Quantification of evaporation-induced foaming ability

In the chemical and food industries the undesired formation of foams in thermal separation processes can lead to considerable losses in performance and efficiency. Existing methods cannot represent the foaming ability of boiling mixtures. Against this background, a novel laboratory-scale method, based on Bikerman's established definition of foamability, is developed to characterise the foamability of evaporation-induced foams. Based on the measured maximum steady-state foam volume and the maximum foam growth rate, a dimensionless number is established, which allows the evaluation of the evaporation-induced foaming ability.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.