Kinetics of Drop Breakage in Stirred Vessels under Turbulent Conditions

Abstract

The emulsification of dodecane oil was studied in a standard stirred vessel filled with distilled water. The in situ size distribution of the drops was measured at certain time intervals by using a particle size analyzer while stirring. The results showed that an increase in the stirring time and stirring rate resulted in a decrease in the mean drop size of drops and shifted the drop size distribution toward smaller sizes. The minimum droplet size in the turbulent flow was found to be proportional to a_min∼(WD)^−1.75. Normalization of data exhibited that the size distribution of drops is self‐preserving. The distribution of mean drop size and distribution functions of drops were determined by using models developed from the Focker‐Plank equation regarding size distribution of particles in turbulent flows. The evaluation of droplet breakage with time in isotropic turbulent flow showed that the size distribution can be represented by the summation of log‐normal distribution function in series. It was found that the experimental data could be represented well by the empirical models.

Keywords:

• Drop breakage
• kinetics of breakage
• drop size distribution
• stirred vessels