In this Brief Communication, we examine in detail the motion of light particles-or dense gas bubbles-rising under gravity in a cellular flow. We follow the methodology of Maxey [Phys. Fluids 30, 1915 (1987)], and we examine a range of parameters not fully discussed in the past, corresponding to particles lighter and yet more inertial than the surrounding fluid if the added mass effect is considered. We observe a nonmonotonic behavior of the particle rise velocity, which exhibits a maximum for density of the particles only slightly smaller than the density of the fluid. The maximum value of the average rise velocity corresponding to the "optimum" density is several times (more than 40) higher than those obtained for small density changes around the optimum. The occurrence of this maximum is due to the combined effects of particle inertia and fluid added mass, which segregate the rising particles into specific, fast pathlines where the local fluid velocity adds to the particle gravitational velocity. A plot covering particle rise velocity for this range-not covered by the analysis of Maxey-is provided.
