TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of turbulent drop breakup in an emulsification device and homogeneous isotropic turbulence
T2 - Insights from numerical experiments
AU - Olad, Peyman
AU - Innings, Fredrik
AU - Crialesi-Esposito, Marco
AU - Brandt, Luca
AU - Håkansson, Andreas
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by The Swedish Research Council (VR), grant number 2018-03820 , and Tetra Pak Processing Systems AB .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2023/1/20
Y1 - 2023/1/20
N2 - Turbulent emulsification is of considerable industrial interest. Nevertheless, numerical experiments (direct numerical simulations, DNS, with highly resolved interface tracking) have been mainly used to study drop breakup in idealized flows. This study, therefore, compares drop breakup in two different settings (homogenous and isotropic flow, and a simplified high-pressure homogenizer) with the intention of better understanding how insight gained from the idealized systems can be applied to industrially relevant devices. The flow differs between the two cases, with highly anisotropic and inhomogeneous turbulence in the latter. Results show similarities between the two cases regarding morphology of breakup, suggesting that the underlying mechanism, as a function of Weber number, is similar. However, differences are also observed, e.g., in terms of breakup time and deformed morphology, which are associated with the locality of the turbulence in the homogenizer. Implications for an improved understanding of turbulent breakup in industrially relevant devices are discussed.
AB - Turbulent emulsification is of considerable industrial interest. Nevertheless, numerical experiments (direct numerical simulations, DNS, with highly resolved interface tracking) have been mainly used to study drop breakup in idealized flows. This study, therefore, compares drop breakup in two different settings (homogenous and isotropic flow, and a simplified high-pressure homogenizer) with the intention of better understanding how insight gained from the idealized systems can be applied to industrially relevant devices. The flow differs between the two cases, with highly anisotropic and inhomogeneous turbulence in the latter. Results show similarities between the two cases regarding morphology of breakup, suggesting that the underlying mechanism, as a function of Weber number, is similar. However, differences are also observed, e.g., in terms of breakup time and deformed morphology, which are associated with the locality of the turbulence in the homogenizer. Implications for an improved understanding of turbulent breakup in industrially relevant devices are discussed.
KW - Direct numerical simulation
KW - Emulsification
KW - High-pressure homogenizer
KW - Turbulence
U2 - 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2022.130569
DO - 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2022.130569
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85141924993
VL - 657
JO - Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
JF - Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
SN - 0927-7757
M1 - 130569
ER -