The effect of chemical reaction on the breakup of liquid jets

Linear stability analysis predicts that a chemical reaction occurring at or near a liquid jet interface may strongly influence its breakup into droplets. Jet length is shown to depend primarily on the site of the reaction (at the interface or in one of the bulk phases), the transfer rates of the various species, and the interfacial tension dependence on composition and secondarily on a number of other factors. Experiments with silicone oil jets (containing various carboxylic acids) in water (containing a range of concentrations of sodium hydroxide) confirm qualitatively the principal predictions of the analysis.