Investigation of Fluid Dynamics and Emulsification in Sonolator Liquid Whistles
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INVESTIGATION OF FLUID DYNAMICS AND EMULSIFICATION IN SONOLATOR LIQUID WHISTLES by DAVID JONATHAN RYAN A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING Centre for Formulation Engineering School of Chemical Engineering College of Engineering and Physical Sciences University of Birmingham United Kingdom February 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The Sonolator liquid whistle is an industrial inline mixer used to create complex multiphase mixtures which form components of high value added liquid products. Despite its wide use, this device’s mechanism of operation is not well understood which has led to this combined experimental and computational study to elucidate key phenomena governing drop and jet break-up. The work has focused on single phase Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of a model device to validate single phase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to gain basic understanding of the flow fields which are responsible for the breakage behaviour, assuming dilute dispersions. Multiphase pilot plant experiments on a silicone oil-water-SLES emulsion have been used to characterise the droplet size reduction in a pilot scale Sonolator for both dilute and medium concentrations of the dispersed phase. An empirical model of droplet size was constructed based on pressure drop, dispersed phase viscosity and surfactant concentration. This empirical model was compared with the droplet breakage theories of Hinze, Walstra and Davies. Extra work mentioned in the appendices includes studies on cavitation in the Sonolator, with the cavitating flow conditions identified and the contribution to emulsification considered, and the usage of population balance methods to simulate droplet breakup in the environment indicated by CFD/PIV studies in order to investigate how the droplet size distributions measured in pilot plant studies came about. DEDICATION Dedicated to my wonderful wife Maggie (Nguyễn Thị Diệu Huyền) who has supported me tremendously throughout this project, also to my parents Patrick and Mary Ryan for everything, and finally to my seventeen month old daughter Amy Hope Ryan who I’m sure will enjoy reading an engineering thesis when she comes of age. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements of individuals and bodies who have given me general support and contributions relating to several or all chapters of this thesis: Mark Simmons – academic supervisor with University of Birmingham, Head of the School of Chemical Engineering. Mike Baker – industrial supervisor with Unilever Research & Development, Port Sunlight, UK. Richard Greenwood – 2nd academic supervisor, EngD course director at University of Birmingham. School of Chemical Engineering and University of Birmingham for training and support during the four year Engineering Doctorate research project. Unilever Research & Development, Port Sunlight, UK for training, support and funding during the project. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK for their funding of this project. Jumpstart Ltd., Edinburgh, UK for providing study hours during full time work which were used to write up this thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ i LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... xix Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 21 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................... 21 1.2 Context, applications and business case ........................................................... 23 1.3 Design ............................................................................................................... 26 1.4 Industrial operation........................................................................................... 28 1.5 Aims and Objectives ........................................................................................ 29 1.6 Thesis Outline................................................................................................... 30 1.7 Publications and presentations ......................................................................... 31 1.8 Nomenclature & Abbreviations........................................................................ 32 1.9 References ........................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 2 PIV EXPERIMENTS ON A LABORATORY SONOLATOR ........ 35 2.1 Abstract ............................................................................................................ 35 2.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 36 2.3 Literature Review ............................................................................................. 36 2.3.1 Experimental methods available .................................................................. 37 2.3.2 Existing PIV experimental investigations ................................................... 39 2.3.3 Overview of the PIV experimental technique ............................................. 40 2.3.3.1 Seeding particles in flow ......................................................................... 41 2.3.3.2 Laser and focusing arrangement ............................................................. 42 2.3.3.3 CCD camera ............................................................................................ 44 2.3.3.4 Synchroniser ........................................................................................... 44 2.3.3.5 Image Analysis........................................................................................ 45 2.3.4 Limitations of the PIV experimental technique ........................................... 47 2.3.5 Summary of literature reviewed .................................................................. 47 2.4 Materials and Methods for PIV experiments ................................................... 48 2.4.1 Dimensions and positioning of all equipment used ..................................... 48 2.4.2 Details of construction for Sonolator Perspex test section .......................... 55 i 2.4.3 PIV equipment: laser, camera, synchroniser and workstation ..................... 56 2.4.4 Working fluid with seeding particles ........................................................... 57 2.4.5 Positioning of the laser and camera ............................................................. 58 2.4.6 Choice of experimental parameters ............................................................. 59 2.4.7 Experimental procedure to produce PIV images ......................................... 63 2.4.8 Removal of bad pixels ................................................................................. 65 2.4.9 PIV image cross-correlation to give instantaneous flow fields ................... 65 2.4.10 Processing of instantaneous flows to give average flow field ..................... 68 2.4.11 Comparison of gas bubble seeding to particle seeding ................................ 69 2.5 Results and Discussion ..................................................................................... 71 2.5.1 PIV velocity component distributions at selected points ............................. 71 2.5.2 Type of time dependent behaviour .............................................................. 74 2.5.3 Independence of consecutive measurements ............................................... 76 2.5.4 Statistical convergence of PIV measurements at selected points ................ 77 2.5.5 PIV instantaneous velocity fields ................................................................ 80 2.5.6 PIV time-averaged velocity fields ............................................................... 80 2.5.7 Cavitation, particle speed and limitations of PIV accuracy ......................... 82 2.5.8 PIV velocity graphs ..................................................................................... 86 2.5.8.1 Velocity magnitude along Sonolator axis ............................................... 86 2.5.8.2 Velocity magnitude in jet cross-section .................................................. 90 2.5.8.3 PIV comparisons with Blade In .............................................................. 93 2.5.8.4 Other PIV velocity comparisons ............................................................. 95 2.5.9 Turbulence statistics at various flow rates ................................................... 95 2.6 Conclusions .................................................................................................... 100 2.7 Nomenclature & Abbreviations.....................................................................