Droplet growth by coalescence in binary fluid mixtures

The evolution of the drop-size distribution in immiscible fluid mixtures following well-specified shear histories is investigated by in situ microscopy, allowing determination of the shear-induced coalescence efficiency epsilon. At small capillary number Ca, epsilon is constant, whereas at larger values of Ca, epsilon decreases, in agreement with theory accounting for slight deformation of the drops in close approach. Coalescence causes the drop-size distribution to broaden in general, but greater deformation of the larger drops at high shear rates causes the drop-size distribution to remain narrow.