Issue 46, 2023

Emulsifier adsorption kinetics influences drop deformation and breakup in turbulent emulsification

Abstract

Turbulent drop breakup is of large importance for applications such as food and pharmaceutical processing, as well as of substantial fundamental scientific interest. Emulsification typically takes place in the presence of surface-active emulsifiers (natural occurring and/or added). Under equilibrium conditions, these lower the interfacial tension, enabling deformation and breakup. However, turbulent deformation is fast in relation to emulsifier kinetics. Little is known about the details of how the emulsifier influences drop deformation under turbulent conditions. During the last years, significant insight in the mechanism of turbulent drop breakup has been reached using numerical experiments. However, these studies typically use a highly simplistic description of how the interface responds to turbulent stress. This study investigates how the limited exchange rate of emulsifier between the bulk and the interface influences the deformation process in turbulent drop breakup for application-relevant emulsifiers and concentrations, in the context of state-of-the-art single drop breakup simulations. In conclusion, if the Weber number is high or the emulsifier is supplied at a concentration giving an adsorption time less than 1/10th of the drop breakup time, deformation proceeds as if the emulsifier adsorbed infinitely fast. Otherwise, the limited emulsifier kinetics delays breakup and can alter the breakup mechanism.

Graphical abstract: Emulsifier adsorption kinetics influences drop deformation and breakup in turbulent emulsification

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 sen 2023
Accepted
13 noy 2023
First published
14 noy 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Soft Matter, 2023,19, 9059-9073

Emulsifier adsorption kinetics influences drop deformation and breakup in turbulent emulsification

A. Håkansson and L. Nilsson, Soft Matter, 2023, 19, 9059 DOI: 10.1039/D3SM01213A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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