Modeling of Complex Processes in Turbulent Flow of Unstable Emulsions of Immiscible Liquids

Abstract

Turbulent flows of emulsions are associated with the processes of breakage, coalescence and sedimentation of droplets of dispersed liquid. Mechanisms of these physical phenomena that form the equilibrium composition of the droplets of dispersed phase are predetermined by the structure of turbulence. Spectrum of distribution of the dispersed droplets according to the size determines in turn the nature of the interaction with the continuous medium. Therefore, a hydrodynamic model for unstable emulsion (CFD) is completed by discrete population balance model (DPB). It reflects the state of the dispersed phase of the emulsion required to construct an adequate model for CFD. A joint application requires the coordination of the composition and structure of these models for formalizing of the complex interrelationships of physical phenomena in the continuous medium and the dispersed phase of the emulsion.
The key advantages of such specification of the overall structure of the partial models of the CFD consist in that model includes only the mechanisms of breakup, coalescence and sedimentation of the droplets of the dispersed phase, which are really work in the given conditions. Using of a priori theoretical information in the form of mechanisms of basic physical phenomena (MBPP) is proposed, which is necessary for obtaining the desired particular solutions of applied problems on the basis of common CFD and DPB models.