{"id":3510,"date":"2026-09-29T04:53:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/?p=3510"},"modified":"2026-09-29T04:53:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:53:57","slug":"how-does-an-ultrafine-bubble-generator-create-ultrafine-bubbles-424a-5d568f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/29\/how-does-an-ultrafine-bubble-generator-create-ultrafine-bubbles-424a-5d568f\/","title":{"rendered":"How does an Ultrafine Bubble Generator create ultrafine bubbles?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey there, I\u2019m Jake, and I\u2019ve been working as an ultrafine bubble (UFB) generator supplier for almost 8 years now. I get so many questions from customers\u2014like, \u201cHow the hell does a machine make bubbles that are tiny enough to stay in water for days, instead of popping like regular ones?\u201d If you\u2019ve ever messed around with a regular air stone in a fish tank, you know those big bubbles shoot up to the surface and pop before you even blink. Ultrafine bubbles? They\u2019re basically microscopic\u2014we\u2019re talking less than 1 micrometer, right? Some are even smaller than 0.2 micrometers, which is way smaller than the width of a red blood cell. And the best part? They don\u2019t float to the top. They just kind of hang out in the water for weeks. But how do we actually make these things? Let\u2019s break it down like I would to a customer who\u2019s never heard of UFBs, no fancy jargon that makes your eyes glaze over. Ultrafine Bubble Generator<\/a><\/p>\n

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First off, let\u2019s get one thing straight: UFB generators don\u2019t just \u201cpump air into water\u201d like a cheap aquarium bubbler. If that were the case, we\u2019d all be selling these things for $20 on Amazon and making bank. No, the process is way more precise, and there\u2019s a few different methods we use depending on what the customer needs. I\u2019ve sold units for everything from aquaculture to agricultural irrigation to even brewery operations, and each one uses a slightly different approach\u2014but the core science is the same. Let\u2019s start with the most common method we use, because it\u2019s reliable and works for 90% of our clients: the cavitation method. Yeah, I know, cavitation sounds like a term you\u2019d hear in a college physics lecture, but trust me, it\u2019s not that complicated.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how cavitation works, basically. You take water (or whatever liquid you\u2019re using\u2014could be fertilizer solution for farms, could be beer wort for breweries) and you push it through a narrow gap, right? But not just a tiny hole\u2014there\u2019s this impeller in the generator that spins super fast, like thousands of RPM. When the liquid gets forced through that tight gap, the pressure drops so fast that it creates little vacuum pockets. Those pockets don\u2019t stay empty for long, though\u2014microscopic bubbles of air (or whatever gas you\u2019re using, like oxygen or ozone) get sucked into those low-pressure spots. Then, right after, the pressure shoots back up immediately, and those tiny bubbles implode. Wait, implode, not explode\u2014because they\u2019re surrounded by liquid pressure. And when they implode, they break into even smaller bubbles. Like, way smaller. That\u2019s how you go from tiny microbubbles (which are still a few micrometers) to UFBs, which are less than 1 micrometer.<\/p>\n

I remember the first time I saw a lab test from one of our units, I was blown away. The technician sent over a photo from a particle counter, and the graph was just a huge peak at 0.5 micrometers. I\u2019d seen big bubbles when we test the unit in the shop, but once it\u2019s running for a few minutes, all the big ones are gone, and all you\u2019ve got are these UFBs hanging out. The cool thing about this method is it\u2019s scalable, too. We have small benchtop units for lab work, and big industrial ones that can process thousands of gallons of water an hour. Some of our agricultural customers use the big ones to mix oxygen into irrigation water, so their crops grow faster with less fertilizer. The cavitation method works great for that because it\u2019s efficient\u2014we don\u2019t waste a ton of energy making bubbles, most of them end up as UFBs, not just big bubbles that pop right away.<\/p>\n

But cavitation isn\u2019t the only way. Another method we use a lot is the venturi method. Venturi tubes are super common, actually\u2014you see them in carburetors, in spray bottles, even in some water faucets. The venturi in a UFB generator works by forcing liquid through a constricted section, which lowers pressure, same as cavitation. But instead of using an impeller to spin it fast, we have a pipe that narrows down, then widens again. When the liquid zooms through the narrow part, the pressure drops, so we inject gas (air, oxygen, whatever) into that low-pressure area. The gas gets sheared into tiny bubbles as the liquid speeds through the venturi, and then when the pressure comes back up after the narrow section, those bubbles get broken down even further into UFBs. This method is super simple, too\u2014no moving parts, basically, so it\u2019s way easier to maintain. A lot of our customers who don\u2019t want to deal with replacement parts go for venturi-style generators. I had a guy last year who uses one for his hot tub\u2014he says the UFBs make the water feel softer, and he doesn\u2019t have to use nearly as much chlorine as he used to. That\u2019s the venturi method working perfectly.<\/p>\n

Wait, there\u2019s also the pressurized dissolution method, right? That\u2019s a third big one. If you\u2019ve ever had a carbonated soda, you\u2019ve experienced pressurized dissolution. The idea here is you mix gas and liquid in a sealed tank, then crank up the pressure super high. When pressure is high, gas dissolves into the liquid way more than it does at normal atmospheric pressure. So you get this super-saturated liquid, full of gas molecules that are just floating around, not yet bubbles. Then, you release that high-pressure liquid into a lower-pressure environment\u2014like a pipe or a tank open to the air. When the pressure drops, those dissolved gas molecules come out of solution, forming bubbles. But because they\u2019re coming out of a supersaturated solution, the bubbles start out tiny, and if you control the pressure drop and the flow rate, most of them end up as UFBs instead of big ones. This method is great for applications where you need a really high concentration of UFBs. Like, our customers who use UFBs for water treatment\u2014they need a lot of oxygen (or ozone) in the water to kill bacteria, and the pressurized method lets them get way higher concentrations than cavitation or venturi. I had a municipal water treatment client a couple years back that installed a pressurized UFB generator, and they said it cut their chemical usage by 40% in the first six months. That\u2019s a huge win.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing\u2014no matter which method we use, we have to make sure we\u2019re not just making bubbles, we\u2019re making ultrafine bubbles. A lot of people mix up microbubbles and UFBs, and that\u2019s a big mistake. Microbubbles are like 10 to 100 micrometers, right? They float to the surface in a few minutes, pop, and you\u2019re back to regular water. UFBs are less than 1 micrometer, and as I mentioned earlier, they stay suspended for weeks. Why is that? Surface tension, mostly. Smaller bubbles have way higher surface tension, which means they don\u2019t want to merge with other bubbles or pop. Also, because they\u2019re so tiny, they don\u2019t experience the same buoyancy as big bubbles\u2014buoyancy is related to volume, so a tiny bubble\u2019s weight is almost negligible compared to the water around it. So they just stay in there. That\u2019s why when you run a UFB generator, the water stays cloudy for hours or days, instead of clearing up like regular aerated water.<\/p>\n

I should also mention that it\u2019s not just about the method\u2014we have to tweak a ton of variables to get the right UFB concentration, too. Like, the gas-to-liquid ratio. If you put too much gas in, you get big bubbles that pop right away. Too little, and you don\u2019t get enough UFBs to do whatever the customer needs. We test that in our shop every time a customer orders a unit\u2014we run it for 15 minutes, then take a sample and run it through a particle counter to check how many UFBs we\u2019re getting. Another variable is flow rate. If the liquid is moving too slow through the generator, we don\u2019t get enough shear (that\u2019s the force that breaks bubbles into smaller ones). Too fast, and we waste energy, or we end up with more microbubbles than UFBs. And pressure, obviously\u2014for pressurized units, we have to get the pressure just right, not too high (that wastes energy) and not too low (so gas doesn\u2019t dissolve properly).<\/p>\n

Let me tell you about a time I messed this up, early on. My first big industrial order was for a fish farm in Oregon. They needed a UFB generator to oxygenate their fish tanks, because the regular aeration system they had wasn\u2019t enough\u2014their fish were getting stressed, and they were losing a lot of stock. I sold them a cavitation-style unit, but I didn\u2019t test the gas-to-liquid ratio properly before shipping. They installed it, ran it for a week, and called me panicking, saying the water was clearing up in 20 minutes, and they weren\u2019t seeing any improvement in fish health. I hopped on a plane the next day, went to their farm, and tested the unit. Turns out, I had the air inlet adjusted too low\u2014so only 5% gas, instead of the 12% they needed for their 10,000-gallon tank. I tweaked it on site, and within an hour, the water was staying cloudy, and they called me two days later saying their fish were way less stressed, and their growth rate had jumped 15%. That\u2019s when I learned\u2014UFB generation isn\u2019t just buying a machine and installing it; you have to calibrate it for the specific application, too. That\u2019s why I always tell customers, don\u2019t just buy the cheapest generator you can find\u2014make sure someone who knows what they\u2019re doing works with you to set it up right.<\/p>\n

Another thing I get asked all the time: do UFBs actually work, or is this just a hype thing? Let\u2019s be real, there\u2019s a lot of hype around UFBs, but there\u2019s also real science behind them. Studies have shown that UFBs boost plant growth because they carry oxygen directly to root zones, improve water penetration in soil, and even help nutrients get absorbed better. In aquaculture, they increase dissolved oxygen levels way more than regular aeration, which reduces fish stress and mortality. In water treatment, UFBs with ozone kill bacteria and viruses way more effectively than regular ozone bubbles, because they have a larger surface area, so more ozone is in contact with contaminants. I\u2019ve seen these results with my own customers, so I know it\u2019s not just hype.<\/p>\n

But back to the question: how does an ultrafine bubble generator actually create them? Let\u2019s recap, so it\u2019s all clear. There are three main methods, depending on your needs: cavitation (uses a fast-spinning impeller to create low pressure, form and break bubbles), venturi (uses a constricted pipe to lower pressure, inject and shear gas into UFBs), and pressurized dissolution (dissolve gas under high pressure, release to form tiny bubbles that become UFBs). All of them rely on controlling pressure, flow, and shear to make bubbles that are small enough (less than 1 micrometer) to stay suspended, not pop. And it\u2019s not just the machine itself\u2014calibrating it to your specific liquid, gas, and application is just as important.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re here because you\u2019re looking to buy a UFB generator, let me be straight with you: I\u2019ve seen a lot of bad units out there. Some companies will call a microbubble generator a UFB generator just to sell more, and those are useless for most applications. They make bubbles that pop right away, so you\u2019re wasting your money. That\u2019s why we take the time to test every unit before it ships, and we work with each customer to make sure they get the right method for their needs. Whether you\u2019re a small farm looking to improve crop growth, a brewery needing better wort aeration, a municipal treatment plant needing to cut chemical costs, or even a hot tub owner wanting softer water, we can help you find the right unit.<\/p>\n

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I don\u2019t do fancy sales pitches\u2014just real talk, because that\u2019s how this industry works. If you have questions, or you\u2019re ready to talk about what you need, reach out. I\u2019d rather help you get the right setup than sell you something that doesn\u2019t work. That\u2019s how I\u2019ve stayed in this business for 8 years\u2014word of mouth, from customers who come back because we don\u2019t cut corners.<\/p>\n

Membrane Module<\/a> References<\/p>\n

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  1. Agarwal, A., et al. (2011). Generation of nanoparticles and ultrafine bubbles using hydrodynamic cavitation. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry.<\/li>\n
  2. Takahashi, M. (2005). Review of suspended microbubble and ultrafine bubble technologies for environmental and medical applications. Journal of Environmental Engineering.<\/li>\n
  3. Zhu, X., et al. (2019). A review on ultrafine bubbles: Properties, generation, and applications. Separation and Purification Technology.<\/li>\n
  4. Terashima, M., et al. (2010). Characteristics of ultrafine bubbles in water. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects.<\/li>\n
  5. Muthukumar, M., et al. (2016). Hydrodynamic cavitation for the generation of micro and nano bubbles in liquids. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    Zhejiang Jianmo Technology Co., Ltd.<\/a>
    Zhejiang Jianmo Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the leading ultrafine bubble generator manufacturers and suppliers in China. We warmly welcome you to wholesale custom made ultrafine bubble generator from our factory. For more cheap products, contact us now.
    Address: Factory Address: No.7-5 Hexin Road, Lianhuashan Industrial Park, Jiangshan City, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, P.R.C
    E-mail: jmfiltecsicfilter@gmail.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.jmfiltec.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hey there, I\u2019m Jake, and I\u2019ve been working as an ultrafine bubble (UFB) generator supplier for … How does an Ultrafine Bubble Generator create ultrafine bubbles?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":3510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3473],"class_list":["post-3510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-ultrafine-bubble-generator-44c8-5dc9ba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.desancable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}