2023/08/27 by Shijie Zhong, Rui Ni, Zhong, Shijie +1
Engineering · Environmental Science · #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Oil Spill Detection and Mitigation #Particle Dynamics in Fluid Flows
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2308.13990
openalex publication_date 2023/08/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The dispersed phase in liquid-liquid emulsions and air-liquid mixtures can often be fragmented into smaller sizes by the surrounding turbulent carrier phase. The critical parameter that controls this process is the breakup frequency, which is defined from the breakup kernel in the population balance equation. The breakup frequency controls how long it takes for the dispersed phase reaches the terminal size distribution for given turbulence. In this article, we try to summarize the key experimental results and compile the existing datasets under a consistent framework to find out what is the characteristic timescale of the problem and how to account for the inner density and viscosity of the dispersed phase. Furthermore, by pointing out the inconsistency of existing experimental data, the key important unsolved questions and related problems on the breakup frequency of bubbles and droplets are discussed.