ISO 20480-1:2017

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 20480-1
First edition
2017-06
Fine bubble technology — General
principles for usage and measurement
of fine bubbles —
Part 1:
Terminology
Technologie des fines bulles — Principes généraux pour l’utilisation et
la mesure des fines bulles —
Partie 1: Terminologie
Reference number
ISO 20480-1:2017(E)
©
ISO 2017

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ISO 20480-1:2017(E)

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ISO 20480-1:2017(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
Annex A (informative) Use of the terms “fine bubble” or “ultrafine bubble”, instead of
“nanobubble” in ISO/TC 281 documents. 4
Bibliography . 6
© ISO 2017 – All rights reserved iii

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ISO 20480-1:2017(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the
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URL: w w w . i s o .org/ iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by ISO/TC 281, Fine bubble technology.
A list of all the parts in the ISO 20480 series can be found on the ISO website.
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ISO 20480-1:2017(E)

Introduction
Applications of fine bubble technologies can be found in cleaning, environmental improvement, the food
and drink sector, aeration systems, medicine, water and waste water treatment, as well as agriculture
and aquaculture. Developing appropriate terminology for such diverse technologies is therefore critical
to business trade or product acceptance by consumers.
Fine bubbles can be present in both liquids and solids. Fine bubbles can contain air or another gas. The
bubble can be held in place by surface tension or be surrounded with a coating, e.g. a lipid. Fine bubbles
generated for various applications can vary in size, gas content or bubble coating. The generation
techniques used are also different.
It should be noted that the motion of bubbles in a medium can be determined by buoyancy forces
or randomly and thermally activated processes leading to Brownian motion. For this reason, larger
bubbles can display buoyant behaviour (rise upwards) and smaller bubbles remain in the liquid medium
displaying random motion. This document focuses on the definitions of such entities.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 20480-1:2017(E)
Fine bubble technology — General principles for usage and
measurement of fine bubbles —
Part 1:
Terminology
1 Scope
This document specifies terminology and definitions used in the area of fine bubble technology.
Terminology in this document covers general principles, measurements, and individual applications of
fine bubble technology.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
bubble
gas in a medium enclosed by an interface
3.2
fine bubble
bubble (3.1) with a volume equivalent diameter (3.8) of less than 100 μm
−4
Note 1 to entry: 100 μm is also represented as 1 × 10 m.
Note 2 to entry: Annex A provides further information on the use of terms “fine bubble” or “ultraf
...