drainage. The drainage process is assumed to be similar to that for pure liquid until a stage is reached where the size of the cell agglomerates become equivalent to those of films and Plateau borders. Thereafter, a squeezing flow mechanism has been formulated where the aggromerates deform and flow. The model based on the above assumptions has been verified against experimental results and has been found to predict not only drainage data but also the separation of cell agglomerates from broths.