Dielectrophoretic motion of bubbles in a liquid

The paper examines the motion of two spherical bubbles in an unbounded inviscid incompressible dielectric liquid under the effect of an electric field produced by an arbitrary system of point charges. Electric-field potentials in the bubbles and liquid and the liquid velocity potential are presented in an explicit form. The motion of two bubbles in a constant electric field is considered as an example. Time dependences of bubble velocity are determined for bubbles of various sizes and various initial distance from each other; the dependence of bubble-approach time on the initial distance between bubbles is also determined. The study is pertinent to the possible elimination of gaseous inclusions from liquid propellants in conditions of near weightlessness.