A three-stage
shear-serrated aerator (TSA) was proposed to break
CO2 gas into smaller bubbles through the first-stage shear
with horizontal sawteeth, second-stage shear with vertical sawteeth,
and third-stage shear with oblique sawteeth on the serrated cylinder
and conical head without additional power. The inlet gas flowed through
the square throat to generate initial bubbles and then passed through
gaps between triangular cones and broke into smaller bubbles at three-stage
alternatively permutated sawteeth. The diameter of sheared bubbles
at the TSA outlet reduced when side length of square throat decreased
and numbers and height of three-stage sawteeth increased. When inclination
angle of the aeration head increased from 20 to 60°, the diameter
of sheared bubbles first decreased to a valley (inclination angle
= 50°) and then increased. Accordingly, the diameter of sheared
bubbles at the TSA outlet reduced by 62% to 2.4 mm, which resulted
in an increased mass transfer coefficient (by 25.5%) and microalgal
biomass yield (by 46.8%) in a raceway reactor.