Vapor Infusion Studies

The benefits of our vapor infusion system have been proven in studies conducted at various universities, commercial applications, and with the United States Navy. Positive results include

• dramatic reduction in fouling activity
• reduced environmental impact from heat exchanger fouling
• increased time between cleanings
• negligible levels of residual chemical in treated water
• significant decrease in need for heat exchanger cleanings
• reduced use of cleaning chemicals and disposal of chemical wastes
• low operation and maintenance costs
• minimal capital cost

Studies documenting an increase in heat transfer when using bubbles

Heat transfer enhancement caused by sliding bubbles

• Baris B. Bayazit, D. Keith Hollingsworth, and Larry C. Witte, Heat transfer enhancement caused by sliding bubbles, J. Heat Transfer 125(3), 503 – 509 (2003).

Heat transfer coefficient is increased by mixing due to gas-bubbles

• Atsuhide Kitagawa, Kenji Uchida, and Yoshimichi Hagiwara, Effects of bubble size on heat transfer enhancement by sub-millimeter bubbles for laminar natural convection along a vertical plate, Intl. J. Heat Fluid Flow 30(4), 778 – 788 (2009).

Bubble injection enhances heat transfer in horizontal heat exchanger

• Hamed Sadighi Dizaji and Samad Jafarmadar, Heat transfer enhancement due to air bubble injection into a horizontal double pipe heat exchanger, Intl. J. Auto. Eng. 4(4), 902 – 910 (2014).

Enhanced heat transfer with dynamic flow structures in the wakes of sliding bubbles

• Rudi O'Reilly Meehan, Brian Donnelly, Tim Persoons, and Darina B. Murray, Dynamic flow structures in the wakes of sliding bubbles for convective heat transfer enhancement, in Intl. Heat Transfer Conf. (2014).

Bubble injection enhances heat transfer in vertical heat exchanger

• Samira Pourhedayat, Hamed Sadighi Dizaji, and Samad Jafarmadar, Thermal-exergetic behavior of a vertical double-tube heat exchanger with bubble injection, Exp. Heat Transfer 32(5), 455 – 468 (2019).

Studies detailing the effectiveness of bubbles for treating fouling

Air bubbles remove the fouling ingredients on the heat transfer surfaces

• Seun Moon Baek, Won Sil Seol, Ho Saeng Lee, and Jung In Yoon, Decreasing the fouling of heat exchanger plates using air bubbles, Defect Diffusion Forum 297 – 301, 1199 – 1204 (2010).

Vapor infusion extends time between heat exchanger cleaning, with less than 200ppm effluent

• B. Holden, G. Griffin, M. Seck, and M. Radicone, Final Report TR-NAVFAC-EXWC-EV-1404 In-Situ Shipboard Heat Exchanger Cleaning and Maintenance Using Innovative I2 Bubble Infusion Technology, 2014.

Vapor infusion using iodine performed better than aqueous chlorine at mitigating fouling in a condenser tube

• Iodine vapor infusion process for the control of biofouling in power plant cooling water, Product ID 3002021040, EPRI, Technical Report (2022).

Nanobubbles improve heat exchanger efficiency and reduce environmental impact

• M. Radicone, M. A. Ugalde-Valdés, J. Guzmán-Mendoza, and J. C. Earthman, Vapor infusion with nanobubbles to mitigate heat exchanger fouling and reduce its environmental impact, Proc. Intl. Conf. Heat Exchanger Fouling Cleaning (2024).

Nanobubble creation and stability

Nanobubbles do not strictly follow Laplace pressure and are stable at surfaces and bulk fluid

• Muidh Alheshibri, Jing Qian, Marie Jehannin, and S. J. Craig, A history of nanobubbles, Langmuir 32(43), 11086 – 11100 (2016).

Nanobubbles are stable in bulk solution

• Seung Hoon Oh and Jong-Min Kim, Generation and stability of bulk nanobubbles, Langmuir 33(15), 3818 – 3823 (2017).

Nanobubble creation through microbubble shrinkage

• Pratik A. Satpute and James C. Earthman, Hydroxyl ion stabilization of bulk nanobubbles resulting from microbubble shrinkage, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 584, 449 – 455 (2021).

Biofouling

Bubbles present chemical vapor through bubble membrane surface

• Petronella R. Hove, Daniel Mobley, Forgivemore Magunda, and Douglas R. Call, Deploying elemental iodine in a vapor form to disinfect water and to clear biofilms, Intl. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17(10), 3489 (2020).

Reduction of biofouling in ground geothermal water and sea water plate heat exchangers

• Mike Radicone, Control of bio-fouling in ground and salt water plate heat exchangers using iodinated bubble infusion. Two case studies, in Proc. Intl. Conf. Heat Exchanger Fouling Cleaning, 205 – 209 (2013).

Vapor infusion extends time between heat exchanger cleaning

• Mike Radicone, In-situ shipboard heat exchanger maintenance using innovative I2 bubble infusion technology, in Proc. Intl. Conf. Heat Exchanger Fouling Cleaning, 248 – 250 (2015).

Nanobubbles can improve the effectiveness of biocides

• Phoebe Unger, Amninder Singh Sekhon, Sonali Sharma, Alexander Lampien, and Minto Michael, Impact of gas ultrafine bubbles on the efficacy of antimicrobials for eliminating fresh and aged Listeria monocytogenes biofilms on dairy processing surfaces, J. Food Safety 43(5) (2023).

Studies demonstrating effectiveness of bubbles for treating fouling

Scaling and corrosion

Nanobubbles can impact the solubility of mineral masses

• A. Li, Y. Li, S. Qiu, P. M. Patel, Z. Chen, and J. C. Earthman, Reduction of calcified plaque volume in ex vivo pericardial tissue, with nanobubbles, Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 217 (2022).

Nanobubbles can impact the solubility of calcium carbonate

• Nhi Vu-Y Quach, Ao Li, and James Calvin Earthman, Interaction of calcium carbonate with nanobubbles produced in an alternating magnetic field, ACS Applied Materials Interfaces 12(39), 43714 – 43719 (2020).

Nanobubbles rapidly reduce foulants within Three Mile Island water

• James C. Earthman and W. Dang, Alternating magnetic field treatment of service water to control pitting induced by sulphate reducing bacteria, Corrosion Management 96, 11 – 14 (2010).

Nanobubbles reduce scaling species and microbial diversity

• Yang Xiao, Bo Zhou, Siyuan Tan, Lei Li, Tahir Muhammad, Buchun Si, Changjian Ma, Sunny C. Jiang, and Yunkai Li, Nanobubbles for the mitigation of composite fouling in wastewater distribution systems, Eng. (2024).