TECHNOLOGIES > HYDRAULIC FLUIDS

Air entrainment — how it happens,

how to avoid it
The benefits of smaller machinery are obvious: economy of
materials, less energy consumption, less square-footage required.
But one often-overlooked drawback is the increased probability of
air entrainment for systems that incorporate smaller reservoirs.

G.E. Totten, R.J. Bishop Jr., R. Suzuki, and Y. Tanaka

JUL 05, 2001
One trend in industrial manufacturing is for systems, as well as
components, to be designed in a more compact fashion.

The benefits of smaller machinery are obvious — economy of materials,

less energy consumption, less square-footage required. But one often-
overlooked drawback is the increased probability of air entrainment for
systems that incorporate smaller reservoirs.

Bubbles in working fluids greatly influence the performance of hydraulic

systems and may cause major problems, such as bulk modulus change,
cavitation and aeration, degradation of lubrication, noise generation, oil
temperature rise, and deterioration of fluid quality. When bubbles in fluid
are compressed adiabatically at high pressure, the temperature of the
bubbles rises sharply, and the surrounding fluid temperature also rises.
Thus, it is important to eliminate the bubbles from the fluid to preserve its
quality, system performance, and to avoid possible damage of the
components.
Figure 1. While a foam floats on the fluid surface, bubbles exist as small
gas particles dispersed within the fluid.

Bubbles vs. foam

What is a bubble? It is a general term that can refer to various phenomena

that occur at the surface of a gas suspended in a fluid. However, for
technical use, the terms bubble and foam must be strictly defined. In this
article, bubble means small gas particles entrained and dispersed in the
fluid, Figure 1. Conversely, foam is comprised of many gas pockets
surrounded by a thin film and is created when fluid is mixed rapidly with
air from the free surface. It occurs when bubbles in the fluid become
enlarged and rise to the fluid surface, or when fluid is ejected into a
reservoir.

Troubles caused by bubbles

Foam causes problems when it overflows the reservoir. In such cases, the
problem may be easily solved by adding ester or silicon oil to the fluid as
an anti-foaming agent, or by repairing the equipment to eliminate foam
generation.

Bubbles can be created in many ways. Following are sources of air

ingression, where bubbles may be generated in a hydraulic system:

Release of dissolved air — All hydraulic fluids contain an amount of

dissolved air, which can be released when the pressure is decreased
rapidly. This can occur at valves and orifices, as well as where the fluid
returns to the reservoir.

Mechanical introduction — Entrained air can be introduced at points

in the system where there is a vacuum, such as leaks in the pump suction
line.

Improper bleeding — When initially filled, the hydraulic system will

contain air in all forms (free, entrained, and dissolved). For proper
operation, the system should be properly bled to remove air.

Improper addition of make-up fluid — Air may be entrained in the

fluid if splashing occurs when fluid is added, or if the added fluid causes
increased agitation in the reservoir.

Contamination — One common source of increased air entrainment

and foaming is fluid contamination by surface-active compounds.
Alternatively, the fluid may be contaminated in such a way that causes
precipitation of the antifoam or air release agent, resulting in significant
increases in air entrainment.

Improperly designed reservoirs — The overall dimensions should

enclose a sufficient volume of oil to permit air bubbles and foam to escape
during the resident time of the fluid in the reservoir. The depth must be
adequate to ensure that during peak pump demands, the fluid level will
not drop below the pump inlet. The pump should be mounted below the
reservoir so that a positive pressure is maintained at all times. This is
most critical when water-based hydraulic fluids are used, as these fluids
have a higher specific gravity as well as a much higher vapor pressure than
mineral oil-based fluids.

Baffles should be provided to prevent channeling of the fluid from the

return line to the pump inlet. A breather filter cap should be provided to
admit clean air and to maintain atmospheric pressure as fluid is pumped
into and out of the reservoir. With water-based hydraulic fluids, a
pressurized reservoir is recommended to compensate for the pressure
drop at he pump inlet due to the vapor pressure of the fluid.

The bubbles themselves often are created at the following locations or by

the following conditions within the system:
● where there is a pressure drop,
● at a throttle or orifice,
● at a branch or pipe joint,
● from a valve opening and closing rapidly,
● from shock waves, due to sudden closing of valves or cessation of pump
operation, and
● due to pressure drop at the pipe end, due to sudden opening of valve.

Bubbles entrained in the fluid can create many problems in hydraulic

systems, such as:
● acceleration of oil degradation by oxidation,
● decreasing lubricity caused by an air emulsion,
● reduction of thermal conductivity,
● cavitation erosion,
● higher noise emission,
● increase in compressibility and decrease in dynamic characteristics, and
● decrease in pump output efficiency.

Dealing with foam

Foam is a dispersion of an entrapped gas in a liquid where air bubbles

form a separate layer on the surface of the fluid and are separated by
relatively thin fluid films. Foam stability can vary in a hydraulic system,
Figure 2 and Figure 3, depending on surface area, surface tension,
viscosity, and the concentration of the contaminant.
Figure 2. A low surface area will result in an un- stable foam.

In the absence of a defoamer, all foam will eventually end up as a stable

high surface area foam. However, if the foam continues to grow,
displacing the liquid phase, it may reach the pump inlet, causing
cavitation.
Figure 3. A high surface area will result in a more stable foam.

The only way to break this high surface area foam is to introduce a
defoamant (i.e. a silicone) into the surface film that stabilizes the foam,
Figure 4(A). The defoamant then spreads throughout the surface of the
film, surrounding the air pockets, Figure 4(B). As the defoamant spreads,
the shearing force causes a flow of the stabilizing film away from the gas
bubble interface, resulting in a thinning of the interfacial film, Figure
4(C). This continues until the bubble ruptures, finally resulting in a
release of the gas contained in the bubble, Figure 4(D).
Fig 4. When an antifoaming substance is in- troduced (A), it spreads
throughout the sur- face of the film, surrounding the air pockets (B). As it
spreads, the shearing force causes a flow of the stabilizing film away from
the gas bubble interface, resulting in a thinning of the interfacial film (C).
Finally, the bubble ruptures (D), releasing the gas contained in the bubble.

Antifoam composition varies from single to multiple component systems.

Single component systems are typically water-insoluble and surface
active, since they must displace the pre-foaming surfactant in the
interfacial film stabilizing the gas bubbles. Examples of single component
systems include: fatty acids and their glycerides or ethoxylates and
polypropylene glycols. Typically, this class of antifoams is used at
concentrations of 0.1 to 0.4%.

A multicomponent antifoam system typically contains a dispersion of a

mineral oil-based material, hydrophobic silica, and a surfactant, such as a
fatty acid or alcohol ethoxylate composition in the fluid through- out the
hydraulic system.

A bubble eliminator?

A bubble eliminator is a tapered-tube type device with a chamber of

circular cross-section that becomes smaller (in relation to its length), and
is connected to a cylindrical shaped chamber. Fluid with bubbles flows
tangentially into the larger end of the tapered tube from an inlet port and
forms a swirl flow that circulates fluid through the flow passage. The swirl
flow accelerates downstream, and the fluid pressure along the central axis
decreases downstream. From the end of the tapered tube, the swirl flow
decelerates downstream and the pressure increases towards the out- let
port. Bubbles are trapped in the vicinity of the central axis and collected
near the area where the pressure is lowest. When backpressure is applied
by a check valve or an orifice located at the downstream side of the bubble
eliminator, the bubbles are ejected through a vent port. The dissolved gas
in the fluid is also eliminated by extracting bubbles at the pump’s suction
side under negative pressure.

Use of such a device may allow the hydraulic designer to gain the
following benefits:
● a reservoir with lighter weight, smaller space, and lower cost
● slower fluid degradation, which extends fluid’s useable life
● prevent pump cavitation and noise
● requiring less fluid in reservoir, which reduces cost and increases safety
● shorter heating time in cold weather
● decrease in fluid compressibility
● easier contamination control, and
● simpler configuration of reservoir, with no baffle plate needed.

George E. Totten is senior research scientist and Roland J. Bishop, Jr. is

a project scientist in UCON fluids and lubricants for the Dow Chemical
Co., Tarrytown, N.Y. Ryushi Suzuki is president of Opus System, Inc.,
Tokyo. Yutaka Tanaka is a professor of engineering at Hosei University,
Toyko. For a more detialed discussion, refer to SAE Technical Papers,
982037 — Bubble Elimination in Oil for Fluid Power Systems, by
Suzuki/Tanaka/ Arai/Yokata; and 972789 — Hydraulic Fluids: Foaming,
Air En- trainment, and Air Release — A Review, by Totten/Sun/Bishop.
Either can be ordered from SAE by calling 412/776-4841 or visiting
www.sae.org.

Source URL: https://www.hydraulicspneumatics.com/technologies/hydraulic-

fluids/article/21883689/air-entrainment-how-it-happens-how-to-avoid-it