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Characterization of liquid‐liquid dispersions with variable viscosity by coupled computational fluid dynamics and population balances
Author(s) -
Vonka Michal,
Soos Miroslav
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.14831
Subject(s) - sauter mean diameter , drop (telecommunication) , breakup , breakage , liquid liquid , mechanics , population balance equation , viscosity , population , rushton turbine , computational fluid dynamics , thermodynamics , weber number , spinning drop method , chemistry , turbulence , materials science , pressure drop , chromatography , physics , engineering , reynolds number , mechanical engineering , composite material , demography , sociology , nozzle
Sustaining stable liquid‐liquid dispersion with the desired drop size still relies on experimental correlations, which do not reflect our understanding of the underlying physics and have a limited prediction capability. The complex behavior of liquid‐liquid dispersions inside a stirred tank, which is equipped with a Rushton turbine, was characterized by a combination of computational fluid dynamics and population balance equations (PBE). PBE took into account both the drop coalescence and breakup. With the increasing drop viscosity, the resistance to drop breakage also increases, which was introduced by the local criteria for drop breakup in the form of the local critical Webber number (We c ). The dependency of We c on the drop viscosity was derived from the experimental data available in the literature. Predictions of Sauter mean diameter agree well with the experimentally measured values allowing prediction of mean drop size as a function of variable viscosity, interfacial tension, and stirring speed. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 61: 2403–2414, 2015