ABSTRACT
Foam formation is a widespread problem in industrial processes. Agitation, turbulent flows, distillation, and pressure differences occur frequently in chemical processing and bring about the entrainment of gas into process liquids and the formation of foam [1]. Foam reduces unit productivity by occupying volume. It can also reduce the quality of production. For example, during the jet dyeing of fabric, foam can attach to parts of the cloth, ruining the uniformity of dye absorption and increasing reject rates. A foam head can also act as a barrier against mass transport or heat transfer. For example, a thick foam head reduces the rate of carbon dioxide volatilization from ethanol fermentation broth, reducing the efficiency of the biological processing of sugars.
