Gas-liquid multiphase flow is a significant phenomenon in chemical processes. The rising behaviors of single bubbles in the quiescent liquids have been investigated but the internal flow patterns and deformation rules of bubbles

which influence the mass transfer efficiency to a large extent

have received much less attention. In this paper

the volume of fluid method was used to calculate the bubble shapes

pressure

velocity distributions

and the flow patterns inside the bubbles. The rising behavior of the bubbles with four different initial diameters

i.e

.

3 mm

5 mm

7 mm and 9 mm was investigated in four various liquids including water

61.23% glycerol

86.73% glycerol and 100% glycerol. The results show that the liquid properties and bubble initial diameters have great impacts on bubble shapes. Moreover

flow patterns inside the bubbles with different initial diameters were analyzed and classified into three types under the condition of different bubble shapes. Three correlations for predicting the maximum internal circulation inside the bubbles in 86.73% glycerol were presented and the R-square values were all bigger than 0.98. Through analyzing the pressure and veloc

ity distributions around the bubbles

four rules of bubble deformation were also obtained to explain and predict the shapes.