Experimental evaluation of Marangoni stress and surfactant concentration at interface of contaminated single spherical drop using spatiotemporal filter velocimetry

Spatiotemporal filter velocimetry (SFV) was extended to Lagrangian measurements with boundary-fitted measurement areas, and was applied to flows about single spherical drops of glycerol-water solution falling in stagnant silicon oil under clean and contaminated conditions to examine its applicability to the estimation of the Marangoni stress and surfactant concentration at a moving interface. Effects of bulk concentration of surfactant on the velocity field, the Marangoni stress and the surface concentration of surfactant were discussed from the measured data. As a result, we confirmed that accurate velocity distribution in the vicinity of the interface measured by SFV enables us to evaluate interfacial velocity and interfacial shear stresses and to estimate the Marangoni stress, interfacial tension and surfactant concentration at the interface with the assumption of negligible surface viscosity. The flow inside the drop and the interfacial velocity become weak due to the Marangoni stress caused by the gradient of surfactant concentration at the interface as the bulk concentration of surfactant increases. These results demonstrate that SFV is of great use in experimental analysis of adsorption and desorption kinetics at a moving interface.     

Measurements of the stabilisation of liquid film flow by the soluble surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)

Gravity-driven film flow of aqueous solutions of SDS is studied experimentally and the evolution of small-amplitude, regular inlet disturbances is investigated. With the addition of SDS, strong attenuation of non-linear growth is observed, with traveling waves remaining relatively small in height and near-sinusoidal over an impressive parametric range. The critical Reynolds number of the primary instability rises by an order of magnitude. Maximum stabilization is observed at small surfactant loadings (characterized by surface tension 60–65 mN/m) and the critical Reynolds number gradually decreases with further addition of surfactant. Observations are interpreted by the competing effects of surface elasticity -which increases with the adsorbed SDS and intensifies Marangoni stresses- and surfactant mass transfer between bulk and interface -which also increases with the amount of SDS and mitigates interfacial gradients and Marangoni stresses.     

The effect of an insoluble surfactant on the skin friction of a bubble

In this paper, we develop a novel moving mesh method suitable for solving axisymmetric free-boundary problems, including the Marangoni effect induced by surfactant or temperature variation. This method employs a body-fitted grid system where the gas–liquid interface is one line of the grid system. We model the surfactant equation of state with a non-linear Langmuir law, and, for simplicity, we limit ourselves to the situation of an insoluble surfactant. We solve complicated dynamic boundary conditions accurately on the gas–liquid interface in the framework of finite-volume methods. Our method is used to study the effect of a surfactant on the skin friction of a bubble in a uniaxial flow. For the limiting case where the surface diffusivity is zero, the effect of a tangential stress generated by the surface tension gradient, allows us to explain a new phenomenon in high concentration regimes: larger surface tension, but also larger deformation. Furthermore, this condition leads to the formation of boundary layers and flow separation at high Reynolds numbers. The influence of these complex flow patterns is examined.     

Effect of Internal Heat Generation on the Onset of Marangoni Convection in a Fluid Layer Overlying a Layer of an Anisotropic Porous Medium

Linear stability analysis has been performed to investigate the effect of internal heat generation on the criterion for the onset of Marangoni convection in a two-layer system comprising an incompressible fluid-saturated anisotropic porous layer over which lies a layer of the same fluid. The upper non-deformable free surface and the lower rigid surface are assumed to be insulated to temperature perturbations. The fluid flow in the porous layer is governed by the modified Darcy equation and the Beavers–Joseph empirical slip condition is employed at the interface between the two layers. The resulting eigenvalue problem is solved exactly. Besides, analytical expression for the critical Marangoni number is also obtained by using regular perturbation technique with wave number as a perturbation parameter. The effect of internal heating in the porous layer alone exhibits more stabilizing effect on the system compared to its presence in both fluid and porous layers and the system is least stable if the internal heating is in fluid layer alone. It is found that an increase in the value of mechanical anisotropy parameter is to hasten the onset of Marangoni convection while an opposite trend is noticed with increasing thermal anisotropy parameter. Besides, the possibilities of controlling (suppress or augment) Marangoni convection is discussed in detail.     

Effect of a Magnetizable Surfactant on the Motion of a Liquid Film on the Horizontal Surface

The motion of a thin liquid film of viscous incompressible fluid on the horizontal surface in the presence of a magnetizable surfactant on the free boundary in the external inhomogeneous magnetic field is investigated. Surfactant diffusion along the free surface and the dependence of the surface tension on the magnetic field strength are taken into account. The system of evolutionary equations is derived in the lubricant approximation and steady-state film flows and their stability in the case of constant film thickness and constant surfactant number density are investigated with regard to the Marangoni effect.     

Structure of the fluid interface in an external magnetic field in the presence of a magnetizable surfactant

The structure of the flat interface between two conventional fluids in an external magnetic field in the presence of a magnetizable surfactant is investigated with account for the dependence of the free energy of the system on the surfactant concentration gradients and the bearing phase density. The dependence of the surface tension tensor components on the magnetic field strength is determined.     

Convective self-oscillations near an air-bubble surface in a horizontal rectangular channel

The concentration convection in an isothermal fluid near an air bubble clamped between the vertical walls of a horizontal channel with a rectangular cross-section is studied experimentally and numerically. The channel is filled with an aqueous solution of a surfactant with a nonuniform concentration. As a result of the competition between the gravitational convection in the cavity volume and the Marangoni convection near the bubble surface, an oscillation flow regime is established. This regime is observed experimentally over several hours. In the numerical experiment, the oscillations are obtained in the presence of an initial horizontal surfactant concentration gradient. Against the background of gravitational convection, short bursts of Marangoni convection with ten times greater intensity are observed. The convective flow patterns and the oscillation periods obtained experimentally and numerically are in fairly good agreement.     

Oscillatory behaviour in melting of a GaSb/InSb/GaSb system

The effect of coexistence of Marangoni and natural convections was studied numerically in melting of a GaSb/InSb/GaSb sandwich sample. Fluid flow and concentration fields are oscillatory when the solutal natural convection coexists with the thermal Marangoni convection. The coexistence of solutal and thermal natural convections, without Marangoni convection, however, does not lead to fluid flow oscillations in spite of the existence of two flow cells in opposite directions. The conclusion is that not the presence of two opposite flow cells but the flow structure itself, due to the presence of a free surface, is responsible for such an oscillatory behaviour.     

Effect of the adsorption-desorption process intensity on solutal convection near a drop in a horizontal channel

The interaction between gravity convection and Marangoni convection in a horizontal rectangular channel filled with a liquid containing a surfactant and a drop of another liquid is numerically investigated. For large Schmidt numbers the occurring oscillatory regime of solutal convection is analyzed. In the model with a surface phase the effect of the adsorption and desorption processes on the convective flow structure is determined. The corresponding initial and boundary value problem is solved using a difference method.     

Topological structure bifurcation of temperature field of deformable drop in Marangoni migration

The unsteady processes of the Marangoni migration of deformable liquid drops are simulated numerically in a wider range of Marangoni number (up to Ma = 500) in the present work. A steady terminal state can always be reached, and the scaled terminal velocity is a monotonic function decreasing with increasing Marangoni number, which is generally in agreement with corresponding experimental data. The topological structure of flow field in the steady terminal state does not change as the Marangoni number increases, while bifurcation of the topological structure of temperature field occurs twice at two corresponding critical Marangoni numbers. A third critical value of Marangoni number also exists, beyond which the coldest point jumps from the rear stagnation to inside the drop though the topological structure of the temperature field does not change. It is found that the inner and outer thermal boundary layers may exist along the interface both inside and outside the drop if Ma > 70. But the thickness decreases with increasing Marangoni number more slowly than the prediction of potential flow at large Marangoni and Reynolds numbers.     

Direct numerical simulation of thermocapillary flow based on the Volume of Fluid method

A numerical method for direct simulation of thermal Marangoni effects at dynamically deformable interface of two-phase incompressible fluids is developed. The approach is based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method with special focus on the numerical treatment of the temperature surface gradient because of its decisive role as the driving force of the flow. The surface gradient calculation is split into computing its length and direction in order to satisfy the correct thermal boundary condition at the interface without losing mobility of the interface. The method is applied to three different types of thermocapillary flow, namely thermocapillary migration of a droplet in an ambient fluid with linear temperature gradient, thermocapillary convection in a liquid layer under linear temperature gradient along the interface, and Marangoni convection due to Bénard–Marangoni instability. In the first case, different aspects of the dynamics of the migration are considered for validation such as the terminal migration velocity, the initial acceleration and quantification of the wall effects. The simulation also considers high convective heat transfer and covers a wide range of Marangoni numbers up to 5000, where good agreement with both theoretical and experimental results is achieved. In the second case, the convection velocity in the liquid layer is compared with an analytical result. In the final application, pattern formation due to the Bénard–Marangoni instability in a liquid layer in square geometry of small aspect ratio is investigated for realistic Biot number and dynamically deformable fluid interface. The results show good agreement with experiments from literature, where our numerical simulation also predicts cell pattern for a particular aspect ratio which is outside the limitation of the above cited experimental work.     

Numerical study on magneto-convection of cold water in an open cavity with variable fluid properties

The aim of the present study is to understand the problem of buoyancy and thermocapillary induced convection of cold water near its density maximum in an open cavity with temperature dependent properties in the presence of uniform external magnetic field. The governing equations are solved by the finite volume method. The results are discussed for various values of reference temperature parameter, density inversion parameter, Rayleigh, Hartmann and Marangoni numbers. It is observed that the temperature of maximum density leaves strong effects on fluid flow and heat transfer due to the formation of bi-cellular structure. Convection heat transfer is enhanced by thermocapillary force when buoyancy force is weakened.     

Thermal imaging study on the surface wave of heated falling liquid films

By using thermal imaging technique and film thickness metering system, the surface wave and film thickness of the heated falling liquid film were experimentally investigated. Temperature variations of the heated film induce surface tension gradient and so-caused Marangoni flow that attempts to avoid the temperature variations. There are three kinds of Marangoni flow appearing in the heated falling liquid film. It is found that the lateral Marangoni flow (MF I) and the streamwise Marangoni flow (MF II) make the heated film thick, while the Marangoni flow in the surface wave (MF III) reinforces the wave and makes the heated film thin. The intensity of Marangoni flow is determined by the flow rate and the heating conditions. MF I and MF II are both enhanced with the increasing liquid flow rate. Moreover, MF III is prominent under moderate flow rates and is gradually weakened at high flow rates. The distance over which MF III starts, increases with a rise in flow rate, but is independent of the heating condition.     

The effect of surfactants on the instability of a rotating liquid jet

It has long been known that the presence of surfactants on the free surface of a liquid jet can create surface tension gradients along the interface. The resulting formation of tangential stresses along the surface lead to Marangoni type flows and greatly affect the resulting dynamics of rupture. In this way surfactants can be used to manipulate the breakup of a liquid jet and control the size of droplets produced. In this paper we investigate the effects of insoluble surfactants on the breakup of rotating liquid jets with applications to industrial prilling. Using a long wavelength approximation we reduce the governing equations into a set of one-dimensional equations. We use an asymptotic theory to find steady solutions and then carry out a linear instability analysis on these solutions. We show that steady state centreline solutions are independent of viscosity to leading order and that the most unstable wavenumber and growth rate of disturbances decrease as the effectiveness of surfactants is increased. We also numerically solve these equations using a finite difference scheme to investigate the effects of changing the initial surfactant concentration and other fluid parameters. Our results show that differences in breakup lengths between rotating surfactant-laden jets and surfactant-free jets increase with the rate of rotation. Moreover, we find that satellite droplet sizes decrease as the rate of rotation is decreased with the effect of surfactants amplifying the reduction in sizes. Furthermore, the presence of surfactants at fixed rotation rates is shown to produce larger main droplets at low disturbance wavenumbers whilst satellite droplets are smaller for moderate disturbance wavenumbers κ≈0.7.     

Effects of surfactant on liquid film thickness in the Bretherton problem

The effects of insoluble and soluble surfactant on the motion of a long bubble propagating through a capillary tube are investigated computationally using a finite-difference/front-tracking method. Emphasis is placed on the effects of surfactant on the liquid film thickness between the bubble and the tube wall. The numerical method is designed to solve the evolution equations of the interfacial and bulk surfactant concentrations coupled with the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A non-linear equation of state is used to relate surface tension coefficient to surfactant concentration at the interface. Computations are first performed for soluble cases and then repeated for the corresponding clean and insoluble cases for a wide range of governing non-dimensional parameters in order to investigate the effects of surfactant and surfactant solubility. The computed film thickness for the clean case is found to be in a good agreement with Taylor’s law indicating the accuracy of the numerical method. We found that both the insoluble and soluble surfactant generally have a thickening effect on the film thickness, which is especially pronounced at low capillary numbers. This thickening effect strengthens with increasing sensitivity of surface tension to interfacial surfactant coverage mainly due to the enhanced Marangoni stresses along the liquid film. It is also observed that film thickening shows a non-monotonic behavior for variations in Peclet number. The validity of insoluble surfactant assumption is assessed for various non-dimensional numbers and it is demonstrated that insoluble assumption is valid only when capillary number is very low, i.e., Ca ≪ 1 and when surface tension is highly sensitive to interfacial surfactant coverage, i.e., the elasticity number is large.     

Emergence of Fluid Rotation in the Marangoni Boundary Layer in the Region of Local Cooling of the Free Boundary

Rotation bifurcation in a steady axisymmetric thermocapillary flow of an incompressible fluid filling a semi-infinite space bounded by the free surface with a nonuniform distribution of temperature is studied. The fluid flow is calculated on the basis of Navier–Stokes equations under the assumption of small diffusion coefficients. It is shown that the bifurcation triggers rotational motion in a thin Marangoni boundary layer in the case of local cooling of the free boundary near the axis of symmetry and in the presence of an external flow; there is no rotation outside this layer. In the case of local heating of the free boundary, rotation is not observed.     

Experimental and numerical study on nucleate bubble deformation in subcooled flow boiling

Experimental and numerical study was conducted to investigate the bubble behaviors in subcooled flow nucleate boiling. The bubble behaviors in subcooled flow boiling in an upward annular channel were investigated in the range of subcooling degree 5–30 K by visualization with high spatial and temporal resolutions using a high speed video camera and Cassegrain tele-microscope. Obvious deformation on the upstream side surface of the bubble during its growth process was frequently observed. This deformation phenomenon was caused by the condensation occurring at the upstream side bottom of the bubble, which results from the Marangoni flow along the bubble surface from the bubble bottom to the top. Since the Marangoni flow cannot be directly observed by the current experiments because it occurs in a very thin interface along the bubble surface, the numerical simulations of bubble growth and departure behaviors in subcooled flow boiling were carried out. As a result, it was confirmed that the bubble deformation was caused by the Marangoni flow along the bubble surface. Moreover, the phenomenon of wave propagation on the bubble surface during the condensation process was observed, and it can enhance the heat transfer between the bubble and the surrounding subcooled liquid.     

Evolution Equations for the Surface Concentration of an Insoluble Surfactant; Applications to the Stability of an Elongating Thread and a Stretched Interface

The general form of the convection–diffusion equation governing the evolution of the surface concentration of an insoluble surfactant over an evolving interface is reviewed and discussed for three-dimensional, axisymmetric, and two-dimensional configurations. The linearized form of the evolution equation is then derived around cylindrical and planar shapes in a framework that is suitable for carrying out a linear stability analysis for axisymmetric or two-dimensional perturbations. Particular attention is paid to the cases of quiescent unperturbed fluids, unidirectional shear flow, and elongational flow. By way of application, the linearized transport equations are combined with Stokes-flow hydrodynamics to investigate the stability of an elongating cylindrical viscous thread suspended in an ambient viscous fluid or in a vacuum, and the stability of a two-dimensional interface separating two semi-infinite fluids and stretched under the action of an orthogonal stagnation-point flow. The results illustrate the possibly important role of the surfactant on the linear growth of periodic waves on the cylindrical interface, and reveal that the surfactant has no effect on the stability of the planar interface.     

Convective and diffusive surfactant transfer in multiphase liquid systems

Laser interferometry was used to investigate diffusive and convective mass transfer in a multicomponent fluid mixture with a liquid–liquid or liquid–gas interface. For this purpose, an immobile gas bubble or insoluble fluid droplet, having the shape of a short cylinder with a free lateral surface, was inserted into a thin liquid layer. In the case of non-uniform distribution of the dissolved surfactant component, the Marangoni convection near the drop/bubble was initiated by the surface tension inhomogeneities, depending on the surfactant concentration. The applied experimental techniques allowed us to study the structure and evolution of the convective flows and concentration fields in a liquid layer, which due to its small thickness were nearly two-dimensional. Making use of both the vertical and horizontal orientation of the liquid layer, we investigated the mass transfer process at different levels of the interaction between gravity and capillary forces. During the experiments, we detected new solutocapillary phenomena, which were found to be caused by oscillatory regimes of solutal convection occurring around air bubbles and chlorobenzene drops in heterogeneous aqueous solutions of alcohol with a vertical surfactant concentration gradient. The role of the oscillatory instability in the processes of drop saturation by the surfactant from its water solution and an inverse process of surfactant extraction from the drop into the surrounding homogeneous fluid (water) was determined. A reasonable explanation for the driving mechanisms of the discovered effects has been proposed.