Controlled Production of Emulsions Using a Crossflow Membrane

A method for manufacturing emulsions — crossflow membrane emulsification has been studied. This involves the formation of emulsions by breaking up the discontinuous phase into droplets in a controlled manner without the use of turbulent eddies. This is achieved by passing the discontinuous phase through a suitable microporous medium and injecting the droplets so formed directly into a moving continuous phase. This paper presents two examples of experimental data for droplet formation using a single pore (capillary tube) and a membrane tube. A high-speed video camera (up to 1000 frames per second) was used to record the formation of droplet from a single pore and thus measure droplet growth and the detachment processes as a function of process parameters such as transmembrane pressure drop, membrane pore size, continuous phase crossflow velocity etc. Real emulsions were prepared using a membrane tube.     

矩形通道内横流喷雾掺混流场的实验研究

应用PIV系统对矩形通道内横流-喷雾掺混过程中液滴沿横流方向的流场进行了实验测量.分别获得了单喷嘴和双喷嘴下横流掺混中的流场结构,以及液滴的水平速度分布.横流作用下,液滴的最大水平速度为横流速度的两倍左右;反旋涡对降低了液滴的水平速度,提高了液滴在横流中的停留时间.双喷嘴条件下,横流截面上的液滴密集区域呈狭长的三角形,...     

Emulsification by high frequency ultrasound using piezoelectric transducer: Formation and stability of emulsifier free emulsion

Emulsifier free emulsion was developed with a new patented technique for food and cosmetic applications. This emulsification process dispersed oil droplets in water without any emulsifier. Emulsions were prepared with different vegetable oil ratios 5%, 10% and 15% (v/v) using high frequency ultrasounds generated by piezoelectric ceramic transducer vibrating at 1.7 MHz. The emulsion was prepared with various emulsification times between 0 and 10 h. Oil droplets size was measured by laser granulometry. The pH variation was monitored; electrophoretic mobility and conductivity variation were measured using Zêtasizer equipment during emulsification process. The results revealed that oil droplets average size decreased significantly (p < 0.05) during the first 6 h of emulsification process and that from 160 to 1 μm for emulsions with 5%, 10% and from 400 to 29 μm for emulsion with 15% of initial oil ratio.For all tested oil ratios, pH measurement showed significant decrease and negative electrophoretic mobility showed the accumulation of OH⁻ at oil/water interface leading to droplets stability in the emulsion. The conductivity of emulsions showed a decrease of the ions quantity in solution, which indicated formation of positive charge layer around OH⁻ structure. They constitute a double ionic layer around oil particles providing emulsion stability. This study showed a strong correlation between turbidity measurement and proportion of emulsified oil.     

Permeate flux inflection due to concentration polarization in crossflow membrane filtration: A novel analytic approach

A convection-diffusion equation for membrane filtration is analytically solved assuming fast crossflow velocity of a simple shear flow tangential to the membrane surface. In the direction normal to the membrane surface, solute concentration varies in a partially exponential and partially power-wise manner. The permeate flux in an asymptotic limit is proportional to the inverse square root of the distance from the inlet of the membrane channel. Osmotic pressure due to retained solutes on the membrane surface controls the profile of the permeate flux, which undergoes an inflection along the tangential direction if applied pressure is more than four times the feed osmotic pressure.     

高超声速椭圆锥边界层横流转捩特性大涡模拟

横流效应显著影响高超声速飞行器的三维边界层转捩过程, 深化对该流动机制的认识有助于提升和改善飞行器气动性能及热力学环境. 针对HIFiRE5椭圆锥绕流问题, 采用大涡模拟方法计算分析了超声速边界层横流转捩特性, 并揭示其中的流动机理. 参考HIFiRE5风洞模型试验条件, 数值模拟中椭圆锥来流入口处施加人工速度扰动以激发边界层内不稳定扰动波, 进而预测了高超声速边界层流动横流失稳、转捩过程等基本流动特征, 并基于转捩热流分布形态对比, 获得了与试验数据基本吻合的计算结果. 研究发现, 椭圆锥中心线流动汇聚形成的流向涡结构非常容易失稳, 另外在中心线及侧缘之间的中部区域存在较强的横流不稳定性, 两种机制共同作用影响边界层转捩过程. 此外, 分析了来流扰动幅值对边界层横流失稳转捩的影响, 并发现静来流条件下, 横流区域出现两组独立的定常横流涡结构, 而强噪声来流条件下, 中心线主涡和中部横流涡均发生失稳转捩, 且在椭圆锥表面形成多峰状的转捩阵面. 最后, 深入分析流场的压力脉动动力学特性, 揭示了三维边界层发生失稳转捩的非线性演化机制.      

Experimental investigation of spray characteristics of a liquid jet in a turbulent subsonic gaseous crossflow

Two perforated plates with different solidity ratios, S=50% and 67%, were used to investigate the effect of the velocity fluctuations of a subsonic gaseous crossflow on the spray characteristics of a liquid jet including droplet size and velocity distributions. The experiments were conducted over a range of jet-to-crossflow momentum flux ratio of q=16.5-172, and two gas Weber numbers of ?We_g=2.7 and 5.9, corresponding to the enhanced capillary breakup and bag breakup regimes, respectively. The experimental results of this study revealed that the distribution of droplets size associated with a turbulent and a uniform crossflow for each specific breakup regime were approximately identical. The bimodal and single peak distributions of droplets size, respectively, associated with enhanced capillary and bag breakup regimes were generally consistent with the literature reports. However, the transition of the liquid primary breakup regime from enhanced capillary to bag breakup mode was delayed in a turbulent crossflow compared to its uniform counterpart. The general behavior of droplets size-velocity profiles were also consistent with the literature reports. Nonetheless, complex variations in the distribution of droplets velocity when changing the crossflow turbulence intensity were observed and linked with the presence of instabilities on the liquid jet's surface. Finally, the present experiments allowed shedding more light on the reason why the breakup mechanisms of a liquid jet in a conventional uniform crossflow should not be generalized to predict the distinct breakup process of a liquid jet in a turbulent crossflow.     

Techno-economic comparative assessment of the ultrasound,electrostatic and microwave supported coalescence of binary water droplets in crude oil

In this study, comparative assessment of the technical performance, energy usage and economic impact of ultrasound, electrostatics and microwave on the coalescence of binary water droplets in crude oil was conducted. The effect of different oil properties such as crude oil viscosity (10.6–106 mPa s) and interfacial tension (IFT) (20–250 mN/m) on the coalescence time and energy consumption was examined. In addition, operation conditions such as inlet emulsion flow velocity (10–100 mm/s), electric field type, ultrasound frequency and applied voltage amplitude (0–30 kV) were evaluated. The numerical models showed good agreement with experimental findings in the literature. Moreover, the process time of the dewatering process increased with rising inlet flow velocities. The elevation of the coalescence time with velocity can be attributed to the increasing effect of flow disturbance, and the reduction of the emulsion residence time. As regards the IFT, the coalescence time reduced as the IFT was increased. This can be associated with the improved stability of emulsions formed at lowered IFT. As the maximum droplet size is directly proportional to the IFT, lowering the IFT reduces the peak diameter of the droplets that are present in the emulsion. Moreover, the coalescence time followed the order: ultrasound < microwave < electrostatics approaches under varying IFT. The coalescence energy increased from ∼15 J, ∼90 J and ∼25 mJ to ∼61 J, ∼235 J and ∼26 mJ for microwave, electrostatics and ultrasound techniques, respectively, as the viscosity was raised from 10.6 to 106 mPa s. Ultrasound coalescence showed significant energy and economic savings in comparison to microwave and electro-coalescence. Hence, ultrasound coalescence would be a potential method for standalone or integrated demulsification over the two other techniques. However, there are indications that beyond a viscosity of 300 mPa s, the effect of ultrasound becomes weak with significant hindrance to droplet movement and accumulation. This analysis provides fundamental insights on the comparative behavior of the three emulsion separation techniques.     

Sizing of emulsion droplets under flow using flow-compensating NMR-PFG techniques

Using the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) pulsed field gradient (PFG) technique, it is possible to determine the size distribution of emulsion droplets. This method is extended so that the same measurements can be performed in the presence of flow. The resultant flow-compensating NMR-PFG technique is used to determine the oil droplet-size distribution of an oil-in-water emulsion flowing in a narrow tube at various flow rates. Comparison with the nonflowing oil droplet-size distribution enables the effect of velocity shear on the oil droplet-size distribution to be quantified.     

Metal-Decorated Pickering Emulsion for Continuous Flow Catalysis

Continuous flow catalysis is favored for large-scale chemical synthesis due to its time-saving, energy-saving, and cost-efficient characters. Herein, Pickering emulsions are demonstrated to be effective carriers for immobilizing metal nanocatalysts in continuous flow catalysis. A series of metal nanoparticles (Pd, Au, and Pt) are coated on emulsion droplets via a facile aldehyde-induced reduction method. Meanwhile, Pickering emulsion can be formed by using aldehyde cellulose nanofibers (ACNFs) with different dimensions that come from eucalyptus wood, cotton, and bacteria cellulose. These ACNFs can be entangled together to generate an interfacial layer for locking in emulsion droplets and providing reactive sites for in situ growth of metal nanocatalysts. In Pd-anchored emulsion, the continuously catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), methylene blue, and methyl orange can proceed effectively for 55, 23, and 50 h with the conversion efficiencies at nearly 100%, >98%, >99%, respectively. In addition, Au- and Pt-deposited emulsions are also operable in continuous flow catalysis as demonstrated by catalytic reduction of 4-NP. Au-decorated emulsion ensures the proceeding of catalytic reduction for 45 h with the conversion efficiency of >98% while Pt-immobilized emulsion allows for the reduction of 4-NP for 50 h at a conversion efficiency of >99%.     

PIV measurements of the flow and turbulent characteristics of a round jet in crossflow

The instantaneous and ensemble averaged flow characteristics of a round jet issuing normally into a crossflow was studied using a flow visualization technique and Particle Image Velocimetry measurements. Experiments were performed at a jet-to-crossflow velocity ratio, 3.3 and two Reynolds numbers, 1,050 and 2,100, based on crossflow velocity and jet diameter. Instantaneous laser tomographic images of the vertical center plane of the crossflow jet show that there exists very different natures in the flow structures of the near field jet due to Reynolds number effect even though the velocity ratio is same. It is found that the shear layer becomes much thicker when the Reynolds number is 2,100 because of the strong entrainment of the inviscid fluid by turbulent interaction between the jet and crossflow. The mean and second order statistics are calculated by ensemble averaging over 1,000 realizations of instantaneous velocity fields. The detail characteristics of mean flow field, streamwise and vertical rms velocity fluctuations, and Reynolds shear stress distributions are presented. The new PIV results are compared with those from previous experimental and LES studies.     

Simulation of phase separation with large component ratio for oil-in-water emulsion in ultrasound field

This paper presents an exploration for separation of oil-in-water and coalescence of oil droplets in ultrasound field via lattice Boltzmann method. Simulations were conducted by the ultrasound traveling and standing waves to enhance oil separation and trap oil droplets. The focus was to the effect of ultrasound irradiation on oil-in-water emulsion properties in the standing wave field, such as oil drop radius, morphology and growth kinetics of phase separation. Ultrasound fields were applied to irradiate the oil-in-water emulsion for getting flocculation of the oil droplets in 420 kHz case, and larger dispersed oil droplets and continuous phases in 2 MHz and 10 MHz cases, respectively. The separated phases started to rise along the direction of sound propagation after several periods. The rising rate of the flocks was significantly greater in ultrasound case than that of oil droplets in the original emulsion, indicating that ultrasound irradiation caused a rapid increase of oil droplet quantity in the progress of the separation. The separation degree was also significantly improved with increasing frequency or irradiation time. The dataset was rearranged for growth kinetics of ultrasonic phase separation in a plot by spherically averaged structure factor and the ratio of oil and emulsion phases. The analyses recovered the two different temporal regimes: the spinodal decomposition and domain growth stages, which further quantified the morphology results. These numerical results provide guidance for setting the optimum condition for the separation of oil-in-water emulsion in the ultrasound field.     

基于温敏漆技术的圆锥高超声速大攻角绕流背风面流动结构实验研究

高超声速流动中, 大攻角下圆锥背风面边界层会存在流动分离与再附、边界层转捩等多种流动现象, 进而对圆锥表面温度分布产生显著的影响。为了对这一复杂流动规律及其对表面温升分布的影响进行讨论, 研究基于温敏漆技术, 得到了在Mach数为6的低湍流度来流条件下, 攻角为10°的圆锥背风面温升分布结果。通过对不同位置、不同方位角处温升分布曲线的分析, 对大攻角下圆锥背风面边界层流动发展过程及不同发展阶段的流动特征进行了讨论。同时, 通过对来流总压的调节, 得到了不同Reynolds数下的圆锥背风面温升分布结果, 总结了Reynolds数对流动的影响规律。研究发现, 高超声速大攻角圆锥背风面边界层流动发展过程中会依次出现层流分离、定常横流涡影响、转捩以及湍流分离与再附等流动特征, 而在不同的Reynolds数下, 各个流动特征产生影响的范围不同, 随着Reynolds数的降低, 层流范围和定常横流涡影响范围均有所增加, 而从观察到横流影响到转捩开始发生的范围基本相同。      

Effects of dissolution conditions on the properties of PVDF ultrafiltration membranes

Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is an important membrane forming material for water treatment. Earlier works have shown that major morphological changes can be achieved when PVDF is dissolved under different conditions with practical applications in membrane distillation and protein attachment. However, no previous report has discussed the effects of dissolution conditions on the performance of PVDF under ultrafiltration, which is one of the most important applications of the polymer. In this work, four different PVDF ultrafiltration membranes were produced from dopes dissolved either by stirring at 24 °C, 90 °C, 120 °C or by sonication. It is shown that dope sonication results in membrane with enhanced thermal and mechanical stability, improved permeate flux during oil emulsion filtration and high flux recovery of ∼63% after cleaning. As a comparison, flux recovery of only ∼26% was obtained for the membrane produced from dope dissolved at 24 °C. The outstanding performance of the dope-sonicated membrane was linked to its slightly lower porosity, narrow distribution of small pores and relatively smooth skin layer. Performance parameters for all membranes showed good correlation to porosity suggesting a tool for membrane design achievable by simple variation in the mode of polymer dissolution. The polymer dissolution effect was related to the degree of unfolding of the polymer molecular chains and their entanglements.     

Nano-emulsification of oriental lacquer sap by ultrasonic wave propagation: Improvement of thin-film characteristics as a natural resin

Lacquer sap has received much attention as a traditional natural resin because it is a renewable and eco-friendly biopolymer resource unlike artificial coating materials. However, strict drying conditions and long drying times of lacquer sap should be modified to expand its applications. This study presents the first attempt to investigate the effect of different amplitudes of ultrasonic waves on the lacquer sap composed of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion droplets and the mechanical properties of the resultant film by solvent evaporation. Acoustically induced cavitation via batch ultrasonication facilitates the generation of submicron-sized W/O emulsion. The drying time of sonicated lacquer sap was noticeably shortened as the amplitude of acoustic power increased. Interestingly, the transparency of the film cast from lacquer sap consisting of the smallest emulsion droplets increased significantly, weakening the degree of colour change from caramel-like yellow to dark brown as polymerisation progressed. These are attributed to the effective and frequent contact of laccase enzyme with urushiol at the increased interfacial area of nano-emulsified W/O droplets pulverised by ultrasonic waves. The quinone radical-generation in the interface layer and its transfer to the urushiol oil phase through water-insoluble glycoprotein emulsifier are greatly promoted, resulting in highly cross-linked, dense three-dimensional polymer networks, which also increased the lacquer film hardness after drying. As the emulsion droplet size decreased, the mutual interaction between the catechol moiety of urushiol and the substrates increased, resulting in improved adhesion. The nano-emulsification of the lacquer sap by ultrasonic waves can be used in a simple, effective, and eco-friendly way to shorten the drying time and improve the film characteristics of natural resins. This approach could pave the way for its wide range of applications in industrial fields, taking into account green and sustainable chemistry.     

Physicochemical characterization of black seed oil-milk emulsions through ultrasonication

The ultrasonic formation of stable emulsions of a bioactive material, black seed oil, in skim milk was investigated. The incorporation of 7% of black seed oil in pasteurised homogenized skim milk (PHSM) using 20 kHz high intensity ultrasound was successfully achieved. The effect of sonication time and acoustic power on the emulsion stability was studied. A minimum process time of 8 min at an applied acoustic power of 100 W was sufficient to produce emulsion droplets stable for at least 8 days upon storage at 4 ± 2 °C, which was confirmed through creaming stability, particle size, rheology and color analysis. Partially denatured whey proteins may provide stability to the emulsion droplets and in addition to the cavitation effects of ultrasound are responsible for the production of smaller sized emulsion droplets.     

New insights into the mechanisms of ultrasonic emulsification in the oil–water system and the role of gas bubbles

Ultrasonic emulsification (USE) assisted by cavitation is an effective method to produce emulsion droplets. However, the role of gas bubbles in the USE process still remains unclear. Hence, in the present paper, high-speed camera observations of bubble evolution and emulsion droplets formation in oil and water were used to capture in real-time the emulsification process, while experiments with different gas concentrations were carried out to investigate the effect of gas bubbles on droplet size. The results show that at the interface of oil and water, gas bubbles with a radius larger than the resonance radius collapse and sink into the water phase, inducing (oil–water) blended liquid jets across bubbles to generate oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) and water-in-oil (W/O) droplets in the oil phase and oil-in-water (O/W) droplets in the water phase, respectively. Gas bubbles with a radius smaller than the resonance radius at the interface always move towards the oil phase, accompanied with the generation of water droplets in the oil phase. In the oil phase, gas bubbles, which can attract bubbles nearby the interface, migrate to the interface of oil and water due to acoustic streaming, and generate numerous droplets. As for the gas bubbles in the water phase, those can break neighboring droplets into numerous finer ones during bubble oscillation. With the increase in gas content, more bubbles undergo chaotic oscillation, leading to smaller and more stable emulsion droplets, which explains the beneficial role of gas bubbles in USE. Violently oscillating microbubbles are, therefore, found to be the governing cavitation regime for emulsification process. These results provide new insights to the mechanisms of gas bubbles in oil–water emulsions, which may be useful towards the optimization of USE process in industry.     

微流控法二乙烯基苯乳液粒子成型机理研究

采用相界面跟踪(V()F)数值模拟方法,研究了轴流型微流控芯片中流速比、界面张力、粘度等对乳液粒子粒径的影响。模拟结果表明:乳液粒子粒径与流速比的对数存在线性关系,在一定范围内,当流速比增大时,粒径变小;当界面张力小于0.025 N/m时,乳液粒径随界面张力增大而增加,当界面张力超过0.03N/m时,乳液粒径变化趋于平缓;分散相粘度对乳液粒径的影响甚微。以聚乙烯醇(PVA)水溶液为连续相,二乙烯基苯(DVB)溶液为分散相,采用自制的聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)轴流型微流控芯进行了DVB乳液粒子成型实验研究,获得了0.5~3.0 mm的DVB乳液粒子。     

Applications of emulsified systems in elemental analysis by spectroanalytical techniques

Emulsified systems are characterized by an immiscible liquid dispersed in another liquid in the form of droplets. These systems can be classified according to the size of the dispersed droplets obtained in coarse emulsions (0.5–50 µm) or microemulsions (0.01–0.10 µm). These systems have several properties that make them interesting in several fields of technology, and the emulsion formed by oil droplets dispersed in an aqueous phase (O/A) is the most used in analytical determinations due to its low viscosity and organic load. This paper discusses the characteristics of emulsified systems, their obtention, stabilization, properties and use in the development of analytical methods for elemental analysis in matrices with high organic content such as oils, fatty foods and fuel matrices.     

垂直上升管中油水两相流流型辨识

基于运动波理论本文建立了垂直上升管中油水两相流运动波传播方程,计算得到了管内无仪器插入体情况下油水两相流运动波传播速度特性曲线,根据曲线特征确定了油水两相流过渡流型存在于持水率大于0.25并小于0.5区间,应用该流型辨识准则对Govier等实验观察到的油水两相流流型试验点进行了辨识,取得了较好对比效果。此外还使用Flores等击碎聚合机理性模型验证了本文的辨识流型图,并与之结合产生了更加细化的合成流型图。     

毫米级单分散聚-α-甲基苯乙烯空心微球制备

采用汇聚式双重乳液发生器通过乳液微封装技术制备得到了毫米级单分散的聚--甲基苯乙烯空心微球。初步研究了各相流速对乳液形成过程、乳液直径及其分散度的影响。基于获得的单分散双重乳液,采用旋转蒸发方式固化得到了分散度小于3%、直径800~1200 m的聚--甲基苯乙烯空心微球。