Hydrodynamic interaction between a pair of bubbles ascending in shear-thinning inelastic fluids

The interaction of two bubbles rising in shear-thinning inelastic fluids was studied. The experimental results were complemented by numerical simulations conducted with the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian technique. Different initial alignments of the bubble pair were considered. Similarities and differences with the Newtonian fluids were found. The most noticeable difference is the so-called drafting–kissing–tumbling (DKT) process: for the case of bubbles rising in thinning fluids, the tumbling phase does not occur and the pair tends to form a stable doublet. The DKT process is also influenced by the amount of inertia and deformability of the individual bubbles and the initial angle between them. The experimental and numerical results suggest that the thinning wake formed behind the bubbles plays an important role in the speed of the pair and the formation of clusters in thinning fluids.