Coalescence and breakup

Mechanical compatibilization is accomplished by reducing the size of the dispersed phase. The latter is determined by the balance between drop breakup and coalescence process, which in turn is governed by the type and severity of the stress, interfacial tension between the two phases, and the rheological characteristics of the components [9]. The need to reduce potential energy initiates the agglomeration process, which is less severe if the interfacial tension is small. Addition... 

The cameras are usually used in two different modes, front light and backlight. Standard images using the front light technique are very useful in tracking particle movements, collisions, breakup, and coalescence (Figure 15.2). 

This paper is divided into two main, interconnected parts—breakup and coalescence of immiscible fluids, and aggregation and fragmentation of solids in viscous liquids—preceded by a brief introduction to mixing, this being focused primarily on stretching and self-similarity. 

The treatment of mixing of immiscible fluids starts with a description of breakup and coalescence in homogeneous flows. Classical concepts are briefly reviewed and special attention is given to recent advances—satellite formation and self-similarity. A general model, capable of handling breakup and coalescence while taking into account stretching distributions and satellite formation, is described. 

There have been several attempts at models incorporating breakup and coalescence. Two concepts underlie many of these models binary breakup and a flow subdivision into weak and strong flows. These ideas were first used by Manas-Zloczower, Nir, and Tadmor (1982,1984) in modeling the dispersion of carbon black in an elastomer in a Banbury internal mixer. A similar approach was taken by Janssen and Meijer (1995) to model blending of two polymers in an extruder. In this case the extruder was divided into two types of zones, strong and weak. The strong zones correspond to regions... 

The basic procedure of the VILM model is to send an initial distribution of drops through a specified number of strong and weak zones. With each pass through the strong and weak zones, the evolution of the drop distribution is determined based on the fundamentals of breakup and coalescence. 

The current level of understanding of how aggregates form and break is not up to par with droplet breakup and coalescence. The reasons for this discrepancy are many Aggregates involve multibody interactions shapes may be irregular, potential forces that are imperfectly understood and quite susceptible to contamination effects. 

An attempt has been made by Tsouris and Tavlarides[5611 to improve previous models for breakup and coalescence of droplets in turbulent dispersions based on existing frameworks and recent advances. In both the breakup and coalescence models, two-step mecha-nisms were considered. A droplet breakup function was introduced as a product of droplet-eddy collision frequency and breakup efficiency that reflect the energetics of turbulent liquid-liquid dispersions. Similarly, a coalescencefunction was defined as a product of droplet-droplet collision frequency and coalescence efficiency. The existing coalescence efficiency model was modified to account for the effects of film drainage on droplets with partially mobile interfaces. A probability density function for secondary droplets was also proposed on the basis of the energy requirements for the formation of secondary droplets. These models eliminated several inconsistencies in previous studies, and are applicable to dense dispersions. 

Possible measurement bias factors such as droplet deposition in the probe, droplet breakup and coalescence were studied. A simple criterion for minimizing measurement bias was proposed. The system can be used for both water and liquid-metal droplets. 

Sundararaj U, Macosko CW (1995) Drop breakup and coalescence in polymer blends - the effect of concentration and compatibilization. Macromolecules 28 2647-2657... 

While flowing through the internal, bubbles rise along the undersurface of the baffles and collide with the tongue-like bars, and are broken up into smaller bubbles as shown in Fig. 10. The difference in the direction of adjacent baffles increases the liquid turbulent intensity, which is beneficial to the breakup of large bubbles. With increasing distance from the internal, the turbulent intensity decreases and coalescence becomes dominant until a new equilibrium between the breakup and coalescence of bubbles is reached. 

When a gas stream is introduced into a turbulent liquid flow in a motionless mixer, the gas is broken up into bubbles. The breakup is due mainly due to the turbulent shear force of the liquid but, for motionless mixers, also partly to the collision between the gas and the leading edge of an element. Gas dispersion is a physical process and involves bubble breakup and coalescence, which can both take place in the same mixer/reactor. 

Bubble breakup and coalescence are both complex processes. In a turbulent-flow held, bubbles are broken up mainly due to the turbulent shear force, and the eventual bubble size is a balance between this force and the surface tension force. For a given gas-liquid system and how held, a maximum bubble size exists. Any bubbles larger than this size will be broken up. According to theory (14), this maximum bubble size relates to gas-liquid physical properties and flow characteristics ... 

The local aspects of liquid-liquid two-phase flow in RE has been the focus of CFD analysis by different research groups (123-126). In principle, all aspects concerning single-phase flow phenomena (residence time distribution, impeller discharge flow rate, etc.) can be tackled, even with complex geometries. However, the two-phase CFD is still a challenge, and the droplet interactions (breakup and coalescence) and mass transfer are not implemented in commercially available codes. Thus these issues constitute an open area for further research and development (127). 

Equation (A12) is widely used in RE, but it does not account for the specific interactions of the dispersed phase. In this respect current research is focused on drop population balance models, which account for the different rising velocities of the different-size droplets and their interactions, such as droplet breakup and coalescence (173-180). 

The gas axial mixing is due to the bubble size distribution resulting in a distribution of bubble rise velocities, which varies along the column due to bubble breakup and coalescence. There are a variety of correlations in the literature, with varying results and reliability, for instance, the correlation of Mangartz and Pilhofer [Verfahrenstechn., 14 40 (1980)]. 

A heterogeneous pore structure with varying aspect ratio would increase the frequency of breakup and coalescence, which should increase the observed mobile ganglia size distribution. However, the basic flow mechanism should remain unchanged. Also the relative importance of snap-off as a breakup mechanism would be increased relative to dynamic splitting. Here too a detailed study seems desirable. 

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