Shear attraction number

Finally, we introduce the shear-attraction number, Nj, which is that group characterizing the magnitude of the viscous energy to the van der Waals attractive energy... 

Drops coalesce because of coUisions and drainage of Hquid trapped between colliding drops. Therefore, coalescence frequency can be defined as the product of coUision frequency and efficiency per coUision. The coUision frequency depends on number of drops and flow parameters such as shear rate and fluid forces. The coUision efficiency is a function of Hquid drainage rate, surface forces, and attractive forces such as van der Waal s. Because dispersed phase drop size depends on physical properties which are sometimes difficult to measure, it becomes necessary to carry out laboratory experiments to define the process mixing requirements. A suitable mixing system can then be designed based on satisfying these requirements. 

The methodology discussed previously can be applied to the study of colloidal suspensions where a number of different molecular forces and hydrodynamic effects come into play to determine the dynamics. As an illustration, we briefly describe one example of an MPC simulation of a colloidal suspension of claylike particles where comparisons between simulation and experiment have been made [42, 60]. Experiments were carried out on a suspension of AI2O3 particles. For this system electrostatic repulsive and van der Waals attractive forces are important, as are lubrication and contact forces. All of these forces were included in the simulations. A mapping of the MPC simulation parameters onto the space and time scales of the real system is given in Hecht et al. [42], The calculations were carried out with an imposed shear field. 

Most companies are attracted to the optimization technology by the quick return on investment and bottom-line benefits. By using this technology, a company will typically reduce their scrap by 30-60% and reduce the number of master coil/sheet sizes by 20-50%. Additionally, the software can be used to assist with equipment purchases or to evaluate the impact of equipment that is not performing to specification. Performing some what-if studies can quickly determine what size cut-to-length line or shear is the best for a particular manufacturing demand. 

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