Bubble curtain

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System that produces bubbles under water

title: "Bubble curtain" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["water-technology"] description: "System that produces bubbles under water" topic_path: "general/water-technology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_curtain" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary System that produces bubbles under water ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/BubbleCurtainFlorida.jpg" caption="A bubble curtain in [[Florida]] used to stop debris entering the marina."] ::

A bubble curtain is a system that produces bubbles in a deliberate arrangement in water. It is also called pneumatic barrier. The technique is based on bubbles of air (gas) being let out under the water surface, commonly on the bottom. When the bubbles rise they act as a barrier, a curtain, breaking the propagation of waves or the spreading of particles and other contaminants.

Uses

It can be used for the following purposes:

  • to reduce propagation of shock waves (e.g. acoustic waves from engines or pile driving, explosions et cetera),
  • to reduce liquid or debris floating on the surface from spreading,
  • to prevent salt intrusion, |title=Pneumatic barriers to reduce salt intrusion through locks | series=Rijkswaterstaat Communications |url=http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e3e1ba53-8f09-43c1-8247-7c032b8604c2 |location= The Hague, Netherlands |publisher=Rijkswaterstaat |volume=17}}
  • to control the movements of fish,
  • for decoration and airing in aquariums.

In June 2010, Okaloosa County, Florida used air bubble curtains to help protect their Destin Pass coastline from oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They hoped to push oil up to the surface for booms and skimming boats to collect the oil. British multinational oil company BP, who the U.S. government named as the responsible party for the oil spill, was billed for the cost of the project. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Bellenscherm_Krammersluis.jpg" caption="A pneumatic barrier in a navigation lock in the Netherlands"] ::

Equipment

The technical system basically consists of a compressor and pipe or hose with nozzles. When used to reduce acoustic waves from pile driving, a distribution manifold made of plastic or rubber is commonly used.

Offshore pile driving

Pile driving in connection to offshore construction, most importantly monopile foundations for offshore wind turbines, produces very high levels of underwater noise, capable of inflicting damage to the hearing of marine organisms and deter animals at tens of km from the construction site. Large-scale bubble curtains are now routinely used to mitigate these impacts as they can attenuate the noise significantly, in particular the higher frequencies, above 1 kHz.

File:Big Bubble Curtain Borkum-West-2.jpg | alt=Aerial view of a structure in the sea, surrounded by a circle of lighter patches where bubbles are emerging | Bubble curtain used during installation of monopiles at the German Borkum West-2 offshore wind farm File:Big Bubble Curtain Prototyp.jpg | alt=A pipe at the bottom of a body of water, with several holes which streams of bubbles are emerging from | Air hose of prototype of bubble curtain

References

References

  1. (February 2000). "Development of an air bubble curtain to reduce underwater noise of percussive piling". Marine Environmental Research.
  2. Reyff, J. A. "Reducing Underwater Sounds with Air Bubble Curtains".
  3. (29 September 2017). "Bubble curtains attenuate noise from offshore wind farm construction and reduce temporary habitat loss for harbour porpoises". Marine Ecology Progress Series.
  4. "Hydrotechnik Lübeck - Pneumatic Oil / Bubble Barriers".
  5. "5.2 Chemicals that float on the water surface". Swedish Coast Guard.
  6. Anchor Environmental. (2008). "Technical Memorandum: Supplemental Information for Biological Assessment for Phase I of the Terminal 4 Removal Action".
  7. "Welcome to PET Discounters - PETdiscounters.com".
  8. TEGNA. "10News WTSP - Tampa News, Florida News, Weather, Traffic - WTSP.com".
  9. "Bubble Curtain".
  10. (October 2017). "Why is auditory frequency weighting so important in regulation of underwater noise?". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
  11. (28 May 2018). "Disturbance of harbour porpoises during construction of the first seven offshore wind farms in Germany". Marine Ecology Progress Series.
  12. (July 2009). "Pile driving zone of responsiveness extends beyond 20 km for harbor porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena (L.))". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

water-technology