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Three‐Dimensional Simulation of Bubble Formation Through a Microchannel T‐Junction
Author(s) -
Chen B.,
Guo F.,
Li G.,
Wang P.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201300169
Subject(s) - microchannel , power law fluid , bubble , mechanics , non newtonian fluid , newtonian fluid , breakup , capillary action , capillary number , viscosity , power law , viscous liquid , materials science , volume of fluid method , bingham plastic , thermodynamics , physics , rheology , mathematics , statistics
Three‐dimensional simulations of bubble formation in Newtonian and non‐Newtonian fluids through a microchannel T‐junction are conducted by the volume‐of‐fluid method. For Newtonian fluids, the critical capillary number Ca for the transition of the bubble breakup mechanism is dependent on the velocity ratio between the two phases and the microchannel dimension. For the power law fluid, the bubble diameter decreases and the generation frequency increases with higher viscosity parameter K and power law index n . For a Bingham fluid, the viscous force plays a more important role in microbubble formation. Due to the yield stress τ y , a high‐viscous region is developed in the central area of the channel and bubbles deform to a flat ellipsoid shape in this region. The bubble diameter and generation frequency are almost independent of K .