Non-coalescence and chain formation of droplets under an alternating current electric field

The dynamic behaviors of two droplets and droplet cluster under an alternating current (AC) electric field are investigated. Two droplets generally undergo transformation from complete coalescence to partial coalescence and finally to non-coalescence as the electric capillary number Ca_p increases. The critical electric capillary number Ca_pc for complete coalescence in the AC electric field remains unchanged and is twice as large as that in the direct current (DC) electric field when the frequency f ≥ 250 Hz. Charge transfer and reversal of electric field result in the reversal of the direction of electric force, which is the fundamental mechanism of non-coalescence of two droplets and chain formation in droplet cluster. The number of rebounds dramatically increases as f increases, promoting the stability of droplet chain. The droplet chains in the high-frequency AC electric field are longer and more stable than those in the low-frequency AC electric field.     

电场作用下双液滴聚合特性

乳状液破乳分离是目前高含水期油田开采过程中难以解决的技术问题,电场破乳方法具有高效清洁等优点,是解决该问题的有效手段。采用数值模拟与试验验证相结合的方法研究电脱水过程中阶跃、斜坡电场诱导下双液滴的聚合与分离特性。结果表明,在斜坡电场作用下,界面张力引起的泵吸作用大于电场力引起的颈缩作用,有利于液滴聚并,且液滴发生二次乳化现象的概率降低。而施加阶跃电场时,一定范围内能够达到液滴破乳的目的,但液滴在聚并过程中易发生二次乳化现象。从电场对连续相影响的角度分析发现,阶跃电场不仅对液滴具有驱动作用,对连续相的影响也较为明显,阶跃电场会增大连续相内湍流作用,不利于电脱水过程。因此,采用斜坡信号诱导液滴聚合能够降低二次乳化现象发生的概率。     

直流脉冲电场下液滴-界面聚并行为

为了深入探究直流脉冲电场下液滴-界面聚并行为,针对去离子水作为分散相、葵花油作为连续相的体系,分别改变电场参数（电场强度、频率、波形）和物性参数（界面张力、电导率、液滴粒径、固体颗粒）进行显微实验研究,得到了液滴-界面聚并机制及各参数的影响规律。实验结果表明,液滴-界面存在完全聚并和不完全聚并两种机制,决定因素是泵吸和颈缩过程的相互作用。电场强度增大,不完全聚并程度增大,而电场频率的作用则相反,这与电场力大小和液滴稳定程度有关。随表面活性剂浓度增大,二次液滴急剧增大,超过临界胶束浓度后,小幅减小。随电导率和SiO₂浓度增大,不完全聚并程度均先增大后减小,而随液滴粒径增大,不完全聚并程度持续增大。大部分工况下,液滴在直流稳恒电场下不完全聚并程度高于直流脉冲电场。为脉冲静电破乳机理的深入探讨及高效紧凑脉冲电脱盐脱水设备的研发奠定了理论基础。     

Coalescence behaviour of water droplets in water‐oil interface under pulsatile electric fields

In this research, the deformation of water droplets in sunflower oil-interface under pulsatile electric field was studied experimentally. Three types of coalescence were observed:(i) complete coalescence, (ii) incomplete coalescence and (iii) no-coalescence. The first type is desirable because of leaving no secondary droplets. The second type that produced secondary droplets which caused by necking process, due to extreme elongation of droplets (mostly small droplets), was undesirable; because the small droplets were more difficult to coalesce and remove. The no-coalescence was caused by very fast coalescence and extensive pushing of droplet into the continuous phase. In this work the process was operated with the utilization of a batch cylindrical separator with high voltage system. The lower part of the cylinder was filled with the aqueous phase and its top part was filled with sunflower oil to form an interface between the two phases. The effects of electric field strength, frequency, and waveform types were investigated. It was found that, the ramp-ac waveform was the best waveform, avoiding the production of secondary droplets and in this case the frequency also played an important role.     

非均匀电场下乳化油中液滴变形动力学行为

外加电场下液滴的变形动力学行为是乳化液电脱水机理研究的重要内容。基于Cahn-Hilliard方程的相场方法,建立了液滴在非均匀电场下的仿真模型,研究了电场作用下乳化液中液滴在形变、移动和聚结过程中电荷密度和电场力的分布规律,以及流场和电场的耦合作用。仿真分析了液滴粒径、电场强度以及电场非均匀系数对液滴运动行为的影响。利用实验室小型脱水系统开展了乳化液脱水实验,并通过高速摄像机对乳化液中液滴的运动行为进行了观测与分析。研究结果表明,在非均匀电场中液滴表面的极化电荷分布不均,由液滴中部向两端逐渐增大,在靠近电场集中方向处的电荷密度和Maxwell应力值最大;在一定范围内增大电场强度、电场非均匀系数或液滴粒径,可使液滴形变量增大,液滴向电场集中区域的移动速度以及液滴间的聚结速度增加。     

新型静电聚结器中水滴聚结特性研究

传统电脱水器采用裸电极,含水率较高时在高强电场作用下容易发生击穿现象,今设计了包覆绝缘层的高压电极并加工了新型静电聚结器,可有效避免击穿现象的发生。采用水/原油乳状液为实验介质,并利用显微高速摄像系统结合图像处理技术对水滴的聚结规律进行了观察和分析,探索了电场强度、流量、含水率等因素对水滴聚结特性的影响。结果表明:包覆绝缘层的高压电极可有效防止电击穿现象的发生,增加电场强度有助于油水分离,但高于临界场强后容易导致液滴破碎;含水率为10%、20%、30%时,最优电场强度不同,分别是372、320和204 kV m 1;含水率10%和30%乳化物液滴粒径增大倍数明显大于含水率20%的工况;电场作用时间影响液滴聚结效果,高强电场在低流量下具有很显著的作用;随着流量的增加电场作用降低,但高强电场在高流量下依然使液滴粒径明显增大。     

Coalescence of Water Droplets in Crude Oil Emulsions: Analytical Solution

In petroleum refineries, water is used in desalting units to remove the salt contained in crude oil. Typically, 7 % of the volume of hot crude oil is water, forming a water‐and‐oil emulsion. The emulsion flows between two electrodes and is subjected to an electric field. The electrical forces promote the coalescence of small droplets of water dispersed in crude oil, and these form bigger droplets. This paper calculates the forces acting on the droplets, highlighting particularly the mechanisms proposed for droplet–droplet coalescence under the influence of an applied electric field. Moreover, a model is developed in order to calculate the displacement speed of the droplets and the time between droplet collisions. Thus, it is possible to simulate and optimize the process by changing the operational variables (temperature, electrical field, and water quantity). The main advantage of this study is to show that it is feasible to increase the volume of water recycled in desalting processes, thus reducing the use of freshwater and the generation of liquid effluents in refineries.     

Movement of dispersed droplets of W/O emulsion in a uniform DC electrostatic field:Simulation on droplet coalescence☆

Considering the droplet coalescence, the motion of a group of dispersed droplets in W/O emulsion in a DC electric field is simulated. The simulation demonstrates the evolutions of droplet number, size as wel as its distribution, local concentration distribution and droplet size-velocity relation with the applied time of electric field. The sim-ulated average droplet size is roughly consistent with the experimental value. The simulated variation of droplet number with time under several applied voltages shows that increasing voltage is more effective for raising the rate of droplet coalescence than extending exerting time. However, with the further raise of applied voltage, the improvement in droplet coalescence rate becomes less significant. The evolution of simulated droplet size–velocity relationship with time shows that the inter-droplet electric repulsion force is very strong due to larger electric charge on the droplet under higher applied voltage, so that the magnitude and the direction of droplet velocity become more random, which looks helpful to droplet coalescence.     

The effect of interfacial tension on secondary drop formation in electro-coalescence of water droplets in oil

The coalescence of water droplets in oils may be enhanced by application of an electric field. This approach is commonly used in the crude oil and petroleum industry to separate water from crude oil. However, the process could lead to the formation of fine secondary droplets during the process of coalescence. This is obviously undesirable, as it becomes more difficult to separate finer water droplets. In this work the effects of interfacial tension, manipulated by the use of surfactants, and electric field strength on the formation of secondary droplets are investigated. Two competing processes of necking and pumping determine whether secondary droplets are formed. The dimensionless groups Weber Number (describing droplet deformation and necking due to the electric field) and Ohnesorge Number (describing the pumping of water into the continuous phase in the process of coalescence) may be coupled to give a new dimensionless group WO, describing the volume fraction of secondary droplets that are formed. WO Number describes the ratio of the electrical stress energy that causes necking over the energy required for pumping the viscous fluid out of the droplets. For a wide range of interfacial tensions, brought about by the use of non-ionic and anionic surfactants and electric field strengths, a good unification of data is obtained. The outcome of this work will be useful for optimizing the design of the electro-coalescence systems.     

Enhanced Coalescence of Emulsion in an Electric Field

Abstract

The action of an electric field on an emulsion produced effects like drop disintegration and promoted coalescence. High and low field intensities modify droplet displacements due to electrostatic forces. In this investigation a water-in-oil type of emulsion was prepared using distilled water and soap as the surfactant. After mixing, these emulsions were separated under an applied direct current high voltage electric field at a fixed 2.09 kV applied output voltage across the system. The time of coalescence, upper plate position, mixing time, and dispersion/coalesced phase volume interface are the parameters considered to influence the coalescence parameter and dispersion band hold-up. The results show that the prepared emulsion can be separated back into its bulk phases by using electric fields. The degree of separation depends on the applied voltage.     

Effect of marangoni stresses on the deformation and coalescence in compatibilized immiscible polymer blends

The effect of physical compatibilization on the deformation and coalescence of droplets in immiscible polymer blends is discussed. Evidence is provided for the existence of concentration gradients in block copolymers along the interface during deformation. This causes complex changes in droplet shapes during deformation and relaxation. These concentration gradients also result in Marangoni stresses, which stabilize the droplets against deformation and breakup. Coalescence experiments have been performed, varying both the compatibilizer concentration and the shear rate. Existing coalescence models have been evaluated. An empirical extension of Chesters' partially mobile interface model is presented, that treats the effects of Marangoni stresses on the coalescence process as a higher effective viscosity ratio.     

微流控技术中液滴聚并的研究进展

随着微流控技术的发展,在微通道内精确调控液滴行为的研究受到越来越多的关注。详细介绍了引发液滴聚并的方式,包括主动聚并和被动聚并。主动聚并是指施加电场、磁场、温度场等引起液滴融合,被动聚并是指通过改变通道结构或改变通道壁面润湿性促进聚并发生。此外,综述了液滴聚并动力学研究进展,例如：液膜排出时间和临界毛细管数。最后对聚并过程中的流场研究做了简要介绍。对液滴聚并的后续机理研究、探索高效的聚并方式和聚并的实际应用具有重要的指导意义。     

电场作用下液滴的变形及库仑分裂模式

基于高速成像技术,本文对电场作用下甲醇液滴的显微形貌特征进行了可视化研究,精确捕捉了两相流体系中不同生长阶段的荷电液滴基于时间分辨特性的变形及库仑分裂演变行为,得到不同工况下荷电液滴的变形分裂过程及行为演化细节。基于液滴所受库仑力和介电泳力与周围流域的耦合作用,揭示了电场作用下不同生长阶段的液滴库仑分裂形成机理。结果表明,电场强度和液滴粒径是决定液滴变形及库仑分裂模式的主要因素,荷电液滴的变形及库仑分裂模式可以分为推压变形、顶部破碎、顶部-边端破碎、伞状破碎。结合量纲为1参数对液滴的变形及破碎特征进行了定量分析,随着电场强度的增大及液滴粒径的减小,液滴变形及顶部破碎的程度更加剧烈,液滴临界伞状破碎长度减小。     

电场对液滴界面张力及动力学特征影响的研究进展

电场是改变液滴界面张力的重要因素,施加不同类型的电场对驱动微流体运动、变形、分裂及合并等行为起着至关重要的作用,该技术广泛用于微液滴操控、电子显示和原油脱水等领域,并具有潜在的应用前景。文中综述了电场作用下微液滴气-液、气-固与液-液交界面张力的变化,分析了与界面张力对微液滴运动学行为影响相关的实验现象及模拟成果;指出电场作用下气-液交界面处表面张力的变化趋势,因实验及模拟方法不同目前仍存在较大争议;探讨了直流电和交流电对电润湿过程液滴铺展的不同影响和液滴形态振荡特征;分析了直流电、交流电及电脉冲对电破乳过程中液滴运动行为的重要作用。总结了电场对液滴界面张力影响研究中存在的问题,并提出了值得进一步深入研究的可能方向。     

The Experimental Observation and Modelling of Film Thinning and Film Retraction during the Interfacial Coalescence of Biodiesel and Glycerol Droplets

This paper is concerned with the way interfacial coalescence of a single drop of biodiesel or glycerol occurs at a glycerol/biodiesel interface. Two stages of interfacial coalescence were studied: the thinning of the trapped liquid film between the rising or falling droplet and bulk fluid interface, and the retraction of the film after the film had ruptured. Unexpectedly, the thinning time for the high viscosity glycerol film around a rising biodiesel droplet was found to be much shorter than that for a low viscosity biodiesel film around a sedimenting glycerol droplet. Squeeze flow modelling showed that the film of glycerol around a biodiesel droplet was bounded by relatively inviscid biodiesel and therefore flowed with high slip at its interfaces, resulting in rapid film thinning. The biodiesel film around a glycerol droplet was bounded by highly viscous glycerol and flowed with little slip at the interfaces, resulting in slower film thinning. After rupture, film retraction was found to be much faster for biodiesel droplets than for glycerol droplets. The drag exerted by the fluid surrounding the film was found to control the retraction kinetics. The results are of particular relevance to the separation of glycerol from biodiesel and of general relevance to coalescence kinetics for immiscible drops at an interface.     

电场作用下基面液滴蒸发与内部流动数值模拟

为探究电场强化基面液滴蒸发的原理,本文采用有限元方法,对外加电场作用下的固体基面上液滴的蒸发过程进行了数值模拟,对比了不同电导率液滴的蒸发过程,分析了电场、液滴蒸发速率和内部流动的影响及其成因,以及液滴在电场作用下的内部流动与液滴传热传质的关系,结果表明,电场力的作用能够显著强化液滴内部的流动,对液滴的传热传质具有促进作用。此外,本文分析了温度对电场下基面液滴蒸发及内部流动的影响,发现温度对电场、液滴内部流动及蒸发的强化作用也有着较为明显的影响：对于电导率较低的纯水液滴,当电场强度低于和高于临界值6kV/cm时,温度对电场强化液滴内部流动和蒸发的影响有所不同;对于电导率较高的盐酸液滴,温度对电场强化液滴内部流动和蒸发的影响随电场强度升高均较大。本文为发展高效静电喷雾冷却技术提供了研究基础。     

Modeling fluid behavior and droplet interactions during liquid-liquid separation in hydrocyclones

A mechanical separation process in a hydrocyclone is described in which disperse water droplets are separated from a continuous diesel fuel phase. This separation process is influenced by droplet-droplet interaction effects like droplet breakup and coalescence resulting in a change of droplet size distribution. A simulation model is developed coupling the numerical solution of the flow field in the hydrocyclone based on computational fluid dynamics with population balances. The droplet size distribution is discretized and each discrete droplet size fraction is assumed to be an individual phase within a multiphase-mixture model. The droplet breakup and coalescence rates are defined as mass transfer rates between the discrete phases by the aid of user-defined functions. All model equations are solved with the CFD software package FLUENT™. The investigations show the impact of the cyclone geometry on the coupled population and separation dynamics. Cyclone separators with an optimized geometry show less steep velocity gradients increasing the coalescence rates and improving the separation efficiency. The calculated droplet size distributions at the cyclone overflow and at the underflow show good accordance with experimental data. The basic modeling approach can be extended and adapted to other disperse multiphase flow systems.     

Electrically stressed water drops in oil

The deformation of water droplets in an electric field has been studied in hydrocarbon liquids. A water drop will elongate in an electric field due to the electrostatic pressure, and becomes unstable when a critical field limit is reached. By applying different voltage waveforms it is possible to measure both transient, time varying and static effects. An experimental method has been developed to study the rheological properties of the water droplet. The experimental results in surfactant-free model oil are in good agreement with classic Taylor theory. In diluted crude oil a correlation was found between the drop behavior in an electric field and the interface elasticity modulus, measured by dilational interfacial rheology. The static drop deformation was reduced with increasing elastic modulus due to adsorption of polar surfactants to the water/oil interface. Drop surface oscillations will be damped by the viscosity of the bulk liquid. The dynamic drop behavior was studied in viscosity standards prepared from different concentrations of polystyrene in toluene. The drop oscillations were modeled as damped oscillator, and the influence of viscosity on the eigen-frequency and damping coefficient was studied for different drop sizes. The oscillations can also explain the premature break-up of water droplets sometimes observed in the experiments.     

Kinetics of ultrasonically induced coalescence within oil/water emulsions: Modeling and experimental studies

A model for the coalescence of the oil phase within aqueous emulsions driven by the application of a low-intensity, resonant ultrasonic field has been developed. Under the application of a resonant ultrasonic field, the density and compressibility difference between the dispersed and continuous phases results in a net force that pushes droplets toward pressure antinodes where coalescence subsequently occurs. A mathematical model that determines the relative transport of two individual droplets under the action of acoustic and other relevant forces was recently published. That approach is utilized here in the development of a population balance model which predicts global coalescence rates and the evolution of the droplet size distribution under the influence of the ultrasonic field. These results are experimentally validated and good qualitative agreement between model predictions and experimental observations of the evolution of the droplet size distribution is observed. Discrepancies between the experimental and modeling results are attributed to spatial non-uniformities in the acoustic field utilized in the experiments and the associated lateral radiation forces. The contribution of these forces to overall coalescence rates is described in terms of an effective strength of the acoustic field within the acoustic chamber.     

Mass Transport from Single Droplets in Imposed Electric Fields

Abstract

The influence of electric charge phenomena on mass transfer in systems involving droplets in a continuous medium is of increasing importance. The enhanced transport behavior of droplets in imposed fields on mass transfer and the influence of naturally occurring charges on droplets, particularly in the atmosphere, are both subjects of current interest. The objective of this study is to elucidate the hydrodynamic and mass transfer effect of imposed fields on charged single droplets. Investigations of both static and pulsed electric fields are reported.

The experimental approach is based on the suspension of single droplets in a precisely machined expanding channel. A stationary, saturated water droplet is fluidized by the upflow of 2-ethylhexanol. This arrangement allows precise photographic monitoring of droplet size and shape as well as the hydrodynamics of both phases in the region of the interface.

Baseline continuous-phase mass transfer studies with internally circulating droplets corroborate earlier studies with the same system. The effect of the accumulation of unavoidable surfactant on droplet circulation and mass transport rate at long exposure times is reported. The imposition of a static electric field in the axial direction caused distortion of droplets into prolate spheroidal shape.

An electric field pulsed at a tuned frequency is observed to cause oscillation of droplets between prolate-and oblate-spheroidal shapes. In addition to frequency and field amplitude, the interfacial properties of the fluid system as well as viscosities and densities of the two phases influence the oscillation. The effect of the pulsation of the field on mass transfer to the continuous phase is reported. These data are compared with results for both nonoscillating mass transfer and theoretical models.