Coalescence and break-up in dilute polydispersions

Functional relationships for coalescence rate dependence on drop size and hold-up were derived via the collision rates and coalescence efficiency. Experiments in an agitated vessel indicated the coalescence rate to be controlled by the viscous flow regime and, per unit drop concentrations, to be proportional to the third power of the sum of the diameters of the two coalescing drops. By combining the experimentally known coalescence rate dependence on drop diameter with the independently determined dependence of the latter on the dispersed phase hold up, the breakup rate was found to depend on d^2.0.