Droplet-model electric dipole moments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, W.D.; Swiatecki, W.J.

1991-01-01

Denisov's recent criticism of the droplet-model formula for the dipole moment of a deformed nucleus as derived by Dorso et al., it shown to be invalid. This helps to clarify the relation of theory to the measured dipole moments, as discussed in the review article by Aberg et al. (orig.)

New models for droplet heating and evaporation

KAUST Repository

Sazhin, Sergei S.; Elwardani, Ahmed Elsaid; Gusev, Ivan G.; Xie, Jianfei; Shishkova, Irina N.; Cao, Bingyang; Snegirev, Alexander Yu.; Heikal, Morgan Raymond

2013-01-01

and evaporation, taking into account the effects of the moving boundary due to evaporation, hydrodynamic models of multi-component droplet heating and evaporation, taking and not taking into account the effects of the moving boundary, new kinetic models of mono

Transient Droplet Behavior and Droplet Breakup during Bulk and Confined Shear Flow in Blends with One Viscoelastic Component: Experiments, Modelling and Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Cardinaels, Ruth; Verhulst, Kristof; Renardy, Yuriko; Moldenaers, Paula

2008-07-01

The transient droplet deformation and droplet orientation after inception of shear, the shape relaxation after cessation of shear and droplet breakup during shear, are microscopically studied, both under bulk and confined conditions. The studied blends contain one viscoelastic Boger fluid phase. A counter rotating setup, based on a Paar Physica MCR300, is used for the droplet visualisation. For bulk shear flow, it is shown that the droplet deformation during startup of shear flow and the shape relaxation after cessation of shear flow are hardly influenced by droplet viscoelasticity, even at moderate to high capillary and Deborah numbers. The effects of droplet viscoelasticity only become visible close to the critical conditions and a novel break-up mechanism is observed. Matrix viscoelasticity has a more pronounced effect, causing overshoots in the deformation and significantly inhibiting relaxation. However, different applied capillary numbers prior to cessation of shear flow, with the Deborah number fixed, still result in a single master curve for shape retraction, as in fully Newtonian systems. The long tail in the droplet relaxation can be qualitatively described with a phenomenological model for droplet deformation, when using a 5-mode Giesekus model for the fluid rheology. It is found that the shear flow history significantly affects the droplet shape evolution and the breakup process in blends with one viscoelastic component. Confining a droplet between two plates accelerates the droplet deformation kinetics, similar to fully Newtonian systems. However, the increased droplet deformation, due to wall effects, causes the steady state to be reached at a later instant in time. Droplet relaxation is less sensitive to confinement, leading to slower relaxation kinetics only for highly confined droplets. For the blend with a viscoelastic droplet, a non-monotonous trend is found for the critical capillary number as a function of the confinement ratio. Finally

Transient Droplet Behavior and Droplet Breakup during Bulk and Confined Shear Flow in Blends with One Viscoelastic Component: Experiments, Modelling and Simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardinaels, Ruth; Verhulst, Kristof; Moldenaers, Paula; Renardy, Yuriko

2008-01-01

The transient droplet deformation and droplet orientation after inception of shear, the shape relaxation after cessation of shear and droplet breakup during shear, are microscopically studied, both under bulk and confined conditions. The studied blends contain one viscoelastic Boger fluid phase. A counter rotating setup, based on a Paar Physica MCR300, is used for the droplet visualisation. For bulk shear flow, it is shown that the droplet deformation during startup of shear flow and the shape relaxation after cessation of shear flow are hardly influenced by droplet viscoelasticity, even at moderate to high capillary and Deborah numbers. The effects of droplet viscoelasticity only become visible close to the critical conditions and a novel break-up mechanism is observed. Matrix viscoelasticity has a more pronounced effect, causing overshoots in the deformation and significantly inhibiting relaxation. However, different applied capillary numbers prior to cessation of shear flow, with the Deborah number fixed, still result in a single master curve for shape retraction, as in fully Newtonian systems. The long tail in the droplet relaxation can be qualitatively described with a phenomenological model for droplet deformation, when using a 5-mode Giesekus model for the fluid rheology. It is found that the shear flow history significantly affects the droplet shape evolution and the breakup process in blends with one viscoelastic component. Confining a droplet between two plates accelerates the droplet deformation kinetics, similar to fully Newtonian systems. However, the increased droplet deformation, due to wall effects, causes the steady state to be reached at a later instant in time. Droplet relaxation is less sensitive to confinement, leading to slower relaxation kinetics only for highly confined droplets. For the blend with a viscoelastic droplet, a non-monotonous trend is found for the critical capillary number as a function of the confinement ratio. Finally

A Comprehensive Model of Electric-Field-Enhanced Jumping-Droplet Condensation on Superhydrophobic Surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Birbarah, Patrick; Li, Zhaoer; Pauls, Alexander; Miljkovic, Nenad

2015-07-21

Superhydrophobic micro/nanostructured surfaces for dropwise condensation have recently received significant attention due to their potential to enhance heat transfer performance by shedding positively charged water droplets via coalescence-induced droplet jumping at length scales below the capillary length and allowing the use of external electric fields to enhance droplet removal and heat transfer, in what has been termed electric-field-enhanced (EFE) jumping-droplet condensation. However, achieving optimal EFE conditions for enhanced heat transfer requires capturing the details of transport processes that is currently lacking. While a comprehensive model has been developed for condensation on micro/nanostructured surfaces, it cannot be applied for EFE condensation due to the dynamic droplet-vapor-electric field interactions. In this work, we developed a comprehensive physical model for EFE condensation on superhydrophobic surfaces by incorporating individual droplet motion, electrode geometry, jumping frequency, field strength, and condensate vapor-flow dynamics. As a first step toward our model, we simulated jumping droplet motion with no external electric field and validated our theoretical droplet trajectories to experimentally obtained trajectories, showing excellent temporal and spatial agreement. We then incorporated the external electric field into our model and considered the effects of jumping droplet size, electrode size and geometry, condensation heat flux, and droplet jumping direction. Our model suggests that smaller jumping droplet sizes and condensation heat fluxes require less work input to be removed by the external fields. Furthermore, the results suggest that EFE electrodes can be optimized such that the work input is minimized depending on the condensation heat flux. To analyze overall efficiency, we defined an incremental coefficient of performance and showed that it is very high (∼10(6)) for EFE condensation. We finally proposed mechanisms

Development of a model for spray evaporation based on droplet analysis

KAUST Repository

Chen, Q.

2016-08-20

Extreme flash evaporation occurs when superheated liquid is sprayed into a low pressure zone. This method has high potential to improve the performance of thermally-driven desalination plants. To enable a more in-depth understanding on flash evaporation of a superheated feed water spray, a theoretical model has been developed with key considerations given to droplet motion and droplet size distribution. The model has been validated against 14 experimental data sets from literature sources to within 12% discrepancy. This model is capable of accurately predicting the water productivity and thermal efficiency of existing spray evaporator under specific operating conditions. Employing this model, the effect of several design parameters on system performance was investigated. Key results revealed that smaller droplet enabled faster evaporation process while higher initial droplet velocity promoted water productivity. Thermal utilization marginally changes with the degree of superheat, which renders a quick design calculation of the brine temperature without the need for iterations. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Development of a model for spray evaporation based on droplet analysis

KAUST Repository

Chen, Q.; Thu, K.; Bui, T.D.; Li, Y.; Ng, Kim Choon; Chua, K.J.

2016-01-01

Extreme flash evaporation occurs when superheated liquid is sprayed into a low pressure zone. This method has high potential to improve the performance of thermally-driven desalination plants. To enable a more in-depth understanding on flash evaporation of a superheated feed water spray, a theoretical model has been developed with key considerations given to droplet motion and droplet size distribution. The model has been validated against 14 experimental data sets from literature sources to within 12% discrepancy. This model is capable of accurately predicting the water productivity and thermal efficiency of existing spray evaporator under specific operating conditions. Employing this model, the effect of several design parameters on system performance was investigated. Key results revealed that smaller droplet enabled faster evaporation process while higher initial droplet velocity promoted water productivity. Thermal utilization marginally changes with the degree of superheat, which renders a quick design calculation of the brine temperature without the need for iterations. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Axisymmetric Lattice Boltzmann Model of Droplet Impact on Solid Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Dalgamoni, Hussein; Yong, Xin

2017-11-01

Droplet impact is a ubiquitous fluid phenomena encountered in scientific and engineering applications such as ink-jet printing, coating, electronics manufacturing, and many others. It is of great technological importance to understand the detailed dynamics of drop impact on various surfaces. The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) emerges as an efficient method for modeling complex fluid systems involving rapidly evolving fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interfaces with complex geometries. In this work, we model droplet impact on flat solid substrates with well-defined wetting behavior using a two-phase axisymmetric LBM with high density and viscosity contrasts. We extend the two-dimensional Lee and Liu model to capture axisymmetric effect in the normal impact. First we compare the 2D axisymmetric results with the 2D and 3D results reported by Lee and Liu to probe the effect of axisymmetric terms. Then, we explore the effects of Weber number, Ohnesorge number, and droplet-surface equilibrium contact angle on the impact. The dynamic contact angle and spreading factor of the droplet during impact are investigated to qualitatively characterize the impact dynamics.

Simulation and modeling of turbulent non isothermal vapor-droplet dispersed flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baalbaki, Daoud

2011-01-01

One of the reference accident that may occur in PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) is LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident). The LOCA is studied to design some emergency systems implemented in the basic nuclear installations. The LOCA corresponds to the break of a pipe in the primary loop. This accident is associated with a loss of pressure which leads to the vaporization of the water in the reactor core and then to the rise of the temperature of the assemblies. In this study, we focus on the area of vapor-droplet flow, where the cooling effectiveness of such a mixture is a major concern. The droplets act as heat sinks for the vapor and control the vapor temperature profile which, in turn, determines the wall heat transfer rate. Our general objective is to ameliorate the modeling of the vapor-droplet flow (i.e. at CFD scale). Particularly the estimation of the radial distribution of the droplets. The volume fraction distribution of the two phases depends on the size and dispersion of the droplets in the flow. The size of the droplets is controlled by the rupture and coalescence mechanisms and the interfacial mass transfer (evaporation/condensation). The distribution of the droplets is controlled by the transfer of momentum between the two phases. Our study focuses particularly on the latter point. We are restricted to flows where the liquid water flows under the form of non-deformable spherical droplets that do not interact with each other. Both phases are treated by a two-fluid approach Euler-Euler. In chapter 2, a description of two-phase flow model is presented, using separate mass, momentum, and energy equations for the two phases. These separate balance equations are obtained in an averaging process starting from the local instantaneous conservation equations of the individual phases. During the averaging process, important information on local flow processes are lost and, consequently, additional correlations are needed in order to close the system of equations. The

Droplet size in flow: Theoretical model and application to polymer blends

Science.gov (United States)

Fortelný, Ivan; Jůza, Josef

2017-05-01

The paper is focused on prediction of the average droplet radius, R, in flowing polymer blends where the droplet size is determined by dynamic equilibrium between the droplet breakup and coalescence. Expressions for the droplet breakup frequency in systems with low and high contents of the dispersed phase are derived using available theoretical and experimental results for model blends. Dependences of the coalescence probability, Pc, on system parameters, following from recent theories, is considered and approximate equation for Pc in a system with a low polydispersity in the droplet size is proposed. Equations for R in systems with low and high contents of the dispersed phase are derived. Combination of these equations predicts realistic dependence of R on the volume fraction of dispersed droplets, φ. Theoretical prediction of the ratio of R to the critical droplet radius at breakup agrees fairly well with experimental values for steadily mixed polymer blends.

Electrical actuation of dielectric droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumari, N; Bahadur, V; Garimella, S V

2008-01-01

Electrical actuation of liquid droplets at the microscale offers promising applications in the fields of microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip devices. Much prior research has targeted the electrical actuation of electrically conducting liquid droplets; however, the actuation of dielectric droplets has remained relatively unexplored, despite the advantages associated with the use of a dielectric droplet. This paper presents modeling and experimental results on the electrical actuation of dielectric droplets between two flat plates. A first-order analytical model, based on the energy-minimization principle, is developed to estimate the electrical actuation force on a dielectric droplet as it moves between two flat plates. Two versions of this analytical model are benchmarked for their suitability and accuracy against a detailed numerical model. The actuation force prediction is then combined with available semi-analytical expressions for predicting the forces opposing droplet motion to develop a model that predicts transient droplet motion under electrical actuation. Electrical actuation of dielectric droplets is experimentally demonstrated by moving transformer oil droplets between two flat plates under the influence of an actuation voltage. Droplet velocities and their dependence on the plate spacing and the applied voltage are experimentally measured and showed reasonable agreement with predictions from the models developed

A phenomenological model of two-phase (air/fuel droplet developing and breakup

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Radomir R.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Effervescent atomization namely the air-filled liquid atomization comprehends certain complex two-phase phenomenon that are difficult to be modeled. Just a few researchers have found the mathematical expressions for description of the complex atomization model of the two-phase mixture air/diesel fuel. In the following review, developing model of twophase (air/fuel droplet of Cummins spray pump-injector is shown. The assumption of the same diameters of the droplet and the opening of the atomizer is made, while the air/fuel mass ratio inside the droplet varies.

Modeling of fuel vapor jet eruption induced by local droplet heating

KAUST Repository

Sim, Jaeheon

2014-01-10

The evaporation of a droplet by non-uniform heating is numerically investigated in order to understand the mechanism of the fuel-vapor jet eruption observed in the flame spread of a droplet array under microgravity condition. The phenomenon was believed to be mainly responsible for the enhanced flame spread rate through a droplet cloud at microgravity conditions. A modified Eulerian-Lagrangian method with a local phase change model is utilized to describe the interfacial dynamics between liquid droplet and surrounding air. It is found that the localized heating creates a temperature gradient along the droplet surface, induces the corresponding surface tension gradient, and thus develops an inner flow circulation commonly referred to as the Marangoni convection. Furthermore, the effect also produces a strong shear flow around the droplet surface, thereby pushing the fuel vapor toward the wake region of the droplet to form a vapor jet eruption. A parametric study clearly demonstrated that at realistic droplet combustion conditions the Marangoni effect is indeed responsible for the observed phenomena, in contrast to the results based on constant surface tension approximation

Prediction of cloud droplet number in a general circulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghan, S.J.; Leung, L.R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)

1996-04-01

We have applied the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) bulk cloud microphysics parameterization to the treatment of stratiform clouds in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model (CCM2). The RAMS predicts mass concentrations of cloud water, cloud ice, rain and snow, and number concnetration of ice. We have introduced the droplet number conservation equation to predict droplet number and it`s dependence on aerosols.

Modelling the Evolution of Sea Spray Droplets on a Global Scale

Science.gov (United States)

Staniec, A.; Vlahos, P.; Monahan, E. C.

2017-12-01

Sea spray droplets are an important mechanism for the transport of moisture, heat, and organic material between the ocean and the atmosphere. Spume droplets are the largest of the size spectrum and as such have the potential to transport significant amounts of energy and gases despite their generally short residence time in the atmosphere. A model is developed based on the physical parameterizations from Andreas et al. (1995, 2005)and a range of spume generation functions, coupled with a biogeochemical exchange model for gases developed here to examine the equilibrium temperature and gas exchange of spume droplets under representative open ocean conditions. The modelling approach uses micro-physics to simulate the expected changes to the droplet as it equilibrates with the atmospheric temperature and relative humidity. The effect of temperature differentials and relative humidity variations is explored. A global approach is simulated by using average summer and winter values for SST, salinity, and air temperature throughout the various ocean basins.

Comparison of various droplet breakup models in gas-liquid flows in high-pressure environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khaleghi, H.; Ganji, D. D.; Omidvar, A.

2008-01-01

Droplet breakup affects spray penetration and evaporation, and plays a critical role in engine efficiency. The purpose of this research was to examine the rate of penetration and evaporation of droplets in a combustion chamber, and the efficiency of the engine when liquid jet is injected into the compressed gas chamber in an axi-symmetrical fashion leading to a turbulent and unsteady flow. As a result of interaction with the highly compressed air in the chamber, the liquid jet breaks up and forms minute droplets. These particles will in turn breakup because of aerodynamic forces, producing even smaller droplets. A number of models are available for analyzing the breakup of droplets; however, each model is typically reliable only over a limited parameter range. In this research three well-known models are applied for droplet breakup modeling and their results are compared. To obtain the details of the flow field, the Eulerian gas phase mass, momentum and energy conservation equations, as well as equations governing the transport of turbulence and fuel vapor mass fraction are solved together with equations of trajectory, momentum, mass and energy conservation for liquid droplets in Lagrangian form. The numerical solution is performed using the finite volume method and EPISO (Engine-PISO) algorithm. The results obtained from the models show that the breakup process in a high pressure environment significantly affects the penetration and evaporation rates of the spray, and the droplet size is determined by the balance between breakup and coalescence processes. It is also shown that the details of atomization in the nozzle do not significantly influence the ultimate size of droplets. It should be mentioned that droplet collision modeling has been taken into account in the computer code and is activated wherever necessary

Study of deformation of droplet in external force field by using liquid-gas model of lattice-gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebihara, Ken-ichi; Watanabe, Tadashi

2000-10-01

The deformation of the droplet by the external force which is assumed to be gravity is studied by using the liquid-gas model of lattice-gas. Two types of liquid-gas models, one is the minimal model and the other is the maximal model, which are distinguished from each other by the added long-range interactions are used for the simulation of the droplet deformation. The difference of the droplet deformation between the maximal model and the minimal model was observed. While the droplet of the minimal model elongates in the direction of the external force, the droplet of the maximal model elongates in the perpendicular direction to the external force. Therefore the droplet deformation in the external force field of the maximal model is more similar to the droplet deformation which is observed in experiments than that of the minimal model. (author)

The dynamics of milk droplet-droplet collisions

Science.gov (United States)

Finotello, Giulia; Kooiman, Roeland F.; Padding, Johan T.; Buist, Kay A.; Jongsma, Alfred; Innings, Fredrik; Kuipers, J. A. M.

2018-01-01

Spray drying is an important industrial process to produce powdered milk, in which concentrated milk is atomized into small droplets and dried with hot gas. The characteristics of the produced milk powder are largely affected by agglomeration, combination of dry and partially dry particles, which in turn depends on the outcome of a collision between droplets. The high total solids (TS) content and the presence of milk proteins cause a relatively high viscosity of the fed milk concentrates, which is expected to largely influence the collision outcomes of drops inside the spray. It is therefore of paramount importance to predict and control the outcomes of binary droplet collisions. Only a few studies report on droplet collisions of high viscous liquids and no work is available on droplet collisions of milk concentrates. The current study therefore aims to obtain insight into the effect of viscosity on the outcome of binary collisions between droplets of milk concentrates. To cover a wide range of viscosity values, three milk concentrates (20, 30 and 46% TS content) are investigated. An experimental set-up is used to generate two colliding droplet streams with consistent droplet size and spacing. A high-speed camera is used to record the trajectories of the droplets. The recordings are processed by Droplet Image Analysis in MATLAB to determine the relative velocities and the impact geometries for each individual collision. The collision outcomes are presented in a regime map dependent on the dimensionless impact parameter and Weber ( We) number. The Ohnesorge ( Oh) number is introduced to describe the effect of viscosity from one liquid to another and is maintained constant for each regime map by using a constant droplet diameter ( d ˜ 700 μ m). In this work, a phenomenological model is proposed to describe the boundaries demarcating the coalescence-separation regimes. The collision dynamics and outcome of milk concentrates are compared with aqueous glycerol

Black liquor devolatilization and swelling - a detailed droplet model and experimental validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaervinen, M.; Zevenhoven, R.; Vakkilainen, E.; Forssen, M.

2003-01-01

In this paper, we present results from a new detailed physical model for single black liquor droplet pyrolysis and swelling, and validate them against experimental data from a non-oxidizing environment using two different reactor configurations. In the detailed model, we solve for the heat transfer and gas phase mass transfer in the droplet and thereby, the intra-particle gas-char and gas-gas interactions during drying and devolatilization can be studied. In the experimental part, the mass change, the swelling behaviour, and the volume fraction of larger voids, i.e. cenospheres in the droplets were determined in a non-oxidizing environment. The model gave a good correlation with experimental swelling and mass loss data. Calculations suggest that a considerable amount of the char can be consumed before the entire droplet has experienced the devolatilization and drying stages of combustion. Char formed at the droplet surface layer is generally consumed by gasification with H 2 O flowing outwards from the droplet interior. The extent of char conversion during devolatilization and the rate of devolatilization are greatly affected by swelling and the formation of larger voids in the particle. The more the particle swells and the more homogeneous the particle structure is, the larger is the conversion of char at the end of devolatilization

Acoustic droplet vaporization of vascular droplets in gas embolotherapy

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Joseph

2016-11-01

This work is primarily motivated by a developmental gas embolotherapy technique for cancer treatment. In this methodology, infarction of tumors is induced by selectively formed vascular gas bubbles that arise from the acoustic vaporization of vascular droplets. Additionally, micro- or nano-droplets may be used as vehicles for localized drug delivery, with or without flow occlusion. In this talk, we examine the dynamics of acoustic droplet vaporization through experiments and theoretical/computational fluid mechanics models, and investigate the bioeffects of acoustic droplet vaporization on endothelial cells and in vivo. Functionalized droplets that are targeted to tumor vasculature are examined. The influence of fluid mechanical and acoustic parameters, as well as droplet functionalization, is explored. This work was supported by NIH Grant R01EB006476.

Analytical Model for Diffusive Evaporation of Sessile Droplets Coupled with Interfacial Cooling Effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Tuan A H; Biggs, Simon R; Nguyen, Anh V

2018-05-30

Current analytical models for sessile droplet evaporation do not consider the nonuniform temperature field within the droplet and can overpredict the evaporation by 20%. This deviation can be attributed to a significant temperature drop due to the release of the latent heat of evaporation along the air-liquid interface. We report, for the first time, an analytical solution of the sessile droplet evaporation coupled with this interfacial cooling effect. The two-way coupling model of the quasi-steady thermal diffusion within the droplet and the quasi-steady diffusion-controlled droplet evaporation is conveniently solved in the toroidal coordinate system by applying the method of separation of variables. Our new analytical model for the coupled vapor concentration and temperature fields is in the closed form and is applicable for a full range of spherical-cap shape droplets of different contact angles and types of fluids. Our analytical results are uniquely quantified by a dimensionless evaporative cooling number E o whose magnitude is determined only by the thermophysical properties of the liquid and the atmosphere. Accordingly, the larger the magnitude of E o , the more significant the effect of the evaporative cooling, which results in stronger suppression on the evaporation rate. The classical isothermal model is recovered if the temperature gradient along the air-liquid interface is negligible ( E o = 0). For substrates with very high thermal conductivities (isothermal substrates), our analytical model predicts a reversal of temperature gradient along the droplet-free surface at a contact angle of 119°. Our findings pose interesting challenges but also guidance for experimental investigations.

Energy exchange analysis in droplet dynamics via the Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard model

Science.gov (United States)

Espath, L. F. R.; Sarmiento, A. F.; Vignal, P.; Varga, B. O. N.; Cortes, A. M. A.; Dalcin, L.; Calo, V. M.

2016-06-01

We develop the energy budget equation of the coupled Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard (NSCH) system. We use the NSCH equations to model the dynamics of liquid droplets in a liquid continuum. Buoyancy effects are accounted for through the Boussinesq assumption. We physically interpret each quantity involved in the energy exchange to further insight into the model. Highly resolved simulations involving density-driven flows and merging of droplets allow us to analyze these energy budgets. In particular, we focus on the energy exchanges when droplets merge, and describe flow features relevant to this phenomenon. By comparing our numerical simulations to analytical predictions and experimental results available in the literature, we conclude that modeling droplet dynamics within the framework of NSCH equations is a sensible approach worth further research.

Model-based Adjustment of Droplet Characteristic for 3D Electronic Printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Na

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The major challenge in 3D electronic printing is the print resolution and accuracy. In this paper, a typical mode - lumped element modeling method (LEM - is adopted to simulate the droplet jetting characteristic. This modeling method can quickly get the droplet velocity and volume with a high accuracy. Experimental results show that LEM has a simpler structure with the sufficient simulation and prediction accuracy.

Modeling water droplet condensation and evaporation in DNS of turbulent channel flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Russo, E; Kuerten, J G M; Geld, C W M van der [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Geurts, B J, E-mail: e.russo@tue.nl [Faculty EEMCS, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede (Netherlands)

2011-12-22

In this paper a point particle model for two-way coupling in water droplet-laden incompressible turbulent flow of air is proposed. The model is based on conservation laws and semi-empirical correlations. It has been implemented and tested in a DNS code based for turbulent channel flow with an Eulerian-Lagrangian approach. The two-way coupling is investigated in terms of the effects of mass and heat transfer on the droplets distributions along the channel wall-normal direction and by comparison of the droplet temperature statistics with respect to the case without evaporation and condensation. A remarkable conclusion is that the presence of evaporating and condensing droplets results in an increase in the non-dimensional heat transfer coefficient of the channel flow represented by the Nusselt number.

Multicomponent evaporation model for pure and blended biodiesel droplets in high temperature convective environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saha, K.; Abu-Ramadan, E.; Li, X. [Waterloo Univ., ON (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering

2010-07-01

Renewable energy sources are currently being investigated for their reliability, efficiency, and applicability. Biodiesel is one of the most promising alternatives to conventional diesel fuels in compression-ignition (CI) engines. This paper reported on a study that compared pure biodiesel, pure diesel and blended fuels using a comprehensive multicomponent droplet vaporization model. The model considers the difference in the gas phase diffusivity of diesel and biodiesel vapors. The paper presented the vaporization characteristics of pure diesel, pure biodiesel fuel droplets as well as the effect of mixing them in different proportions (B20 and B50). The model successfully predicted the vaporization history of a multicomponent droplet. The modeling study revealed that biodiesel droplets evaporate at a slower rate than the diesel droplets because of relatively low vapor pressure. As such, the blending of diesel fuel with small proportions of biodiesel will result in an increase in the evaporation time of diesel fuel to some extent. 31 refs., 6 figs.

Energy exchange analysis in droplet dynamics via the Navier–Stokes–Cahn–Hilliard model

KAUST Repository

Espath, L. F. R.

2016-05-23

We develop the energy budget equation of the coupled Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard (NSCH) system. We use the NSCH equations to model the dynamics of liquid droplets in a liquid continuum. Buoyancy effects are accounted for through the Boussinesq assumption. We physically interpret each quantity involved in the energy exchange to gain further insight into the model. Highly resolved simulations involving density-driven flows and the merging of droplets allow us to analyse these energy budgets. In particular, we focus on the energy exchanges when droplets merge, and describe flow features relevant to this phenomenon. By comparing our numerical simulations to analytical predictions and experimental results available in the literature, we conclude that modelling droplet dynamics within the framework of NSCH equations is a sensible approach worthy of further research. © 2016 Cambridge University Press.

Droplets: Unconventional Protocell Model with Life-Like Dynamics and Room to Grow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin M Hanczyc

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Over the past few decades, several protocell models have been developed that mimic certain essential characteristics of living cells. These protocells tend to be highly reductionist simplifications of living cells with prominent bilayer membrane boundaries, encapsulated metabolisms and/or encapsulated biologically-derived polymers as potential sources of information coding. In parallel with this conventional work, a novel protocell model based on droplets is also being developed. Such water-in-oil and oil-in-water droplet systems can possess chemical and biochemical transformations and biomolecule production, self-movement, self-division, individuality, group dynamics, and perhaps the fundamentals of intelligent systems and evolution. Given the diverse functionality possible with droplets as mimics of living cells, this system has the potential to be the first true embodiment of artificial life that is an orthologous departure from the one familiar type of biological life. This paper will synthesize the recent activity to develop droplets as protocell models.

Shock wave-induced evaporation of water droplets in a gas-droplet mixture 646

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goossens, H.W.J.; Cleijne, J.W.; Smolders, H.J.; Dongen, van M.E.H.

1988-01-01

A model is presented for the droplet evaporation process induced by a shock wave propagating in a fog. The model is based on the existence of a quasi-steady wet bulb state of the droplets during evaporation. It is shown that for moderate shock strength, Ma = <2,=" and=" droplet=" radii=" in=" the="

Modeling of liquid ceramic precursor droplets in a high velocity oxy-fuel flame jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basu, Saptarshi; Cetegen, Baki M.

2008-01-01

Production of coatings by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) flame jet processing of liquid precursor droplets can be an attractive alternative method to plasma processing. This article concerns modeling of the thermophysical processes in liquid ceramic precursor droplets injected into an HVOF flame jet. The model consists of several sub-models that include aerodynamic droplet break-up, heat and mass transfer within individual droplets exposed to the HVOF environment and precipitation of ceramic precursors. A parametric study is presented for the initial droplet size, concentration of the dissolved salts and the external temperature and velocity field of the HVOF jet to explore processing conditions and injection parameters that lead to different precipitate morphologies. It is found that the high velocity of the jet induces shear break-up into several μm diameter droplets. This leads to better entrainment and rapid heat-up in the HVOF jet. Upon processing, small droplets (<5 μm) are predicted to undergo volumetric precipitation and form solid particles prior to impact at the deposit location. Droplets larger than 5 μm are predicted to form hollow or precursor containing shells similar to those processed in a DC arc plasma. However, it is found that the lower temperature of the HVOF jet compared to plasma results in slower vaporization and solute mass diffusion time inside the droplet, leading to comparatively thicker shells. These shell-type morphologies may further experience internal pressurization, resulting in possibly shattering and secondary atomization of the trapped liquid. The consequences of these different particle states on the coating microstructure are also discussed in this article

Hydrodynamics of a quark droplet

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerrum-Bohr, Johan J.; Mishustin, Igor N.; Døssing, Thomas

2012-01-01

We present a simple model of a multi-quark droplet evolution based on the hydrodynamical description. This model includes collective expansion of the droplet, effects of the vacuum pressure and surface tension. The hadron emission from the droplet is described following Weisskopf's statistical...

Droplet size effects on film drainage between droplet and substrate.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinhaus, Benjamin; Spicer, Patrick T; Shen, Amy Q

2006-06-06

When a droplet approaches a solid surface, the thin liquid film between the droplet and the surface drains until an instability forms and then ruptures. In this study, we utilize microfluidics to investigate the effects of film thickness on the time to film rupture for water droplets in a flowing continuous phase of silicone oil deposited on solid poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) surfaces. The water droplets ranged in size from millimeters to micrometers, resulting in estimated values of the film thickness at rupture ranging from 600 nm down to 6 nm. The Stefan-Reynolds equation is used to model film drainage beneath both millimeter- and micrometer-scale droplets. For millimeter-scale droplets, the experimental and analytical film rupture times agree well, whereas large differences are observed for micrometer-scale droplets. We speculate that the differences in the micrometer-scale data result from the increases in the local thin film viscosity due to confinement-induced molecular structure changes in the silicone oil. A modified Stefan-Reynolds equation is used to account for the increased thin film viscosity of the micrometer-scale droplet drainage case.

Droplet-model predictions of charge moments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, W.D.

1982-04-01

The Droplet Model expressions for calculating various moments of the nuclear charge distribution are given. There are contributions to the moments from the size and shape of the system, from the internal redistribution induced by the Coulomb repulsion, and from the diffuseness of the surface. A case is made for the use of diffuse charge distributions generated by convolution as an alternative to Fermi-functions

Modeling Evaporation and Particle Assembly in Colloidal Droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Mingfei; Yong, Xin

2017-06-13

Evaporation-induced assembly of nanoparticles in a drying droplet is of great importance in many engineering applications, including printing, coating, and thin film processing. The investigation of particle dynamics in evaporating droplets can provide fundamental hydrodynamic insight for revealing the processing-structure relationship in the particle self-organization induced by solvent evaporation. We develop a free-energy-based multiphase lattice Boltzmann method coupled with Brownian dynamics to simulate evaporating colloidal droplets on solid substrates with specified wetting properties. The influence of interface-bound nanoparticles on the surface tension and evaporation of a flat liquid-vapor interface is first quantified. The results indicate that the particles at the interface reduce surface tension and enhance evaporation flux. For evaporating particle-covered droplets on substrates with different wetting properties, we characterize the increase of evaporate rate via measuring droplet volume. We find that droplet evaporation is determined by the number density and circumferential distribution of interfacial particles. We further correlate particle dynamics and assembly to the evaporation-induced convection in the bulk and on the surface of droplet. Finally, we observe distinct final deposits from evaporating colloidal droplets with bulk-dispersed and interface-bound particles. In addition, the deposit pattern is also influenced by the equilibrium contact angle of droplet.

Modelling the droplet interaction in a hostile environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foissac, A.

2011-01-01

During the situation of a nuclear reactor cooling loss, the pressure of the containment building may increase due to a release of steam, of gas coming from fission products and also of explosive gas, like di-hydrogen, created by chemical reaction in the primary cooling system. The procedure plan consists in using the spray system, constituted by hundreds of nozzles, in order to decrease pressure and temperature, to wash out fission products and to enhance gas mixing to avoid explosive gas local accumulation. The efficiency of the spray system may depend on the size and the velocity of the spray droplets. These parameters can be modified by collisions, occurring as soon as the spray envelopes overlap. This work models the droplet size and velocity poly-dispersion, and its evolution due to the collisions, then, implements these models in the Eulerian NEPTUNE-CFD code. The sectional method is chosen, and the collision is modeled from the results obtained on an experimental facility for the study of the droplet binary collision under typical conditions of a reactor severe accident. The numerical simulation of the spray system has then been performed, and compared to the experimental results on a large scale bench for characterizing large industrial sprays. A good agreement is obtained. These results provide a first step toward a comprehensive simulation of a whole scenario of a reactor vessel under severe accident conditions with spray activation. (author)

Electrohydrodynamic coalescence of droplets using an embedded potential flow model

Science.gov (United States)

Garzon, M.; Gray, L. J.; Sethian, J. A.

2018-03-01

The coalescence, and subsequent satellite formation, of two inviscid droplets is studied numerically. The initial drops are taken to be of equal and different sizes, and simulations have been carried out with and without the presence of an electrical field. The main computational challenge is the tracking of a free surface that changes topology. Coupling level set and boundary integral methods with an embedded potential flow model, we seamlessly compute through these singular events. As a consequence, the various coalescence modes that appear depending upon the relative ratio of the parent droplets can be studied. Computations of first stage pinch-off, second stage pinch-off, and complete engulfment are analyzed and compared to recent numerical studies and laboratory experiments. Specifically, we study the evolution of bridge radii and the related scaling laws, the minimum drop radii evolution from coalescence to satellite pinch-off, satellite sizes, and the upward stretching of the near cylindrical protrusion at the droplet top. Clear evidence of partial coalescence self-similarity is presented for parent droplet ratios between 1.66 and 4. This has been possible due to the fact that computational initial conditions only depend upon the mother droplet size, in contrast with laboratory experiments where the difficulty in establishing the same initial physical configuration is well known. The presence of electric forces changes the coalescence patterns, and it is possible to control the satellite droplet size by tuning the electrical field intensity. All of the numerical results are in very good agreement with recent laboratory experiments for water droplet coalescence.

A quasi-stationary numerical model of atomized metal droplets, II: Prediction and assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pryds, Nini H.; Hattel, Jesper Henri; Thorborg, Jesper

1999-01-01

been illustrated.A comparison between the numerical model and the experimental results shows an excellent agreement and demonstrates the validity of the present model, e.g. the calculated gas temperature which has an important influence on the droplet solidification behaviour as well as the calculated......A new model which extends previous studies and includes the interaction between enveloping gas and an array of droplets has been developed and presented in a previous paper. The model incorporates the probability density function of atomized metallic droplets into the heat transfer equations....... The main thrust of the model is that the gas temperature was not predetermined and calculated empirically but calculated numerically based on heat balance consideration. In this paper, the accuracy of the numerical model and the applicability of the model as a predictive tool have been investigated...

Three-field modeling with droplet entrainment and de-entrainment models for TRAC-M

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Ik

2005-02-01

A three-field modeling has been developed and implemented to the basic one-dimensional components of TRAC-M/F90 (Modernized Transient Reactor Analysis Code, Fortran90) to improve the estimation of the behavior of droplet entrainment. the divide and conquer algorithmic technique is adjusted for the implementation after considering the verifications. The governing equations are composed of the conservation equations of each field with thermal-equilibrium assumption between the two liquid fields. As a result, three momentum equations, four mass equations including noncondensable gas mass equation and two energy equations are used. In the development of the momentum equation for an entrained droplet, two different kinds of approaches are tested: the simple force balance on a single droplet and the field-type equation based on the continuum assumption. The first showed unstable nature and the latter was chosen. All of the necessary empirical correlations were obtained from literatures, in particular, the physical models of COBRA-TF. The sensitivities of each empirical correlation were investigated where the effect of droplet diameter and droplet drag was found to be negligible. The advantages of the SETS numerical scheme in comparison with the semi-implicit nimerical scheme were addressed in the simulation time and the maximum allowed time-step size. Finally, the simulations of Collier and Hewitt's experiment were performed and it is concluded that the three-field model developed in the present study is reasonable. The predictions by the present code agree with the measured values within the RMS errors of 16.5% and 9.6% in the entrained liquid mass flow rates and the pressure gradients, respectively. Assessment on the physical models is performed. The wall and interfacial drag models were determined at first. After that, the assessments of entrainment model were performed. Wurtz's entrainment model, which was used in COBRA-TF and Kataoka and Ishii's model, were mainly

Modeling study of droplet behavior during blowdown period of large break LOCA based on experimental data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakaba, Hiroshi; Umezawa, Shigemitsu; Teramae, Tetsuya; Furukawa, Yuji

2004-01-01

During LOCA (Loss Of Coolant Accident) in PWR, droplets behavior during blowdown period is one of the important phenomena. For example, the spattering from falling liquid film that flows from upper plenum generates those droplets in core region. The behavior of droplets in such flow has strong effect for cladding temperature behavior because these droplets are able to remove heat from a reactor core by its direct contact on fuel rods and its evaporation at the surface. For safety analysis of LOCA in PWR, it is necessary to evaluate droplet diameter precisely in order to predict fuel cladding temperature changing by the calculation code. Based on the test results, a new droplet behavior model was developed for the MCOBRA/TRC code that predicts the droplet behavior during such LOCA events. Furthermore, the verification calculations that simulated some blowdown tests were performed using by the MCOBRA/TRAC code. These results indicated the validity of this droplet model during blow down cooling period. The experiment was focused on investigating the Weber number of steady droplet in the blow down phenomenon of large break LOCA. (author)

A parameterization of cloud droplet nucleation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghan, S.J.; Chuang, C.; Penner, J.E.

1993-01-01

Droplet nucleation is a fundamental cloud process. The number of aerosols activated to form cloud droplets influences not only the number of aerosols scavenged by clouds but also the size of the cloud droplets. Cloud droplet size influences the cloud albedo and the conversion of cloud water to precipitation. Global aerosol models are presently being developed with the intention of coupling with global atmospheric circulation models to evaluate the influence of aerosols and aerosol-cloud interactions on climate. If these and other coupled models are to address issues of aerosol-cloud interactions, the droplet nucleation process must be adequately represented. Here we introduce a droplet nucleation parametrization that offers certain advantages over the popular Twomey (1959) parameterization

A thermomechanical model for the fragmentation of a liquid metal droplet cooled by water

Science.gov (United States)

Ivochkin, Yu P.; Monastyrskiy, V. P.

2017-11-01

A thermo mechanical aspect of the fragmentation of a liquid metal droplet, solidified as it falls into cold water, is considered in the presented model. The formation of a solid phase in the form of continuous, fluid-tight and relatively rigid casting skin results in a pressure decrease inside the droplet due to the difference between liquid and solid metal density. Because of the high compression modulus of the melt, the pressure in the droplet becomes negative when the thickness of the solid skin achieves several microns. The tensile stress in the melt results in the deformation of the casting skin or the melt’s continuity violation in the form of a shrinkage pore. The rupture of the deformed solid crust results in the penetration of steam jets into the liquid part of the drop. Due to the difference in pressure in the surrounding steam and in the droplet, the casting skin is crushed and the melt is blown out. Both scenarios contribute to the hydrodynamic destruction of the droplet. The suggested thermo mechanical model gives a qualitative explanation for experimental data. In the experimental part of the work, droplets of molten Sn were solidified in water. The solidified pieces of the droplets usually include deformed, thin-walled shells and dispersed particles. On a qualitative level the composition and shape of the solid fragments can be explained within the bounds of the suggested thermo mechanical model.

Numerical modeling of condensate droplet on superhydrophobic nanoarrays using the lattice Boltzmann method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Qing-Yu; Zhang You-Fa; Zhu Ming-Fang; Sun Dong-Ke

2016-01-01

In the present study, the process of droplet condensation on superhydrophobic nanoarrays is simulated using a multi-component multi-phase lattice Boltzmann model. The results indicate that three typical nucleation modes of condensate droplets are produced by changing the geometrical parameters of nanoarrays. Droplets nucleated at the top (top-nucleation mode), or in the upside interpillar space of nanoarrays (side-nucleation mode), generate the non-wetting Cassie state, whereas the ones nucleated at the bottom corners between the nanoarrays (bottom-nucleation mode) present the wetting Wenzel state. Time evolutions of droplet pressures at the upside and downside of the liquid phase are analyzed to understand the wetting behaviors of the droplets condensed from different nucleation modes. The phenomena of droplet condensation on nanoarrays patterned with different hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions are simulated, indicating that the nucleation mode of condensate droplets can also be manipulated by modifying the local intrinsic wettability of nanoarray surface. The simulation results are compared well with the experimental observations reported in the literature. (paper)

Electrohydrodynamic simulation of electrically controlled droplet generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouedraogo, Yun; Gjonaj, Erion; Weiland, Thomas; Gersem, Herbert De; Steinhausen, Christoph; Lamanna, Grazia; Weigand, Bernhard

2017-01-01

Highlights: • We develop a full electrohydrodynamic simulation approach which allows for the accurate modeling of droplet dynamics under the influence of transient electric fields. The model takes into account conductive, capacitive as well as convective electrical currents in the fluid. • Simulation results are shown for an electrically driven droplet generator using highly conductive acetone droplets and low conductivity pentane droplets, respectively. Excellent agreement with measurement is found. • We investigate the operation characteristic of the droplet generator by computing droplet sizes and detachment times with respect to the applied voltage. • The droplet charging effect is demonstrated for pentane droplets as well as for acetone droplets under long voltage pulses. We show that due to the very different relaxation times, the charging behavior of the two liquids is very different. • We demonstrate that due to this behavior, also the detachment mechanisms for acetone and pentane droplets are different. For low conductivity (pentane) droplets, droplet detachment is only possible after the electric fields are switched off. This is because the effective electric polarization force points upwards, thus, inhibiting the detachment of the droplet from the capillary tip. - Abstract: An electrohydrodynamic model for the simulation of droplet formation, detachment and motion in an electrically driven droplet generator is introduced. The numerical approach is based on the coupled solution of the multiphase flow problem with the charge continuity equation. For the latter, a modified convection-conduction model is applied, taking into account conductive, capacitive as well as convective electrical currents in the fluid. This allows for a proper description of charge relaxation phenomena in the moving fluid. In particular, the charge received by the droplet after detachment is an important parameter influencing the droplet dynamics in the test chamber

Dynamic Roughness Ratio-Based Framework for Modeling Mixed Mode of Droplet Evaporation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunjan, Madhu Ranjan; Raj, Rishi

2017-07-18

The spatiotemporal evolution of an evaporating sessile droplet and its effect on lifetime is crucial to various disciplines of science and technology. Although experimental investigations suggest three distinct modes through which a droplet evaporates, namely, the constant contact radius (CCR), the constant contact angle (CCA), and the mixed, only the CCR and the CCA modes have been modeled reasonably. Here we use experiments with water droplets on flat and micropillared silicon substrates to characterize the mixed mode. We visualize that a perfect CCA mode after the initial CCR mode is an idealization on a flat silicon substrate, and the receding contact line undergoes intermittent but recurring pinning (CCR mode) as it encounters fresh contaminants on the surface. The resulting increase in roughness lowers the contact angle of the droplet during these intermittent CCR modes until the next depinning event, followed by the CCA mode of evaporation. The airborne contaminants in our experiments are mostly loosely adhered to the surface and travel along with the receding contact line. The resulting gradual increase in the apparent roughness and hence the extent of CCR mode over CCA mode forces appreciable decrease in the contact angle observed during the mixed mode of evaporation. Unlike loosely adhered airborne contaminants on flat samples, micropillars act as fixed roughness features. The apparent roughness fluctuates about the mean value as the contact line recedes between pillars. Evaporation on these surfaces exhibits stick-jump motion with a short-duration mixed mode toward the end when the droplet size becomes comparable to the pillar spacing. We incorporate this dynamic roughness into a classical evaporation model to accurately predict the droplet evolution throughout the three modes, for both flat and micropillared silicon surfaces. We believe that this framework can also be extended to model the evaporation of nanofluids and the coffee-ring effect, among

Liquid droplet radiator technology issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattick, A.T.; Hertzberg, A.

1985-01-01

The operation of the liquid droplet radiator (LDR) is analyzed to establish design constraints for the LDR components and to predict the performance of an integrated LDR system. The design constraints largely result from mass loss considerations: fluid choice is governed by evaporation loss; droplet generation techniques must be capable of precise aiming of >10 5 droplet streams; and collection losses must be less than 1 droplet in 10 7 . Concepts for droplet generation and collection components are discussed and incorporated into a mass model for an LDR system. This model predicts that LDR's using lithium, Dow 705 silicone fluid, or NaK may be several times lighter than heat pipe radiators. 13 refs

Modeling texture transitions in cholesteric liquid crystal droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Selinger, Robin; Gimenez-Pinto, Vianney; Lu, Shin-Ying; Selinger, Jonathan; Konya, Andrew

2012-02-01

Cholesteric liquid crystals can be switched reversibly between planar and focal-conic textures, a property enabling their application in bistable displays, liquid crystal writing tablets, e-books, and color switching ``e-skins.'' To explore voltage-pulse induced switching in cholesteric droplets, we perform simulation studies of director dynamics in three dimensions. Electrostatics calculations are solved at each time step using an iterative relaxation method. We demonstrate that as expected, a low amplitude pulse drives the transition from planar to focal conic, while a high amplitude pulse drives the transition from focal conic back to the planar state. We use the model to explore the effects of droplet shape, aspect ratio, and anchoring conditions, with the goal of minimizing both response time and energy consumption.

Droplet formation in microfluidic T-junction generators operating in the transitional regime. II. Modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Glawdel, Tomasz; Elbuken, Caglar; Ren, Carolyn L

2012-01-01

This is the second part of a two-part study on the generation of droplets at a microfluidic T-junction operating in the transition regime. In the preceding paper [Phys. Rev. E 85, 016322 (2012)], we presented our experimental observations of droplet formation and decomposed the process into three sequential stages defined as the lag, filling, and necking stages. Here we develop a model that describes the performance of microfluidic T-junction generators working in the squeezing to transition regimes where confinement of the droplet dominates the formation process. The model incorporates a detailed geometric description of the drop shape during the formation process combined with a force balance and necking criteria to define the droplet size, production rate, and spacing. The model inherently captures the influence of the intersection geometry, including the channel width ratio and height-to-width ratio, capillary number, and flow ratio, on the performance of the generator. The model is validated by comparing it to speed videos of the formation process for several T-junction geometries across a range of capillary numbers and viscosity ratios.

Understanding spatial and temporal behavior of sea spray droplets in the marine atmospheric boundary layer using an Eulerian-Lagrangian model

Science.gov (United States)

Nissanka, I. D.; Richter, D. H.

2017-12-01

Previous studies have shown that sea spray droplets can play a significant role in air-sea heat and moisture exchange. The larger spray droplets have potential to transfer considerable amount of mass, momentum and heat, however they remain closer to surface and their residence times are shorter due to the faster settling. On the other hand, smaller droplets have high vertical mobility which allows sufficient time for droplets to adjust to ambient conditions. Hence, to study the heat and moisture characteristics of sea spray droplets it is important to understand how different droplet sizes behave in the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL), especially their temporal evolutions. In this study sea spray droplet transport in the MABL is simulated using Large Eddy Simulation combined with a Lagrangian Particle model which represents spray droplets of varying size. The individual droplets are tracked while their radius and temperature evolve based on local ambient conditions. The particles are advected based on the local resolved velocities and the particle dispersion due to sub-filtered scale motions are modeled using a Lagrangian stochastic model. In this study a series of simulations are conducted with the focus of understanding fundamental droplet microphysics, which will help characterize and quantify the lifetime and airborne concentrations of spray droplets in the MABL, thus elucidating ongoing knowledge gaps which are impossible to fill using observations alone. We measure the size resolved spray droplet vertical concentrations, particle residence times, and temporal evolution of droplet radius and temperature to explain the behavior of sea spry droplets in MABL. The PDF of residence time of different initial droplet sizes and joint PDFs of droplet life time and radius and temperature for different droplet sizes are calculated to further quantify the temporal and spatial behavior of sea spray droplets in the MABL, which can be used as inputs into bulk models

Modeling Subgrid Scale Droplet Deposition in Multiphase-CFD

Science.gov (United States)

Agostinelli, Giulia; Baglietto, Emilio

2017-11-01

The development of first-principle-based constitutive equations for the Eulerian-Eulerian CFD modeling of annular flow is a major priority to extend the applicability of multiphase CFD (M-CFD) across all two-phase flow regimes. Two key mechanisms need to be incorporated in the M-CFD framework, the entrainment of droplets from the liquid film, and their deposition. Here we focus first on the aspect of deposition leveraging a separate effects approach. Current two-field methods in M-CFD do not include appropriate local closures to describe the deposition of droplets in annular flow conditions. As many integral correlations for deposition have been proposed for lumped parameters methods applications, few attempts exist in literature to extend their applicability to CFD simulations. The integral nature of the approach limits its applicability to fully developed flow conditions, without geometrical or flow variations, therefore negating the scope of CFD application. A new approach is proposed here that leverages local quantities to predict the subgrid-scale deposition rate. The methodology is first tested into a three-field approach CFD model.

Release model for black liquor droplet; Mustalipeaepisaran vapautumismalli

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saastamoinen, J. [VTT Energy, Espoo (Finland)

1997-10-01

The release of sodium, potassium, chlorine and sulphur from black liquor droplets during pyrolysis, combustion and gasification is studied by modelling work. A model for drying, pyrolysis and swelling of black liquor has been developed earlier. A submodel for the release of sulphur, which takes place at temperatures below 500 deg C has been incorporated to this model. A previous model for the combustion and gasification of char particles has been further developed to account for the effect of sodium, potassium and chlorine. A model for the release of these components as function of time has been developed. (orig.)

Performance of droplet generator and droplet collector in liquid droplet radiator under microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Totani, T.; Itami, M.; Nagata, H.; Kudo, I.; Iwasaki, A.; Hosokawa, S.

2002-06-01

The Liquid Droplet Radiator (LDR) has an advantage over comparable conventional radiators in terms of the rejected heat power-weight ratio. Therefore, the LDR has attracted attention as an advanced radiator for high-power space systems that will be prerequisite for large space structures. The performance of the LDR under microgravity condition has been studied from the viewpoint of operational space use of the LDR in the future. In this study, the performances of a droplet generator and a droplet collector in the LDR are investigated using drop shafts in Japan: MGLAB and JAMIC. As a result, it is considered that (1) the droplet generator can produce uniform droplet streams in the droplet diameter range from 200 to 280 [µm] and the spacing range from 400 to 950 [µm] under microgravity condition, (2) the droplet collector with the incidence angle of 35 degrees can prevent a uniform droplet stream, in which droplet diameter is 250 [µm] and the velocity is 16 [m/s], from splashing under microgravity condition, whereas splashes may occur at the surface of the droplet collector in the event that a nonuniform droplet stream collides against it.

Emulsion droplet interactions: a front-tracking treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Lachlan; Juric, Damir; Chergui, Jalel; Shin, Seungwon; Craster, Richard V.; Matar, Omar K.

2017-11-01

Emulsion coalescence influences a multitude of industrial applications including solvent extraction, oil recovery and the manufacture of fast-moving consumer goods. Droplet interaction models are vital for the design and scale-up of processing systems, however predictive modelling at the droplet-scale remains a research challenge. This study simulates industrially relevant moderate-inertia collisions for which a high degree of droplet deformation occurs. A hybrid front-tracking/level-set approach is used to automatically account for interface merging without the need for `bookkeeping' of interface connectivity. The model is implemented in Code BLUE using a parallel multi-grid solver, allowing both film and droplet-scale dynamics to be resolved efficiently. Droplet interaction simulations are validated using experimental sequences from the literature in the presence and absence of background turbulence. The framework is readily extensible for modelling the influence of surfactants and non-Newtonian fluids on droplet interaction processes. EPSRC, UK, MEMPHIS program Grant (EP/K003976/1), RAEng Research Chair (OKM), PETRONAS.

Electrostatic Model Applied to ISS Charged Water Droplet Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, Daan; Schaub, Hanspeter; Pettit, Donald R.

2015-01-01

The electrostatic force can be used to create novel relative motion between charged bodies if it can be isolated from the stronger gravitational and dissipative forces. Recently, Coulomb orbital motion was demonstrated on the International Space Station by releasing charged water droplets in the vicinity of a charged knitting needle. In this investigation, the Multi-Sphere Method, an electrostatic model developed to study active spacecraft position control by Coulomb charging, is used to simulate the complex orbital motion of the droplets. When atmospheric drag is introduced, the simulated motion closely mimics that seen in the video footage of the experiment. The electrostatic force's inverse dependency on separation distance near the center of the needle lends itself to analytic predictions of the radial motion.

Theoretical model of droplet wettability on a low-surface-energy solid under the influence of gravity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yonemoto, Yukihiro; Kunugi, Tomoaki

2014-01-01

The wettability of droplets on a low surface energy solid is evaluated experimentally and theoretically. Water-ethanol binary mixture drops of several volumes are used. In the experiment, the droplet radius, height, and contact angle are measured. Analytical equations are derived that incorporate the effect of gravity for the relationships between the droplet radius and height, radius and contact angle, and radius and liquid surface energy. All the analytical equations display good agreement with the experimental data. It is found that the fundamental wetting behavior of the droplet on the low surface energy solid can be predicted by our model which gives geometrical information of the droplet such as the contact angle, droplet radius, and height from physical values of liquid and solid.

Butschli Dynamic Droplet System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Armstrong, R.; Hanczyc, M.

2013-01-01

Dynamical oil-water systems such as droplets display lifelike properties and may lend themselves to chemical programming to perform useful work, specifically with respect to the built environment. We present Butschli water-in-oil droplets as a model for further investigation into the development...... reconstructed the Butschli system and observed its life span under a light microscope, observing chemical patterns and droplet behaviors in nearly three hundred replicate experiments. Self-organizing patterns were observed, and during this dynamic, embodied phase the droplets provided a means of introducing...... temporal and spatial order in the system with the potential for chemical programmability. The authors propose that the discrete formation of dynamic droplets, characterized by their lifelike behavior patterns, during a variable window of time (from 30 s to 30 min after the addition of alkaline water...

Magnetic fluid droplet in a harmonic electric field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kvasov, D., E-mail: kvasovdmitry@gmail.com [Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation); Naletova, V. [Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation); Beketova, E.; Dikanskii, Yu. [North-Caucasus Federal University, Stavropol (Russian Federation)

2017-06-01

A magnetic fluid droplet immersed in oil in an applied harmonic electric field is studied experimentally and theoretically. It is shown that deformations of the droplet observed experimentally are not described by the well-known theory. New double-layer droplet model which describes experimental data well is proposed. - Highlights: • The magnetic fluid droplet in the oil in a harmonic electric field is studied. • The paradoxical flattening effect of the droplet is observed experimentally. • For explaining this effect the model of the double-layer droplet is proposed. • Numerical and experimental data coincide qualitatively and quantitatively.

Steady State Droplet Deformation and Orientation during Bulk and Confined Shear Flow in Blends with One Viscoelastic Component: Experiments, Modeling and Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Verhulst, Kristof; Cardinaels, Ruth; Renardy, Yuriko; Moldenaers, Paula

2008-07-01

The steady deformation and orientation of droplets in shear flow, both under bulk and confined conditions, is microscopically studied for blends with one viscoelastic phase and a viscosity ratio of 1.5. The experiments are performed with a Linkam shearing cell and a counter rotating setup, based on a Paar Physica MCR300. For bulk shear flow, it is shown that matrix viscoelasticity suppresses droplet deformation and promotes droplet orientation towards the flow direction. Interestingly, these effects saturate at Deborah numbers above 2. For ellipsoidal droplets, viscoelasticity of the droplet fluid hardly affects the droplet deformation and droplet orientation, even up to Deborah numbers as high as 16. When the droplet is confined between two plates, the droplet deformation and the orientation towards the flow direction increase with confinement ratio, as in fully Newtonian systems. At a Deborah number of 1, the effect of component viscoelasticity under confined conditions remains qualitatively the same as under bulk conditions, at least up to a confinement ratio 2R/H of 0.6. The experiments under bulk conditions are compared with the predictions of phenomenological models, such as the Maffettone-Minale model, for droplet deformation. The Shapira-Haber model, which analytically describes the effects of the walls on the droplet deformation for fully Newtonian systems, is used to describe the experimental results under confinement. Here, this model is combined with the bulk phenomenological models to include bulk viscoelasticity effects. Under the present conditions, the adapted Shapira-Haber model describes the steady droplet deformation under confinement rather well. Finally, the experimentally obtained droplet shapes are compared with the results of 3D simulations, performed with a volume-of-fluid algorithm.

A Comparison of the Computation Times of Thermal Equilibrium and Non-equilibrium Models of Droplet Field in a Two-Fluid Three-Field Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Ik Kyu; Cho, Heong Kyu; Kim, Jong Tae; Yoon, Han Young; Jeong, Jae Jun

2007-12-15

A computational model for transient, 3 dimensional 2 phase flows was developed by using 'unstructured-FVM-based, non-staggered, semi-implicit numerical scheme' considering the thermally non-equilibrium droplets. The assumption of the thermally equilibrium between liquid and droplets of previous studies was not used any more, and three energy conservation equations for vapor, liquid, liquid droplets were set up. Thus, 9 conservation equations for mass, momentum, and energy were established to simulate 2 phase flows. In this report, the governing equations and a semi-implicit numerical sheme for a transient 1 dimensional 2 phase flows was described considering the thermally non-equilibrium between liquid and liquid droplets. The comparison with the previous model considering the thermally non-equilibrium between liquid and liquid droplets was also reported.

Droplet behavior analysis in consideration of droplet entrainment from liquid film in annular dispersed flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsuura, Keizo; Otake, Hiroshi; Kataoka, Isao; Serizawa, Akimi

2000-01-01

A method of droplet behavior simulation in an annular dispersed flow has been developed. In this method, both droplet deposition and entrainment from liquid film are considered. The Lagrangian method and stochastic model are used to analyze droplet diffusion and deposition behavior in a turbulent flow, and droplet entrainment from liquid film is calculated by an entrainment correlation. For the verification of this method, Gill's experiment is analyzed, in which the transition from annular flow with no entrainment to equilibrium annular dispersed flow was observed. Analysis results can also show the similar transition tendency. The experimental results of radial distribution of droplet mass flux are compared with analysis results. The agreement is good for low liquid flow rate, but entrainment rate must be adjusted for high liquid flow rate, in which gas turbulence is thought to be modified by high droplet density. In future work the effect of high droplet density on turbulence should be considered. (author)

A Dewetting Model for Double-Emulsion Droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhanxiao Kang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The evolution of double-emulsion droplets is of great importance for the application of microdroplets and microparticles. We study the driving force of the dewetting process, the equilibrium configuration and the dewetting time of double-emulsion droplets. Through energy analysis, we find that the equilibrium configuration of a partial engulfed droplet depends on a dimensionless interfacial tension determined by the three relevant interfacial tensions, and the engulfing part of the inner phase becomes larger as the volume of the outer phase increases. By introducing a dewetting boundary, the dewetting time can be calculated by balancing the driving force, caused by interfacial tensions, and the viscous force. Without considering the momentum change of the continuous phase, the dewetting time is an increasing function against the viscosity of the outer phase and the volume ratio between the outer phase and inner phase.

Measurement and model development of the droplet diameter in rod bundles with spacer grids in the reactor core

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No, Hee Cheon; Lee, Eo Hwak; Yoo, Seung Hun; Jin, Hyung Gon; Kim, In Hun [KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-05-15

To understand and to predict the heat transfer between superheated steam and droplets properly during reflood phase of LBLOCA of APR1400, it is very important to measure broken droplet sizes by spacer grids. A study, therefore, has been performed to investigate droplet size in rod bundles with spacer grids and to develop a spacer grid droplet size model for safety analysis codes. Experiments were conducted with liquid droplets (SMD of 300{approx}700 {mu}m) impacting on various spacer grids at air superficial velocity of 10 and 20 m/s based on FLECHT SEASET. The test channel and the grids were heated to 150 .deg. C to prevent the formation of liquid film during tests. The spacer grids were designed refer to the Korean fuel rod bundles (Korean Standard Fuel, Plus 7) of APR1400 with various blockage area ratio and grid geometries (strap thickness, mixing vane) and about 15,000 droplets were measured at upstream and downstream of the grids in 16 tests. As a result, the measurement of broken droplet size by spacer grids with photography method is presented and the droplet size model related to spacer grids as a function of blockage area ratio is suggested in this report

Droplet number uncertainties associated with CCN: an assessment using observations and a global model adjoint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. H. Moore

2013-04-01

Full Text Available We use the Global Modelling Initiative (GMI chemical transport model with a cloud droplet parameterisation adjoint to quantify the sensitivity of cloud droplet number concentration to uncertainties in predicting CCN concentrations. Published CCN closure uncertainties for six different sets of simplifying compositional and mixing state assumptions are used as proxies for modelled CCN uncertainty arising from application of those scenarios. It is found that cloud droplet number concentrations (Nd are fairly insensitive to the number concentration (Na of aerosol which act as CCN over the continents (∂lnNd/∂lnNa ~10–30%, but the sensitivities exceed 70% in pristine regions such as the Alaskan Arctic and remote oceans. This means that CCN concentration uncertainties of 4–71% translate into only 1–23% uncertainty in cloud droplet number, on average. Since most of the anthropogenic indirect forcing is concentrated over the continents, this work shows that the application of Köhler theory and attendant simplifying assumptions in models is not a major source of uncertainty in predicting cloud droplet number or anthropogenic aerosol indirect forcing for the liquid, stratiform clouds simulated in these models. However, it does highlight the sensitivity of some remote areas to pollution brought into the region via long-range transport (e.g., biomass burning or from seasonal biogenic sources (e.g., phytoplankton as a source of dimethylsulfide in the southern oceans. Since these transient processes are not captured well by the climatological emissions inventories employed by current large-scale models, the uncertainties in aerosol-cloud interactions during these events could be much larger than those uncovered here. This finding motivates additional measurements in these pristine regions, for which few observations exist, to quantify the impact (and associated uncertainty of transient aerosol processes on cloud properties.

Experiments and Model Development for the Investigation of Sooting and Radiation Effects in Microgravity Droplet Combustion

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Mun Young; Yozgatligil, Ahmet; Dryer, Frederick L.; Kazakov, Andrei; Dobashi, Ritsu

2001-01-01

Today, despite efforts to develop and utilize natural gas and renewable energy sources, nearly 97% of the energy used for transportation is derived from combustion of liquid fuels, principally derived from petroleum. While society continues to rely on liquid petroleum-based fuels as a major energy source in spite of their finite supply, it is of paramount importance to maximize the efficiency and minimize the environmental impact of the devices that burn these fuels. The development of improved energy conversion systems, having higher efficiencies and lower emissions, is central to meeting both local and regional air quality standards. This development requires improvements in computational design tools for applied energy conversion systems, which in turn requires more robust sub-model components for combustion chemistry, transport, energy transport (including radiation), and pollutant emissions (soot formation and burnout). The study of isolated droplet burning as a unidimensional, time dependent model diffusion flame system facilitates extensions of these mechanisms to include fuel molecular sizes and pollutants typical of conventional and alternative liquid fuels used in the transportation sector. Because of the simplified geometry, sub-model components from the most detailed to those reduced to sizes compatible for use in multi-dimensional, time dependent applied models can be developed, compared and validated against experimental diffusion flame processes, and tested against one another. Based on observations in microgravity experiments on droplet combustion, it appears that the formation and lingering presence of soot within the fuel-rich region of isolated droplets can modify the burning rate, flame structure and extinction, soot aerosol properties, and the effective thermophysical properties. These observations led to the belief that perhaps one of the most important outstanding contributions of microgravity droplet combustion is the observation that in the

Model of formation of droplets during electric arc surfacing of functional coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Sarychev, Vladimir D.; Granovskii, Alexei Yu; Nevskii, Sergey A.; Gromov, Victor E.

2016-01-01

The mathematical model was developed for the initial stage of formation of an electrode metal droplet in the process of arc welding. Its essence lies in the fact that the presence of a temperature gradient in the boundary layer of the molten metal causes thermo-capillary instability, which leads to the formation of electrode metal droplets. A system of equations including Navier-Stokes equations, heat conduction and Maxwell's equations was solved as well as the boundary conditions for the system electrodes-plasma. Dispersion equation for thermo-capillary waves in the linear approximation for the plane layer was received and analyzed. The values of critical wavelengths, at which thermo-capillary instability appears in the nanometer wavelength range, were found. The parameters at which the mode of a fine-droplet transfer of the material takes place were theoretically defined.

Multicomponent droplet vaporization in a convecting environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Megaridis, C.M.; Sirignano, W.A.

1990-01-01

In this paper a parametric study of the fundamental exchange processes for energy, mass and momentum between the liquid and gas phases of multicomponent liquid vaporizing droplets is presented. The model, which examines an isolated, vaporizing, multicomponent droplet in an axisymmetric, convecting environment, considers the different volatilities of the liquid components, the alteration of the liquid-phase properties due to the spatial/temporal variations of the species concentrations and also the effects of multicomponent diffusion. In addition, the model accounts for variable thermophysical properties, surface blowing and droplet surface regression due to vaporization, transient droplet heating with internal liquid circulation, and finally droplet deceleration with respect to the free flow due to drag. The numerical calculation employs finite-difference techniques and an iterative solution procedure that provides time-varying spatially-resolved data for both phases. The effects of initial droplet composition, ambient temperature, initial Reynolds number (based on droplet diameter), and volatility differential between the two liquid components are investigated for a liquid droplet consisting of two components with very different volatilities. It is found that mixtures with higher concentration of the less volatile substance actually vaporize faster on account of intrinsically higher liquid heating rates

Experimentation, modelling and simulation of water droplets impact on ballooned sheath of PWR core fuel assemblies in a LOCA situation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lelong, Franck

2010-01-01

In a pressurized water reactor (PWR), during a Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA), liquid water evaporates and the fuel assemblies are not cooled anymore; as a consequence, the temperature rises to such an extent that some parts of the fuel assemblies can be deformed resulting in 'ballooned regions'. When reflooding occurs, the cooling of these partially blocked parts of the fuel assemblies will depend on the coolant flow that is a mixture of overheated vapour and under-saturated droplets. The aim of this thesis is to study the heat transfer between droplets and hot walls of the fuel rods. In this purpose, an experimental device has been designed in accordance with droplets and wall features (droplet velocity and diameter, wall temperature) representative of LOCA conditions. The cooling of a hot Nickel disk, previously heated by induction, is cooled down by a stream of monodispersed droplet. The rear face temperature profiles are measured by infrared thermography. Then, the estimation of wall heat flux is performed by an inverse conduction technique from these infrared images. The effect of droplet dynamical properties (diameter, velocity) on the heat flux is studied. These experimental data allow us to validate an analytical model of heat exchange between droplet and hot slab. This model is based on combined dynamical and thermal considerations. On the one hand, the droplet dynamics is considered through a spring analogy in order to evaluate the evolution of droplet features such as the spreading diameter when the droplet is squeezed over the hot surface. On the other hand, thermal parameters, such as the thickness of the vapour cushion beneath the droplet, are determined from an energy balance. In the short term, this model will be integrated in a CFD code (named NEPTUNE-CFD) to simulate the cooling of a reactor core during a LOCA, taking into account the droplet/wall heat exchange. (author)

Dancing droplets: Contact angle, drag, and confinement

Science.gov (United States)

Benusiglio, Adrien; Cira, Nate; Prakash, Manu

2015-11-01

When deposited on a clean glass slide, a mixture of water and propylene glycol forms a droplet of given contact angle, when both pure liquids spread. (Cira, Benusiglio, Prakash: Nature, 2015). The droplet is stabilized by a gradient of surface tension due to evaporation that induces a Marangoni flow from the border to the apex of the droplets. The apparent contact angle of the droplets depends on both their composition and the external humidity as captured by simple models. These droplets present remarkable properties such as lack of a large pinning force. We discuss the drag on these droplets as a function of various parameters. We show theoretical and experimental results of how various confinement geometries change the vapor gradient and the dynamics of droplet attraction.

Droplet model of pyrocarbon deposition from the gas phase. [HTGR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Linke, J; Koizlik, K; Luhleich, H; Nickel, H

1975-01-15

Based on extensive earlier work a model has been developed to describe the formation of carbon by pyrolysis of gaseous hydrocarbons. One of the central statements of this model is the assumption of the existence of a quasi liquid carbon phase during deposition process.This model is described and is discussed as are the consequences for the material properties and structural parameters which arise from it. To review the droplet model, statically deposited pyrocarbon is examined by characterization methods suitable to analyze just these structural parameters.The results prove the model conceptions to be realistic.

Droplet localization in the random XXZ model and its manifestations

Science.gov (United States)

Elgart, A.; Klein, A.; Stolz, G.

2018-01-01

We examine many-body localization properties for the eigenstates that lie in the droplet sector of the random-field spin- \\frac 1 2 XXZ chain. These states satisfy a basic single cluster localization property (SCLP), derived in Elgart et al (2018 J. Funct. Anal. (in press)). This leads to many consequences, including dynamical exponential clustering, non-spreading of information under the time evolution, and a zero velocity Lieb-Robinson bound. Since SCLP is only applicable to the droplet sector, our definitions and proofs do not rely on knowledge of the spectral and dynamical characteristics of the model outside this regime. Rather, to allow for a possible mobility transition, we adapt the notion of restricting the Hamiltonian to an energy window from the single particle setting to the many body context.

Droplets and sprays

CERN Document Server

Sazhin, Sergei

2014-01-01

Providing a clear and systematic description of droplets and spray dynamic models, this book maximises reader insight into the underlying physics of the processes involved, outlines the development of new physical and mathematical models, and broadens understanding of interactions between the complex physical processes which take place in sprays. Complementing approaches based on the direct application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Droplets and Sprays treats both theoretical and practical aspects of internal combustion engine process such as the direct injection of liquid fuel, subcritical heating and evaporation. Includes case studies that illustrate the approaches relevance to automotive applications,  it is also anticipated that the described models can find use in other areas such as in medicine and environmental science.

Impact of entrainment on cloud droplet spectra: theory, observations, and modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Grabowski, W.

2016-12-01

Understanding the impact of entrainment and mixing on microphysical properties of warm boundary layer clouds is an important aspect of the representation of such clouds in large-scale models of weather and climate. Entrainment leads to a reduction of the liquid water content in agreement with the fundamental thermodynamics, but its impact on the droplet spectrum is difficult to quantify in observations and modeling. For in-situ (e.g., aircraft) observations, it is impossible to follow air parcels and observe processes that lead to changes of the droplet spectrum in different regions of a cloud. For similar reasons traditional modeling methodologies (e.g., the Eulerian large eddy simulation) are not useful either. Moreover, both observations and modeling can resolve only relatively narrow range of spatial scales. Theory, typically focusing on differences between idealized concepts of homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixing, is also of a limited use for the multiscale turbulent mixing between a cloud and its environment. This presentation will illustrate the above points and argue that the Lagrangian large-eddy simulation with appropriate subgrid-scale scheme may provide key insights and eventually lead to novel parameterizations for large-scale models.

Numerical modeling of turbulent evaporating gas-droplet two-phase flows in an afterburner diffusor of turbo-fan jet engines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Lixing; Zhang, Jian [Qinghua Univ., Beijing (China)

1990-11-01

Two-dimensional turbulent evaporating gas-droplet two-phase flows in an afterburner diffusor of turbofan jet engines are simulated here by a k-epsilon turbulence model and a particle trajectory model. Comparison of predicted gas velocity and temperature distributions with experimental results for the cases without liquid spray shows good agreement. Gas-droplet two-phase flow predictions give plausible droplet trajectories, fuel-vapor concentration distribution, gas-phase velocity and temperature field in the presence of liquid droplets. One run of computation with this method is made for a particular afterburner. The results indicate that the location of the atomizers is not favorable to flame stabilization and combustion efficiency. The proposed numerical modeling can also be adopted for optimization design and performance evaluation of afterburner combustors of turbofan jet engines. 7 refs.

Effect of Surfactants on the Deformation and Detachment of Oil Droplets in a Model Laminar Flow Cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fréville V.

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Sugar-based surfactants are increasingly present in the development of eco-friendly detergents due to current regulations and consumer demand. In order to assess the degreasing performance of these new surfactants, the behavior of model oil droplets subjected to the action of a flow of surfactant solutions of different concentrations was studied in a laminar flow cell and related to the physico-chemical properties measured at the liquid/liquid (interfacial tension and solid/liquid/liquid interfaces (contact angle. With the surfactant solutions and the model oils employed in this study, three main behaviors were observed when a critical flow rate was reached: elongation, fragmentation or spontaneous detachment of the droplet. The analysis of the results leads to a correlation between the droplet behavior and the balance of the forces applied on the droplet in its initial position, in particular the gravity force Fg, which tends to move the oil droplet upwards (given the density difference, and the capillary force Fc, which tends to keep the droplet spherical. A state diagram could be established, based on the dimensionless Bond number (Fg/Fc and cosθ, θ being the initial contact angle of the drop on the surface before the establishment of the flow. One can thus predict the droplet behavior as a function of the system initial characteristics. The results allowed the comparison of degreasing performance of the different surfactants used and illustrated the potential of AlkylPolyPentosides (APP for detergent formulations.

Non-isothermal effects on SO2 absorption by water droplets. I - Model development. II - Results and discussion

Science.gov (United States)

Reda, M.; Carmichael, G. R.

1982-01-01

An analytic model of SO2 absorption in a falling water droplet is developed and a simulation of SO2 washout is performed. Nonisothermic effects on drop growth, droplet physical parameters, reaction rates, and multicomponent diffusion are treated in the model. The gas-liquid interface is assumed to be at equilibrium, and interfacial resistance is negligible. Raindrops are simulated as falling from a 2 km height through an atmospheric region containing SO2. The droplets decrease in size from evaporation and cooling, and their slightly basic pH aids SO2 absorption. The simulation indicates higher SO2 absorption at higher altitudes, and desorption may occur at ground level. Isothermal effects are concluded to be significant, and quantification of effects will depend on further modelling.

Prediction of oil droplet size distribution in agitated aquatic environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khelifa, A.; Lee, K.; Hill, P.S.

2004-01-01

Oil spilled at sea undergoes many transformations based on physical, biological and chemical processes. Vertical dispersion is the hydrodynamic mechanism controlled by turbulent mixing due to breaking waves, vertical velocity, density gradients and other environmental factors. Spilled oil is dispersed in the water column as small oil droplets. In order to estimate the mass of an oil slick in the water column, it is necessary to know how the droplets formed. Also, the vertical dispersion and fate of oil spilled in aquatic environments can be modelled if the droplet-size distribution of the oil droplets is known. An oil spill remediation strategy can then be implemented. This paper presented a newly developed Monte Carlo model to predict droplet-size distribution due to Brownian motion, turbulence and a differential settling at equilibrium. A kinematic model was integrated into the proposed model to simulate droplet breakage. The key physical input of the model is the maximum droplet size permissible in the simulation. Laboratory studies were found to be in good agreement with field studies. 26 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

Modeling Droplet Heat and Mass Transfer during Spray Bar Pressure Control of the Multipurpose Hydrogen Test Bed (MHTB) Tank in Normal Gravity

Science.gov (United States)

Kartuzova, O.; Kassemi, M.

2016-01-01

A CFD model for simulating pressure control in cryogenic storage tanks through the injection of a subcooled liquid into the ullage is presented and applied to the 1g MHTB spray bar cooling experiments. An Eulerian-Lagrangian approach is utilized to track the spray droplets and capture the interaction between the discrete droplets and the continuous ullage phase. The spray model is coupled with the VOF model by performing particle tracking in the ullage, removing particles from the ullage when they reach the interface, and then adding their contributions to the liquid. A new model for calculating the droplet-ullage heat and mass transfer is developed. In this model, a droplet is allowed to warm up to the saturation temperature corresponding to the ullage vapor pressure, after which it evaporates while remaining at the saturation temperature. The droplet model is validated against the results of the MHTB spray-bar cooling experiments with 50% and 90% tank fill ratios. The predictions of the present T-sat based model are compared with those of a previously developed kinetic-based droplet mass transfer model. The predictions of the two models regarding the evolving tank pressure and temperature distributions, as well as the droplets' trajectories and temperatures, are examined and compared in detail. Finally, the ullage pressure and local vapor and liquid temperature evolutions are validated against the corresponding data provided by the MHTB spray bar mixing experiment.

Modeling water droplet condensation and evaporation in DNS of turbulent channel flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Russo, E.; Kuerten, J.G.M.; Geld, van der C.W.M.; Geurts, B.J.

2011-01-01

In this paper a point particle model for two-way coupling in water droplet-laden incompressible turbulent flow of air is proposed. The model is based on conservation laws and semi-empirical correlations. It has been implemented and tested in a DNS code based for turbulent channel flow with an

Modeling water droplet condensation and evaporation in DNS of turbulent channel flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Russo, E; Kuerten, Johannes G.M.; van der Geld, C.W.M.; Geurts, Bernardus J.

In this paper a point particle model for two-way coupling in water droplet-laden incompressible turbulent flow of air is proposed. The model is based on conservation laws and semi-empirical correlations. It has been implemented and tested in a DNS code based for turbulent channel flow with an

Impinging Water Droplets on Inclined Glass Surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Armijo, Kenneth Miguel [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Lance, Blake [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ho, Clifford K. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-09-01

Multiphase computational models and tests of falling water droplets on inclined glass surfaces were developed to investigate the physics of impingement and potential of these droplets to self-clean glass surfaces for photovoltaic modules and heliostats. A multiphase volume-of-fluid model was developed in ANSYS Fluent to simulate the impinging droplets. The simulations considered different droplet sizes (1 mm and 3 mm), tilt angles (0°, 10°, and 45°), droplet velocities (1 m/s and 3 m/s), and wetting characteristics (wetting=47° contact angle and non-wetting = 93° contact angle). Results showed that the spread factor (maximum droplet diameter during impact divided by the initial droplet diameter) decreased with increasing inclination angle due to the reduced normal force on the surface. The hydrophilic surface yielded greater spread factors than the hydrophobic surface in all cases. With regard to impact forces, the greater surface tilt angles yielded lower normal forces, but higher shear forces. Experiments showed that the experimentally observed spread factor (maximum droplet diameter during impact divided by the initial droplet diameter) was significantly larger than the simulated spread factor. Observed spread factors were on the order of 5 - 6 for droplet velocities of ~3 m/s, whereas the simulated spread factors were on the order of 2. Droplets were observed to be mobile following impact only for the cases with 45° tilt angle, which matched the simulations. An interesting phenomenon that was observed was that shortly after being released from the nozzle, the water droplet oscillated (like a trampoline) due to the "snapback" caused by the surface tension of the water droplet being released from the nozzle. This oscillation impacted the velocity immediately after the release. Future work should evaluate the impact of parameters such as tilt angle and surface wettability on the impact of particle/soiling uptake and removal to investigate ways that

Droplet Translation Actuated by Photoelectrowetting.

Science.gov (United States)

Palma, Cesar; Deegan, Robert D

2018-03-13

In traditional electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) devices, droplets are moved about a substrate using electric fields produced by an array of discrete electrodes. In this study, we show that a drop can be driven across a substrate with a localized light beam by exploiting the photoelectrowetting (PEW) effect, a light-activated variant of EWOD. Droplet transport actuated by PEW eliminates the need for electrode arrays and the complexities entailed in their fabrication and control, and offers a new approach for designing lab-on-a-chip applications. We report measurements of the maximum droplet speed as a function of frequency and magnitude of the applied bias, intensity of illumination, volume of the droplet, and viscosity and also introduce a model that reproduces these data.

Settling of fixed erythrocyte suspension droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Omenyi, S. N.; Snyder, R. S.

1983-01-01

It is pointed out that when particles behave collectively rather than individually, the fractionation of micron-size particles on the basis of size, density, and surface characteristics by centrifugation and electrophoresis is hindered. The formation and sedimentation of droplets containing particles represent an extreme example of collective behavior and pose a major problem for these separation methods when large quantities of particles need to be fractionated. Experiments are described that measure droplet sizes and settling rates for a variety of particles and droplets. Expressions relating the particle concentration in a drop to measurable quantities of the fluids and particles are developed. The number of particles in each droplet is then estimated, together with the effective droplet density. Red blood cells from different animals fixed in glutaraldehyde provide model particle groups.

Numerical and experimental studies of droplet-gas flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joesang, Aage Ingebret

2002-07-01

This thesis considers droplet-gas flow by the use of numerical methods and experimental verification. A commercial vane separator was studied both numerical and by experiment. In addition some efforts are put into the numerical analysis of cyclones. The experimental part contains detailed measurements of the flow field between a pair of vanes in a vane separator and droplet size measurements. LDA (Laser Doppler Anemometry) was used to measure the velocity in two dimensions and corresponding turbulence quantities. The results from the LDA measurements are considered to be of high quality and are compared to numerical results obtained from a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis. The simulation showed good agreement between the numerical and experimental results. Combinations of different turbulence models; the standard k-epsilon model and the Reynold Stress Mode, different schemes; first order and higher order scheme and different near wall treatment of the turbulence; the Law of the wall and the Two-Layer Zonal model were used in the simulations. The Reynold Stress Model together with a higher order scheme performed rather poorly. The recirculation in parts of the separator was overpredicted in this case. For the other cases the overall predictions are satisfactory. PDA (Phase Doppler Anemometry) measurements were used to study the changes in the droplet size distribution through the vane separator. The PDA measurements show that smaller droplets are found at the outlet than present at the inlet. In the literature there exists different mechanisms for explaining the re-entrainment and generation of new droplets. The re-entrainments mechanisms are divided into four groups where droplet-droplet interaction, droplet break-up, splashing of impinging droplet and re-entrainment from the film are defined as the groups of re-entrainment mechanisms. Models for these groups are found in the literature and these models are tested for re-entrainment using the operational

Development of CFD analysis method based on droplet tracking model for BWR fuel assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onishi, Yoichi; Minato, Akihiko; Ichikawa, Ryoko; Mashara, Yasuhiro

2011-01-01

It is well known that the minimum critical power ratio (MCPR) of the boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel assembly depends on the spacer grid type. Recently, improvement of the critical power is being studied by using a spacer grid with mixing devices attaching various types of flow deflectors. In order to predict the critical power of the improved BWR fuel assembly, we have developed an analysis method based on the consideration of detailed thermal-hydraulic mechanism of annular mist flow regime in the subchannels for an arbitrary spacer type. The proposed method is based on a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model with a droplet tracking model for analyzing the vapor-phase turbulent flow in which droplets are transported in the subchannels of the BWR fuel assembly. We adopted the general-purpose CFD software Advance/FrontFlow/red (AFFr) as the base code, which is a commercial software package created as a part of Japanese national project. AFFr employs a three-dimensional (3D) unstructured grid system for application to complex geometries. First, AFFr was applied to single-phase flows of gas in the present paper. The calculated results were compared with experiments using a round cellular spacer in one subchannel to investigate the influence of the choice of turbulence model. The analyses using the large eddy simulation (LES) and re-normalisation group (RNG) k-ε models were carried out. The results of both the LES and RNG k-ε models show that calculations of velocity distribution and velocity fluctuation distribution in the spacer downstream reproduce the experimental results qualitatively. However, the velocity distribution analyzed by the LES model is better than that by the RNG k-ε model. The velocity fluctuation near the fuel rod, which is important for droplet deposition to the rod, is also simulated well by the LES model. Then, to examine the effect of the spacer shape on the analytical result, the gas flow analyses with the RNG k-ε model were performed

Flashing liquid jets and two-phase droplet dispersion I. Experiments for derivation of droplet atomisation correlations.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, Vincent; Bowen, Phil; Witlox, Henk

2007-04-11

The large-scale release of a liquid contained at upstream conditions above its local atmospheric boiling point is a scenario often given consideration in process industry risk analysis. Current-hazard quantification software often employs simplistic equilibrium two-phase approaches. Scaled water experiments have been carried out measuring droplet velocity and droplet size distributions for a range of exit orifice aspect ratios (L/d) and conditions representing low to high superheat. 2D Phase-Doppler Anemometry has been utilised to characterise droplet kinematics and spray quality. Droplet size correlations have been developed for non-flashing, the transition between non-flashing and flashing, and fully flashing jets. Using high-speed shadowography, transition between regimes is defined in terms of criteria identified in the external flow structure. An overview companion paper provides a wider overview of the problem and reports implementation of these correlations into consequence models and subsequent validation. The fluid utilised throughout is water, hence droplet correlations are developed in non-dimensional form to allow extrapolation to other fluids through similarity scaling, although verification of model performance for other fluids is required in future studies. Data is reduced via non-dimensionalisation in terms of the Weber number and Jakob number, essentially representing the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of the system, respectively. A droplet-size distribution correlation has also been developed, conveniently presented as a volume undersize distribution based on the Rosin-Rammler distribution. Separate correlations are provided for sub-cooled mechanical break-up and fully flashing jets. This form of correlation facilitates rapid estimates of likely mass rainout quantities, as well as full distribution information for more rigorous two-phase thermodynamic modelling in the future.

AC electric field induced droplet deformation in a microfluidic T-junction.

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, Heng-Dong; Guo, Wei; Leniart, Michael; Chong, Zhuang Zhi; Tan, Say Hwa

2016-08-02

We present for the first time an experimental study on the droplet deformation induced by an AC electric field in droplet-based microfluidics. It is found that the deformation of the droplets becomes stronger with increasing electric field intensity and frequency. The measured electric field intensity dependence of the droplet deformation is consistent with an early theoretical prediction for stationary droplets. We also proposed a simple equivalent circuit model to account for the frequency dependence of the droplet deformation. The model well explains our experimental observations. In addition, we found that the droplets can be deformed repeatedly by applying an amplitude modulation (AM) signal.

Mechanism and simulation of droplet coalescence in molten steel

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Bing; Zhang, Tao; Ni, Hai-qi; Luo, Zhi-guo

2017-11-01

Droplet coalescence in liquid steel was carefully investigated through observations of the distribution pattern of inclusions in solidified steel samples. The process of droplet coalescence was slow, and the critical Weber number ( We) was used to evaluate the coalescence or separation of droplets. The relationship between the collision parameter and the critical We indicated whether slow coalescence or bouncing of droplets occurred. The critical We was 5.5, which means that the droplets gradually coalesce when We ≤ 5.5, whereas they bounce when We > 5.5. For the carbonate wire feeding into liquid steel, a mathematical model implementing a combined computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-discrete element method (DEM) approach was developed to simulate the movement and coalescence of variably sized droplets in a bottom-argon-blowing ladle. In the CFD model, the flow field was solved on the premise that the fluid was a continuous medium. Meanwhile, the droplets were dispersed in the DEM model, and the coalescence criterion of the particles was added to simulate the collision- coalescence process of the particles. The numerical simulation results and observations of inclusion coalescence in steel samples are consistent.

Statistical steady states in turbulent droplet condensation

Science.gov (United States)

Bec, Jeremie; Krstulovic, Giorgio; Siewert, Christoph

2017-11-01

We investigate the general problem of turbulent condensation. Using direct numerical simulations we show that the fluctuations of the supersaturation field offer different conditions for the growth of droplets which evolve in time due to turbulent transport and mixing. This leads to propose a Lagrangian stochastic model consisting of a set of integro-differential equations for the joint evolution of the squared radius and the supersaturation along droplet trajectories. The model has two parameters fixed by the total amount of water and the thermodynamic properties, as well as the Lagrangian integral timescale of the turbulent supersaturation. The model reproduces very well the droplet size distributions obtained from direct numerical simulations and their time evolution. A noticeable result is that, after a stage where the squared radius simply diffuses, the system converges exponentially fast to a statistical steady state independent of the initial conditions. The main mechanism involved in this convergence is a loss of memory induced by a significant number of droplets undergoing a complete evaporation before growing again. The statistical steady state is characterised by an exponential tail in the droplet mass distribution.

Coalescence-induced jumping of micro-droplets on heterogeneous superhydrophobic surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Attarzadeh, Reza; Dolatabadi, Ali

2017-01-01

The phenomenon of droplets coalescence-induced self-propelled jumping on homogeneous and heterogeneous superhydrophobic surfaces was numerically modeled using the volume of fluid method coupled with a dynamic contact angle model. The heterogeneity of the surface was directly modeled as a series of micro-patterned pillars. To resolve the influence of air around a droplet and between the pillars, extensive simulations were performed for different droplet sizes on a textured surface. Parallel computations with the OpenMP algorithm were used to accelerate computation speed to meet the convergence criteria. The composition of the air-solid surface underneath the droplet facilitated capturing the transition from a no-slip/no-penetration to a partial-slip with penetration as the contact line at triple point started moving to the air pockets. The wettability effect from the nanoscopic roughness and the coating was included in the model by using the intrinsic contact angle obtained from a previously published study. As the coalescence started, the radial velocity of the coalescing liquid bridge was partially reverted to the upward direction due to the counter-action of the surface. However, we found that the velocity varied with the size of the droplets. A part of the droplet kinetic energy was dissipated as the merged droplet started penetrating into the cavities. This was due to a different area in contact between the liquid and solid and, consequently, a higher viscous dissipation rate in the system. We showed that the effect of surface roughness is strongly significant when the size of the micro-droplet is comparable with the size of the roughness features. In addition, the relevance of droplet size to surface roughness (critical relative roughness) was numerically quantified. We also found that regardless of the viscous cutoff radius, as the relative roughness approached the value of 44, the direct inclusion of surface topography was crucial in the modeling of the

Effect of droplet size on the droplet behavior on the heterogeneous surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Ho Yeon; Son, Sung Wan; Ha, ManYeong [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Park, Yong Gap [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

2017-06-15

The characteristics of a three-dimensional hemispherical droplet on a heterogeneous surface were studied using the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The hydrophilic surface has a hydrophobic part at the center. The hemispherical droplets are located at the center of the heterogeneous surface. According to the contact angles of hydrophilic and hydrophobic bottom surfaces, the droplet either separates or reaches a new equilibrium state. The separation time varies according to the change in droplet size, and it affects the status of droplet separation. The droplet separation behavior was investigated by analyzing the velocity vector around the phase boundary line. The shape and separation time of a droplet are determined by the contact angle of each surface. The speed of droplet separation increases as the difference in contact angle increases between the hydrophobic surface and hydrophilic surface. The separation status and the separation time of a droplet are also determined by the change of the droplet size. As the size of the droplet decreases, the effect of surface tension decreases, and the separation time of the droplet also decreases. On the other hand, as the droplet becomes larger, the effect of surface tension increases and the time required for the droplet to separate also increases.

New models of droplet deposition and entrainment for prediction of CHF in cylindrical rod bundles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Haibin, E-mail: hb-zhang@xjtu.edu.cn [School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049 (China); Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BY (United Kingdom); Hewitt, G.F. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BY (United Kingdom)

2016-08-15

Highlights: • New models of droplet deposition and entrainment in rod bundles is developed. • A new phenomenological model to predict the CHF in rod bundles is described. • The present model is well able to predict CHF in rod bundles. - Abstract: In this paper, we present a new set of model of droplet deposition and entrainment in cylindrical rod bundles based on the previously proposed model for annuli (effectively a “one-rod” bundle) (2016a). These models make it possible to evaluate the differences of the rates of droplet deposition and entrainment for the respective rods and for the outer tube by taking into account the geometrical characteristics of the rod bundles. Using these models, a phenomenological model to predict the CHF (critical heat flux) for upward annular flow in vertical rod bundles is described. The performance of the model is tested against the experimental data of Becker et al. (1964) for CHF in 3-rod and 7-rod bundles. These data include tests in which only the rods were heated and data for simultaneous uniform and non-uniform heating of the rods and the outer tube. It was shown that the predicted CHFs by the present model agree well with the experimental data and with the experimental observation that dryout occurred first on the outer rods in 7-rod bundles. It is expected that the methodology used will be generally applicable in the prediction of CHF in rod bundles.

Droplet centrifugation, droplet DNA extraction, and rapid droplet thermocycling for simpler and faster PCR assay using wire-guided manipulations.

Science.gov (United States)

You, David J; Yoon, Jeong-Yeol

2012-09-04

A computer numerical control (CNC) apparatus was used to perform droplet centrifugation, droplet DNA extraction, and rapid droplet thermocycling on a single superhydrophobic surface and a multi-chambered PCB heater. Droplets were manipulated using "wire-guided" method (a pipette tip was used in this study). This methodology can be easily adapted to existing commercial robotic pipetting system, while demonstrated added capabilities such as vibrational mixing, high-speed centrifuging of droplets, simple DNA extraction utilizing the hydrophobicity difference between the tip and the superhydrophobic surface, and rapid thermocycling with a moving droplet, all with wire-guided droplet manipulations on a superhydrophobic surface and a multi-chambered PCB heater (i.e., not on a 96-well plate). Serial dilutions were demonstrated for diluting sample matrix. Centrifuging was demonstrated by rotating a 10 μL droplet at 2300 round per minute, concentrating E. coli by more than 3-fold within 3 min. DNA extraction was demonstrated from E. coli sample utilizing the disposable pipette tip to cleverly attract the extracted DNA from the droplet residing on a superhydrophobic surface, which took less than 10 min. Following extraction, the 1500 bp sequence of Peptidase D from E. coli was amplified using rapid droplet thermocycling, which took 10 min for 30 cycles. The total assay time was 23 min, including droplet centrifugation, droplet DNA extraction and rapid droplet thermocycling. Evaporation from of 10 μL droplets was not significant during these procedures, since the longest time exposure to air and the vibrations was less than 5 min (during DNA extraction). The results of these sequentially executed processes were analyzed using gel electrophoresis. Thus, this work demonstrates the adaptability of the system to replace many common laboratory tasks on a single platform (through re-programmability), in rapid succession (using droplets), and with a high level of

OCS in He droplets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grebenev, V.

2000-06-01

Phenomenon of superfluidity of para-hydrogen (pH{sub 2}){sub 1-17} and helium {sup 4}He{sub 1-7000} systems doped with an OCS chromophore molecule was investigated in this work. The study of such systems became possible after the development of the depletion spectroscopy technique in helium droplets. The droplets can be easily created and doped with up to 100 particles such as OCS, para-hydrogen or ortho-hydrogen molecules and {sup 4}He atoms. The measured infrared depletion spectra give the information about the temperature of the droplets and their aggregate state. The depletion spectrum of OCS in pure {sup 4}He droplets was comprehensively studied. The rovibrational OCS spectrum shows well resolved narrow lines. The spectrum is shifted to the red relative to the corresponding gas phase spectrum and the rotational constant of OCS in {sup 4}He droplet is three times smaller than that for free molecule. Different models of OCS rotation in the helium environment were discussed. It was shown that the shapes of the rovibrational lines are defined mainly by inhomogeneous broadening due to the droplet size distribution. The sub-rotational structure of the OCS rovibrational lines was revealed in microwave-infrared double resonance experiments. This structure arises due to the interaction of the OCS with the He environment. However, the information obtained in the experiments was not enough to understand the nature of this interaction. (orig.)

Effects of droplet interactions on droplet transport at intermediate Reynolds numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Shuen, Jian-Shun

1987-01-01

Effects of droplet interactions on drag, evaporation, and combustion of a planar droplet array, oriented perpendicular to the approaching flow, are studied numerically. The three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, with variable thermophysical properties, are solved using finite-difference techniques. Parameters investigated include the droplet spacing, droplet Reynolds number, approaching stream oxygen concentration, and fuel type. Results are obtained for the Reynolds number range of 5 to 100, droplet spacings from 2 to 24 diameters, oxygen concentrations of 0.1 and 0.2, and methanol and n-butanol fuels. The calculations show that the gasification rates of interacting droplets decrease as the droplet spacings decrease. The reduction in gasification rates is significant only at small spacings and low Reynolds numbers. For the present array orientation, the effects of interactions on the gasification rates diminish rapidly for Reynolds numbers greater than 10 and spacings greater than 6 droplet diameters. The effects of adjacent droplets on drag are shown to be small.

Modelling the impact, spreading and freezing of a water droplet on horizontal and inclined superhydrophobic cooled surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yina; Li, Cong; Zhang, Hui; Yang, Rui

2017-10-01

It is quite important to clearly understand the dynamic and freezing process of water droplets impacting a cold substrate for the prevention of ice accretion. In this study, a three-dimensional model including an extended phase change method was developed on OpenFOAM platform to simulate the impact, spreading and freezing of a water droplet on a cooled solid substrate. Both normal and oblique impact conditions were studied numerically. The evolution of the droplet shape and dynamic characteristics such as area ratio and spread factor were compared between numerical and experimental results. Good agreements were obtained. The effects of Weber number and Ohnersorge number on the oblique impact and freezing process were investigated. A regime map which depicts the different responses of droplets as a function of normal Weber number and Ohnesorge number was obtained. Moreover, the impact, spreading and freezing behaviour of water droplets were analyzed in detail from the numerical results.

Droplet behaviour in a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liew, R; Zeegers, J C H [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Michalek, W R; Kuerten, J G M, E-mail: r.liew@tue.nl [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2011-12-22

The vortex tube is an apparatus by which compressed gas is separated into cold and warm streams. Although the apparatus is mostly used for cooling, the possibility to use the vortex tube as a device for removing non-desired condensable components from gas mixtures is investigated. To give first insight on how droplets behave in the vortex tube, a MATLAB model is written. The model tracks Lagrangian droplets in time and space according to the forces acting on the droplets. Phase interactions, i.e. evaporation or condensation, are modeled according to the kinetic approach for phase interactions. Liquid (water) concentrations are shown for two cases where the humidity at the inlet of the vortex tube is varied from 0% to 50%. It is clearly observed from the results that the concentration of liquid increases with increasing humidity. The higher this concentration is, the higher the probability that droplets collide with each other and form larger droplets which are swirled towards the wall to form an easy-to-separate liquid film.

Evaluation of droplet deposition in rod bundle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, W.; Gu, C.Y.; Anglart, H.

1997-01-01

Deposition model for droplets in gas droplet two-phase flow in rod bundle is developed in this work using the Lagrangian method. The model is evaluated in a 9-rod bundle geometry. The deposition coefficient in the bundle geometry are compared with that in round tube. The influences of the droplet size and gas mass flow rate on deposition coefficient are investigated. Furthermore, the droplet motion is studied in more detail by dividing the bundle channel into sub-channels. The results show that the overall deposition coefficient in the bundle geometry is close to that in the round tube with the diameter equal to the bundle hydraulic diameter. The calculated deposition coefficient is found to be higher for higher gas mass flux and smaller droplets. The study in the sub-channels show that the ratio between the local deposition coefficient for a sub-channel and the averaged value for the whole bundle is close to a constant value, deviations from the mean value for all the calculated cases being within the range of ±13%. (author)

Internal flow inside droplets within a concentrated emulsion during droplet rearrangement

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Chia Min; Gai, Ya; Tang, Sindy K. Y.

2018-03-01

Droplet microfluidics, in which each droplet serves as a micro-reactor, has found widespread use in high-throughput biochemical screening applications. These droplets are often concentrated at various steps to form a concentrated emulsion. As part of a serial interrogation and sorting process, such concentrated emulsions are typically injected into a tapered channel leading to a constriction that fits one drop at a time for the probing of droplet content in a serial manner. The flow physics inside the droplets under these flow conditions are not well understood but are critical for predicting and controlling the mixing of reagents inside the droplets as reactors. Here we investigate the flow field inside droplets of a concentrated emulsion flowing through a tapered microchannel using micro-particle image velocimetry. The confining geometry of the channel forces the number of rows of drops to reduce by one at specific and uniformly spaced streamwise locations, which are referred to as droplet rearrangement zones. Within each rearrangement zone, the phase-averaged velocity results show that the motion of the droplets involved in the rearrangement process, also known as a T1 event, creates vortical structures inside themselves and their adjacent droplets. These flow structures increase the circulation inside droplets up to 2.5 times the circulation in droplets at the constriction. The structures weaken outside of the rearrangement zones suggesting that the flow patterns created by the T1 process are transient. The time scale of circulation is approximately the same as the time scale of a T1 event. Outside of the rearrangement zones, flow patterns in the droplets are determined by the relative velocity between the continuous and disperse phases.

Strange particle production from quark matter droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Werner, K.; Hladik, M.

1995-01-01

We recently introduced new methods to study ultrarelativistic nuclear scattering by providing a link between the string model approach and a thermal description. The string model is used to provide information about fluctuations in energy density. Regions of high energy density are considered to be quark matter droplets and treated macroscopically. At SPS energies, we find mainly medium size droplets---with energies up to few tens of Gev. A key issue is the microcanonical treatment of individual quark matter droplets. Each droplet hadronizes instantaneously according to the available n-body phase space. Due to the huge number of possible hadron configurations, special Monte Carlo techniques have been developed to calculate this disintegration. We present results concerning the production of strange particles from such a hadronization as compared to string decay. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics

The Droplet model of the Giant Fipole Resonance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, W.D.; Kodama, T.; El-Jaick, L.J.; Hilf, E.R.

1976-10-01

The nuclear Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR) energies are calculated using a macroscopic hydronamical model with two new features. The motion is treated as a combination of the usual Goldhaber-Teller (GT) and Steinwedel-Jensen (SJ) modes, and the restoring forces are all calculated using the Droplet Model. The A dependence of the resonance energies is well reproduced without any adjustable parameters, and the measured magnitude of the energies serves to fix the value of the effective mass m* used in the theory. The GDR is found to consist mainly of a GT-type motion with the SJ-mode becoming more important for heavy nuclei. The width P of the GDR is also estimated on the basis of an expression for one-body damping [pt

Droplet centrifugation, droplet DNA extraction, and rapid droplet thermocycling for simpler and faster PCR assay using wire-guided manipulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

You David J

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract A computer numerical control (CNC apparatus was used to perform droplet centrifugation, droplet DNA extraction, and rapid droplet thermocycling on a single superhydrophobic surface and a multi-chambered PCB heater. Droplets were manipulated using “wire-guided” method (a pipette tip was used in this study. This methodology can be easily adapted to existing commercial robotic pipetting system, while demonstrated added capabilities such as vibrational mixing, high-speed centrifuging of droplets, simple DNA extraction utilizing the hydrophobicity difference between the tip and the superhydrophobic surface, and rapid thermocycling with a moving droplet, all with wire-guided droplet manipulations on a superhydrophobic surface and a multi-chambered PCB heater (i.e., not on a 96-well plate. Serial dilutions were demonstrated for diluting sample matrix. Centrifuging was demonstrated by rotating a 10 μL droplet at 2300 round per minute, concentrating E. coli by more than 3-fold within 3 min. DNA extraction was demonstrated from E. coli sample utilizing the disposable pipette tip to cleverly attract the extracted DNA from the droplet residing on a superhydrophobic surface, which took less than 10 min. Following extraction, the 1500 bp sequence of Peptidase D from E. coli was amplified using rapid droplet thermocycling, which took 10 min for 30 cycles. The total assay time was 23 min, including droplet centrifugation, droplet DNA extraction and rapid droplet thermocycling. Evaporation from of 10 μL droplets was not significant during these procedures, since the longest time exposure to air and the vibrations was less than 5 min (during DNA extraction. The results of these sequentially executed processes were analyzed using gel electrophoresis. Thus, this work demonstrates the adaptability of the system to replace many common laboratory tasks on a single platform (through re-programmability, in rapid succession (using droplets

Preventing droplet deformation during dielectrophoretic centering of a compound emulsion droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Randall, Greg; Blue, Brent

2012-11-01

Compound droplets, or droplets-within-droplets, are traditionally key components in applications ranging from drug delivery to the food industry. Presently, millimeter-sized compound droplets are precursors for shell targets in inertial fusion energy work. However, a key constraint in target fabrication is a uniform shell wall thickness, which in turn requires a centered core droplet in the compound droplet precursor. Previously, Bei et al. (2009, 2010) have shown that compound droplets could be centered in a static fluid using an electric field of 0.7 kV/cm at 20 MHz. Randall et al. (2012) developed a process to center the core of a moving compound droplet, though the ~kV/cm field induced small (fluid mechanics and interfacial rheology perspective and we discuss the effective interfacial charge from an emulsifier and its impact on centering. Work funded by General Atomics Internal R&D.

Color-gradient lattice Boltzmann model for simulating droplet motion with contact-angle hysteresis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ba, Yan; Liu, Haihu; Sun, Jinju; Zheng, Rongye

2013-10-01

Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is an effective tool for simulating the contact-line motion due to the nature of its microscopic dynamics. In contact-line motion, contact-angle hysteresis is an inherent phenomenon, but it is neglected in most existing color-gradient based LBMs. In this paper, a color-gradient based multiphase LBM is developed to simulate the contact-line motion, particularly with the hysteresis of contact angle involved. In this model, the perturbation operator based on the continuum surface force concept is introduced to model the interfacial tension, and the recoloring operator proposed by Latva-Kokko and Rothman is used to produce phase segregation and resolve the lattice pinning problem. At the solid surface, the color-conserving wetting boundary condition [Hollis et al., IMA J. Appl. Math. 76, 726 (2011)] is applied to improve the accuracy of simulations and suppress spurious currents at the contact line. In particular, we present a numerical algorithm to allow for the effect of the contact-angle hysteresis, in which an iterative procedure is used to determine the dynamic contact angle. Numerical simulations are conducted to verify the developed model, including the droplet partial wetting process and droplet dynamical behavior in a simple shear flow. The obtained results are compared with theoretical solutions and experimental data, indicating that the model is able to predict the equilibrium droplet shape as well as the dynamic process of partial wetting and thus permits accurate prediction of contact-line motion with the consideration of contact-angle hysteresis.

New approaches to the modelling of multi-component fuel droplet heating and evaporation

KAUST Repository

Sazhin, Sergei S; Elwardany, Ahmed E; Heikal, Morgan R

2015-01-01

numbers n and temperatures is taken into account. The effects of temperature gradient and quasi-component diffusion inside droplets are taken into account. The analysis is based on the Effective Thermal Conductivity/Effective Diffusivity (ETC/ED) model

Transient heating and evaporation of moving mono-component liquid fuel droplets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yin, Chungen

2016-01-01

of which the flow and energy transport equations are numerically solved using the finite volume method. The computer code for the model is developed in a generic 3D framework and verified in different ways (e.g., by comparison against analytical solutions for simplified cases, and against experimental......This paper presents a complete description of a model for transient heating and evaporation of moving mono-component liquid fuel droplets. The model mainly consists of gas phase heat and mass transfer analysis, liquid phase analysis, and droplet dynamics analysis, which address the interaction...... between the moving droplets and free-stream flow, the flow and heat and mass transfer within the droplets, and the droplet dynamics and size, respectively. For the liquid phase analysis, the droplets are discretized into a number of control volumes along the radial, polar and azimuthal directions, on each...

A new stationary droplet evaporation model and its validation

OpenAIRE

Fang WANG; Jie YAO; Shaofeng YANG; Rui LIU; Jie JIN

2017-01-01

The liquid droplet evaporation character is important for not only combustion chamber design process but also high-accuracy spray combustion simulation. In this paper, the suspended droplets’ evaporation character was measured in a quiescent high-temperature environment by micro high-speed camera system. The gasoline and kerosene experimental results are consistent with the reference data. Methanol, common kerosene and aviation kerosene droplet evaporation characteristics, as well as their ev...

Energy exchange analysis in droplet dynamics via the Navier–Stokes–Cahn–Hilliard model

KAUST Repository

Espath, L. F. R.; Sarmiento, Adel; Vignal, Philippe; Varga, B. O. N.; Cortes, Adriano Mauricio; Dalcin, Lisandro; Calo, Victor M.

2016-01-01

We develop the energy budget equation of the coupled Navier-Stokes-Cahn-Hilliard (NSCH) system. We use the NSCH equations to model the dynamics of liquid droplets in a liquid continuum. Buoyancy effects are accounted for through the Boussinesq

Hydrodynamic clustering of droplets in turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Kunnen, Rudie; Yavuz, Altug; van Heijst, Gertjan; Clercx, Herman

2017-11-01

Small, inertial particles are known to cluster in turbulent flows: particles are centrifuged out of eddies and gather in the strain-dominated regions. This so-called preferential concentration is reflected in the radial distribution function (RDF; a quantitative measure of clustering). We study clustering of water droplets in a loudspeaker-driven turbulence chamber. We track the motion of droplets in 3D and calculate the RDF. At moderate scales (a few Kolmogorov lengths) we find the typical power-law scaling of preferential concentration in the RDF. However, at even smaller scales (a few droplet diameters), we encounter a hitherto unobserved additional clustering. We postulate that the additional clustering is due to hydrodynamic interactions, an effect which is typically disregarded in modeling. Using a perturbative expansion of inertial effects in a Stokes-flow description of two interacting spheres, we obtain an expression for the RDF which indeed includes the additional clustering. The additional clustering enhances the collision probability of droplets, which enhances their growth rate due to coalescence. The additional clustering is thus an essential effect in precipitation modeling.

Phenomenological modelling of CHF in annular flow in annuli using new models of droplet deposition and entrainment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Haibin, E-mail: hb-zhang@xjtu.edu.cn [School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049 (China); Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BY (United Kingdom); Hewitt, G.F., E-mail: g.hewitt@imperial.ac.uk [Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BY (United Kingdom)

2016-08-15

Highlights: • A phenomenological model to predict the CHF for flows in annuli is described. • New correlations of droplet entrainment and deposition are used. • The present model has good predictive capability in predicting CHF in annuli. - Abstract: In this paper, we present a phenomenological model to predict the CHF (critical heat flux) for upward annular flow in heated vertical annuli. In present model, a new set of correlations of droplet deposition and entrainment in annuli was used which were verified by comparison with the data of Moeck (1970) for developing liquid films in adiabatic annuli. In the results presented here, these new correlations have been used to predict 2249 independent data on critical heat flux (CHF) obtained both regarding internal heating of the rod as well as simultaneous heating of the rod and the outer tube in six heated vertical annuli under various mass flow rate, pressure and inlet quality and where the conditions were such that (as is most common) the CHF condition occurred in the annular flow regime. The comparisons between the calculated and measured CHFs showed that the present model has good predictive capability in predicting CHF.

Modelling for post-dryout heat transfer and droplet sizes at low pressure and low flow conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, H.Y.; No, H.C.

1996-01-01

A correlation describing the initial droplet size just after the CHF position at low mass flux is suggested through regression analysis. The history-dependent post-dryout model of Varone and Rohsenow replaced by the Webb-Chen model for wall-vapor heat transfer is used as a reference model in the analysis. In the post-dryout region at low pressure and low flow, it is found that the suggested one-dimensional mechanistic model is valid only in the churn-turbulent flow regime (j* g = 0.5 ∼ 4.5). It is also suggested that the droplet size generated from the churn-turbulent surface is dependent not only on the pressure but also on the vapor velocity. It turns out that the present model can predict the measured cladding and vapor temperatures within 20% and 15%, respectively

Droplet Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Marder, Michael Paolo

When a mixture of two materials, such as aluminum and tin, or alcohol and water, is cooled below a certain temperature, the two components begin to separate. If one component is dilute in the other, it may separate out in the form of small spheres, and these will begin to enlarge, depleting the supersaturated material around them. If the dynamics is sufficiently slow, thermodynamics gives one considerable information about how the droplets grow. Two types of experiment have explored this behavior and given puzzling results. Nucleation experiments measure the rate at which droplets initially appear from a seemingly homogeneous mixture. Near the critical point in binary liquids, experiments conducted in the 1960's and early 1970's showed that nucleation was vastly slower than theory seemed to predict. The resolution of this problem arises by considering in detail the dynamics of growing droplets and comparing it with what experiments actually measure. Here will be presented a more detailed comparison of theory and experiment than has before been completed, obtaining satisfactory agreement with no free parameters needed. A second type of experiment measures droplet size distributions after long times. In the late stage, droplets compete with each other for material, a few growing at the expense of others. A theory first proposed by Lifshitz and Slyozov claims that this distribution, properly scaled, should be universal, and independent of properties of materials. Yet experimental measurements consistently find distributions that are more broad and squat than the theory would predict. Satisfactory agreement with experiment can be achieved by considering two points. First, one must study the complete time development of droplet size distributions, to understand when the asymptotic regime obtains. Second, droplet size distributions are spread by correlations between droplets. If one finds a small droplet, it is small because large droplets nearby are competing with it

Interaction mechanisms between ceramic particles and atomized metallic droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yue; Lavernia, Enrique J.

1992-10-01

SiC particles occurred during droplet solidification. A comparison of the present results to those anticipated from well-established kinetic and thermodynamic models led to some interesting findings. First, the models proposed by Boiling and Cisse[24] and Chernov et al.[58] predict relative low critical interface velocities necessary for entrapment, inconsistent with the present experimental findings. Second, although the observed correlation between the critical front velocity and droplet diameter was generally consistent with that predicted by Stefanescu et a/.’s model,[27] the dependence on the size of SiC particles was not. In view of this discrepancy, three possible mechanisms were proposed to account for the experimental findings: nucleation of α-Al on SiC particles, entrapment of SiC particles between primary dendrite arms, and entrapment of SiC particles between secondary dendrite arms.

Motion behavior of water droplets driven by triboelectric nanogenerator

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Jinhui; Jiang, Tao; Shao, Jiajia; Ren, Zewei; Bai, Yu; Iwamoto, Mitsumasa; Chen, Xiangyu; Wang, Zhong Lin

2018-04-01

By integrating a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and a simple circuit board, the motion of water droplets can be controlled by the output of the TENG, which demonstrates a self-powered microfluidic system toward various practical applications in the fields of microfluidic system and soft robotics. This paper describes a method to construct a physical model for this self-powered system on the basis of electrostatic induction theory. The model can precisely simulate the detailed motion behavior of the droplet under driving of TENG, and it can also reveal the influences of surface hydrophobicity on the motion of the droplet, which can help us to better understand the key parameters that decide the performance of the system. The experimental observation of the dynamic performance of the droplet has also been done with a high speed camera system. A comparison between simulation results and real measurements confirms that the proposed model can predict the velocity and position of the water droplet driven by high voltage source as well as TENG. Hence, the proposed model in this work could serve as a guidance for optimizing the self-powered systems in future studies.

Theoretical study of liquid droplet dispersion in a venturi scrubber.

Science.gov (United States)

Fathikalajahi, J; Talaie, M R; Taheri, M

1995-03-01

The droplet concentration distribution in an atomizing scrubber was calculated based on droplet eddy diffusion by a three-dimensional dispersion model. This model is also capable of predicting the liquid flowing on the wall. The theoretical distribution of droplet concentration agrees well with experimental data given by Viswanathan et al. for droplet concentration distribution in a venturi-type scrubber. The results obtained by the model show a non-uniform distribution of drops over the cross section of the scrubber, as noted by the experimental data. While the maximum of droplet concentration distribution may depend on many operating parameters of the scrubber, the results of this study show that the highest uniformity of drop distribution will be reached when penetration length is approximately equal to one-fourth of the depth of the scrubber. The results of this study can be applied to evaluate the removal efficiency of a venturi scrubber.

Sectorial oscillation of acoustically levitated nanoparticle-coated droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Zang, Duyang; Chen, Zhen; Geng, Xingguo

2016-01-01

We have investigated the dynamics of a third mode sectorial oscillation of nanoparticle-coated droplets using acoustic levitation in combination with active modulation. The presence of nanoparticles at the droplet surface changes its oscillation amplitude and frequency. A model linking the interfacial rheology and oscillation dynamics has been proposed in which the compression modulus ɛ of the particle layer is introduced into the analysis. The ɛ obtained with the model is in good agreement with that obtained by the Wilhelmy plate approach, highlighting the important role of interfacial rheological properties in the sectorial oscillation of droplets.

Dynamic Wetting Behavior of Vibrated Droplets on a Micropillared Surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi-hai Jia

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The dynamical wetting behavior has been observed under vertical vibration of a water droplet placed on a micropillared surface. The wetting transition takes place under the different processes. In compression process, the droplet is transited from Cassie state to Wenzel state. The droplet undergoes a Wenzel-Cassie wetting transition in restoring process and the droplet bounces off from the surface in bouncing process. Meanwhile, the wetting and dewetting models during vibration are proposed. The wetting transition is confirmed by the model calculation. This study has potential to be used to control the wetting state.

Development of Two Way Coupled Euler – Euler Droplets Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vojtěch BĚTÁK

2010-12-01

Full Text Available A development of droplet solver for 3D complex geometry is described in this work. This solver is composed of solvers for turbulent flow field and droplets. This code is based on the finite volume method. An open source CFD code OpenFOAM was chosen for its first implementation and first results are shown.

Interface-Resolving Simulation of Collision Efficiency of Cloud Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lian-Ping; Peng, Cheng; Rosa, Bodgan; Onishi, Ryo

2017-11-01

Small-scale air turbulence could enhance the geometric collision rate of cloud droplets while large-scale air turbulence could augment the diffusional growth of cloud droplets. Air turbulence could also enhance the collision efficiency of cloud droplets. Accurate simulation of collision efficiency, however, requires capture of the multi-scale droplet-turbulence and droplet-droplet interactions, which has only been partially achieved in the recent past using the hybrid direct numerical simulation (HDNS) approach. % where Stokes disturbance flow is assumed. The HDNS approach has two major drawbacks: (1) the short-range droplet-droplet interaction is not treated rigorously; (2) the finite-Reynolds number correction to the collision efficiency is not included. In this talk, using two independent numerical methods, we will develop an interface-resolved simulation approach in which the disturbance flows are directly resolved numerically, combined with a rigorous lubrication correction model for near-field droplet-droplet interaction. This multi-scale approach is first used to study the effect of finite flow Reynolds numbers on the droplet collision efficiency in still air. Our simulation results show a significant finite-Re effect on collision efficiency when the droplets are of similar sizes. Preliminary results on integrating this approach in a turbulent flow laden with droplets will also be presented. This work is partially supported by the National Science Foundation.

Numerical study of impact and solidification of a droplet over a deposited frozen splat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghafouri-Azar, R.; Mostaghimi, J.; Chandra, S.

2002-01-01

The impact and solidification of a molten tin droplet on another solidified splat was studied for varying offset spacing using a three-dimensional model of droplet impact. It was found the final shapes of impinging droplets were sensitive to the offset distance. The model applies a fixed-grid Eulerian control volume method to solve the fluid dynamics and heat transfer in the droplet. The model employs a Volume of Fluid (VOF) algorithm to track free surface deformation. Predictions of droplet shapes during impact from the model agreed well with experimental photographs. (author)

[Micro-droplet characterization and its application for amino acid detection in droplet microfluidic system].

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Huiling; Dong, Libing; Tu, Ran; Du, Wenbin; Ji, Shiru; Wang, Qinhong

2014-01-01

Recently, the droplet microfluidic system attracts interests due to its high throughput and low cost to detect and screen. The picoliter micro-droplets from droplet microfluidics are uniform with respect to the size and shape, and could be used as monodispensed micro-reactors for encapsulation and detection of single cell or its metabolites. Therefore, it is indispensable to characterize micro-droplet and its application from droplet microfluidic system. We first constructed the custom-designed droplet microfluidic system for generating micro-droplets, and then used the micro-droplets to encapsulate important amino acids such as glutamic acid, phenylalanine, tryptophan or tyrosine to test the droplets' properties, including the stability, diffusivity and bio-compatibility for investigating its application for amino acid detection and sorting. The custom-designed droplet microfluidic system could generate the uniformed micro-droplets with a controllable size between 20 to 50 microm. The micro-droplets could be stable for more than 20 h without cross-contamination or fusion each other. The throughput of detection and sorting of the system is about 600 micro-droplets per minute. This study provides a high-throughput platform for the analysis and screening of amino acid-producing microorganisms.

Droplet Vaporization In A Levitating Acoustic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Ruff, G. A.; Liu, S.; Ciobanescu, I.

2003-01-01

Combustion experiments using arrays of droplets seek to provide a link between single droplet combustion phenomena and the behavior of complex spray combustion systems. Both single droplet and droplet array studies have been conducted in microgravity to better isolate the droplet interaction phenomena and eliminate or reduce the effects of buoyancy-induced convection. In most experiments involving droplet arrays, the droplets are supported on fibers to keep them stationary and close together before the combustion event. The presence of the fiber, however, disturbs the combustion process by introducing a source of heat transfer and asymmetry into the configuration. As the number of drops in a droplet array increases, supporting the drops on fibers becomes less practical because of the cumulative effect of the fibers on the combustion process. To eliminate the effect of the fiber, several researchers have conducted microgravity experiments using unsupported droplets. Jackson and Avedisian investigated single, unsupported drops while Nomura et al. studied droplet clouds formed by a condensation technique. The overall objective of this research is to extend the study of unsupported drops by investigating the combustion of well-characterized drop clusters in a microgravity environment. Direct experimental observations and measurements of the combustion of droplet clusters would provide unique experimental data for the verification and improvement of spray combustion models. In this work, the formation of drop clusters is precisely controlled using an acoustic levitation system so that dilute, as well as dense clusters can be created and stabilized before combustion in microgravity is begun. While the low-gravity test facility is being completed, tests have been conducted in 1-g to characterize the effect of the acoustic field on the vaporization of single and multiple droplets. This is important because in the combustion experiment, the droplets will be formed and

Micro-Particles Motion in an Evaporating Droplet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Jung Yeul; Yoo, Jung Yul; Kim, Young Won

2007-01-01

Nano-particles (on the order of 1 to 100 nm) contained within the droplet are moved by liquid flow and stacked at the contact line. The self-pinned contact line under the evaporating droplet is very interesting in the field of patterning and separation of particles and biocells. Models accounting for the nano-particles' flow and deposit patterns have been reported and verified by various experiments. Here, we report for the first time a phenomenon where micro-particles (on the order of 1 μm) in the colloid droplet flow to the center of droplet. There are three modes of fluid and particle flow in the evaporating droplet. In the first mode, a self-pinned contact line is maintained and the fluid and micro/nano-particles flow to the contact line. In the second mode, micro/nano-particles self-assemble at the near contact line, as reported by Jung and Kwak. In the final mode, only micro-particles are adverted to the center of the droplet due to movement of the contact line

Prediction of water droplet evaporation on zircaloy surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chi Young; In, Wang Kee

2014-01-01

In the present experimental study, the prediction of water droplet evaporation on a zircaloy surface was investigated using various initial droplet sizes. To the best of our knowledge, this may be the first valuable effort for understanding the details of water droplet evaporation on a zircaloy surface. The initial contact diameters of the water droplets tested ranged from 1.76 to 3.41 mm. The behavior (i.e., time-dependent droplet volume, contact angle, droplet height, and contact diameter) and mode-transition time of the water droplet evaporation were strongly influenced by the initial droplet size. Using the normalized contact angle (θ*) and contact diameter (d*), the transitions between evaporation modes were successfully expressed by a single curve, and their criteria were proposed. To predict the temporal droplet volume change and evaporation rate, the range of θ* > 0.25 and d* > 0.9, which mostly covered the whole evaporation period and the initial contact diameter remained almost constant during evaporation, was targeted. In this range, the previous contact angle functions for the evaporation model underpredicted the experimental data. A new contact angle function of a zircaloy surface was empirically proposed, which represented the present experimental data within a reasonable degree of accuracy. (author)

Fast Evaporation of Spreading Droplets of Colloidal Suspensions

Science.gov (United States)

Maki, Kara; Kumar, Satish

2011-11-01

When a coffee droplet dries on a countertop, a dark ring of coffee solute is left behind, a phenomenon often referred to as ``the coffee-ring effect.'' A closely related yet less-well-explored phenomenon is the formation of a layer of particles, or skin, at the surface of the droplet. In this work, we explore the behavior of a mathematical model that can qualitatively describe both phenomena. We consider a thin axisymmetric droplet of a colloidal suspension on a horizontal substrate undergoing spreading and rapid evaporation. The lubrication approximation is applied to simplify the mass and momentum conservation equations, and the colloidal particles are allowed to influence droplet rheology through their effect on the viscosity. By describing the transport of the colloidal particles with the full convection-diffusion equation, we are able to capture depthwise gradients in particle concentration and thus describe skin formation, a feature neglected in prior models of droplet evaporation. Whereas capillarity creates a flow that drives particles to the contact line to produce a coffee-ring, Marangoni flows can compete with this and promote skin formation. Increases in viscosity due to particle concentration slow down droplet dynamics, and can lead to a significant reduction in the spreading rate.

Droplet phase characteristics in liquid-dominated steam--water nozzle flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alger, T.W.

1978-01-01

An experimental study was undertaken to determine the droplet size distribution, the droplet spatial distribution and the mean droplet velocity in low-quality, steam-water flow from a rectangular cross-section, converging-diverging nozzle. A unique forward light scattering technique was developed for droplet size distribution measurements. Droplet spatial variations were investigated using light transmission measurements, and droplet velocities were measured with a laser-Doppler velocimeter (LDV) system incorporating a confocal Fabry-Perot interferometer. Nozzle throat radius of curvature and height were varied to investigte their effects on droplet size. Droplet size distribution measurements yielded a nominal Sauter mean droplet diameter of 1.7 μm and a nominal mass-mean droplet diameter of 2.4 μm. Neither the throat radius of curvature nor the throat height were found to have a significant effect upon the nozzle exit droplet size. The light transmission and LDV measurement results confirmed both the droplet size measurements and demonstrated high spatial uniformity of the droplet phase within the nozzle jet flow. One-dimensional numerical calculations indicated that both the dynamic breakup (thermal equilibrium based on a critical Weber number of 6.0) and the boiling breakup (thermal nonequilibrium based on average droplet temperature) models predicted droplet diameters on the order of 7.5 μm, which are approximately equal to the maximum stable droplet diameters within the nozzle jet flow

Droplet generating device for droplet-based μTAS using electro-conjugate fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Iijima, Y.; Takemura, K.; Edamura, K.

2017-05-01

Droplet-based μTAS, which carries out biochemical inspection and synthesis by handling samples as droplets on a single chip, has been attracting attentions in recent years. Although miniaturization of a chip is progressed, there are some problems in miniaturization of a whole system because of the necessity to connect syringe pumps to the chip. Thus, this study aims to realize a novel droplets generating device for droplet-based μTAS using electro-conjugate fluid (ECF). The ECF is a dielectric liquid generating a powerful flow when subjected to high DC voltage. The ECF flow generation allows us to realize a tiny hydraulic power source. Using the ECF flow, we can develop a droplet generating device for droplet-based μTAS by placing minute electrode pairs in flow channels. The device contains two channels filled with the ECF, which are dispersed and continuous phases meeting at a T-junction. When a sample in the dispersed phase is injected by the ECF flow to the continuous phase at T-junction, droplets are generated by shearing force between the two phases. We conducted droplet generating experiment and confirmed that droplets are successfully generated when the flow rate of the continuous phase is between 90 and 360 mm3 s-1, and the flow rate of the dispersed phase is between 10 and 40 mm3 s-1. We also confirmed that the droplet diameter and the droplet production rate are controllable by tuning the applied voltage to the electrode pairs.

Lossless droplet transfer of droplet-based microfluidic analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Ryan T [West Richland, WA; Tang, Keqi [Richland, WA; Page, Jason S [Kennewick, WA; Smith, Richard D [Richland, WA

2011-11-22

A transfer structure for droplet-based microfluidic analysis is characterized by a first conduit containing a first stream having at least one immiscible droplet of aqueous material and a second conduit containing a second stream comprising an aqueous fluid. The interface between the first conduit and the second conduit can define a plurality of apertures, wherein the apertures are sized to prevent exchange of the first and second streams between conduits while allowing lossless transfer of droplets from the first conduit to the second conduit through contact between the first and second streams.

Numerical simulation of a liquid droplet combustion experiment focusing on ignition process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaguchi, Akira; Tajima, Yuji

1999-11-01

SPHINCS (Sodium Fire phenomenology IN multi-Cell System) computer program has been developed for the safety analysis of sodium fire accident in a Fast Breeder Reactor. The program can deal with spray combustion and pool surface combustion. In this report the authors investigate a single droplet combustion phenomena focusing on an ignition process. The spray combustion model of SPHINCS is as follows. The liquid droplet-burning rate after ignition is based on the D-square law and a diffusion flame assumption. Before the droplet is ignited, the burning rate is evaluated by mass flux of oxidizer gases. Forced convection effect that skews the sphere shape of the flame zone surrounding a droplet is taken into consideration. It enhances the burning rate. The chemical equilibrium theory is used to determine the resultant fraction of reaction products of Na-O 2 -H 2 O system. It is noted that users have to give an ignition temperature based on empirical evidences. According to this model, it is obvious that a smaller liquid droplet with higher initial temperature tends to burn more easily. What is observed in a recent experiment is that the smallest liquid droplet (2mm diameter) did not ignited of itself and larger droplets (3.7mm and 4.5mm diameter) burnt at 300degC initial temperature. The current model for liquid droplet combustion cannot predict the experimental results. Therefore, in the present study, a surface reaction model has been developed to predict the ignition process. The model has been used to analyze a combustion experiment of a stationary liquid droplet. The authors investigate the validity of the physical modeling of the liquid droplet combustion and surface reaction. It has been found, as the results, that the model can predict the influence of the initial temperature on the temperature lower limit for spontaneous ignition and ignition delay time. Also investigated is the influence of the moisture on the ignition phenomena. From the present study, it has

Droplet sizes, dynamics and deposition in vertical annular flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopes, J.C.B.; Dukler, A.E.

1985-10-01

The role of droplets in vertical upwards annular flow is investigated, focusing on the droplet size distributions, dynamics, and deposition phenomena. An experimental program was performed based on a new laser optical technique developed in these laboratories and implemented here for annular flow. This permitted the simultaneous measurement of droplet size, axial and radial velocity. The dependence of droplet size distributions on flow conditions is analyzed. The Upper-Log Normal function proves to be a good model for the size distribution. The mechanism controlling the maximum stable drop size was found to result from the interaction of the pressure fluctuations of the turbulent flow of the gas core with the droplet. The average axial droplet velocity showed a weak dependence on gas rates. This can be explained once the droplet size distribution and droplet size-velocity relationship are analyzed simultaneously. The surprising result from the droplet conditional analysis is that larger droplet travel faster than smaller ones. This dependence cannot be explained if the drag curves used do not take into account the high levels of turbulence present in the gas core in annular flow. If these are considered, then interesting new situations of multiplicity and stability of droplet terminal velocities are encountered. Also, the observed size-velocity relationship can be explained. A droplet deposition is formulated based on the particle inertia control. This permitted the calculation of rates of drop deposition directly from the droplet size and velocities data

Droplet dispersion angle measurements on a Pease-Antony Venturi scrubber

OpenAIRE

Puentes,N. A. G.; Guerra,V. G.; Coury,J. R.; Gonçalves,J. A. S.

2012-01-01

A Pease-Anthony Venturi scrubber is a gas cleaning device that uses liquid, injected in the equipment as jets, to remove contaminants from the gas. The liquid jet is atomized into droplets, which are dispersed throughout the equipment due to the turbulence. The performance of the scrubber is affected by the spatial distribution of the droplets. Although CFD models have been used to predict the droplet dispersion, these models are expensive. Alternatively, the concept of "jet spreading angle" ...

Numerical simulation of the drying of inkjet-printed droplets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Siregar, D.P.; Kuerten, J.G.M.; Geld, van der C.W.M.

2013-01-01

In this paper we study the behavior of an inkjet-printed droplet of a solute dissolved in a solvent on a solid horizontal surface by numerical simulation. An extended model for drying of a droplet and the final distribution of the solute on an impermeable substrate is proposed. The model extends the

Printed droplet microfluidics for on demand dispensing of picoliter droplets and cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Russell H; Tang, Shi-Yang; Siltanen, Christian A; Shahi, Payam; Zhang, Jesse Q; Poust, Sean; Gartner, Zev J; Abate, Adam R

2017-08-15

Although the elementary unit of biology is the cell, high-throughput methods for the microscale manipulation of cells and reagents are limited. The existing options either are slow, lack single-cell specificity, or use fluid volumes out of scale with those of cells. Here we present printed droplet microfluidics, a technology to dispense picoliter droplets and cells with deterministic control. The core technology is a fluorescence-activated droplet sorter coupled to a specialized substrate that together act as a picoliter droplet and single-cell printer, enabling high-throughput generation of intricate arrays of droplets, cells, and microparticles. Printed droplet microfluidics provides a programmable and robust technology to construct arrays of defined cell and reagent combinations and to integrate multiple measurement modalities together in a single assay.

Electrostatic field and charge distribution in small charged dielectric droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Storozhev, V. B.

2004-08-01

The charge distribution in small dielectric droplets is calculated on the basis of continuum medium approximation. There are considered charged liquid spherical droplets of methanol in the range of nanometer sizes. The problem is solved by the following way. We find the free energy of some ion in dielectric droplet, which is a function of distribution of other ions in the droplet. The probability of location of the ion in some element of volume in the droplet is a function of its free energy in this element of volume. The same approach can be applied to other ions in the droplet. The obtained charge distribution differs considerably from the surface distribution. The curve of the charge distribution in the droplet as a function of radius has maximum near the surface. Relative concentration of charges in the vicinity of the center of the droplet does not equal to zero, and it is the higher, the less is the total charge of the droplet. According to the estimates the model is applicable if the droplet radius is larger than 10 nm.

Electrostatic field and charge distribution in small charged dielectric droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storozhev, V.B.

2004-01-01

The charge distribution in small dielectric droplets is calculated on the basis of continuum medium approximation. There are considered charged liquid spherical droplets of methanol in the range of nanometer sizes. The problem is solved by the following way. We find the free energy of some ion in dielectric droplet, which is a function of distribution of other ions in the droplet. The probability of location of the ion in some element of volume in the droplet is a function of its free energy in this element of volume. The same approach can be applied to other ions in the droplet. The obtained charge distribution differs considerably from the surface distribution. The curve of the charge distribution in the droplet as a function of radius has maximum near the surface. Relative concentration of charges in the vicinity of the center of the droplet does not equal to zero, and it is the higher, the less is the total charge of the droplet. According to the estimates the model is applicable if the droplet radius is larger than 10 nm

An interfacial mechanism for cloud droplet formation on organic aerosols.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruehl, Christopher R; Davies, James F; Wilson, Kevin R

2016-03-25

Accurate predictions of aerosol/cloud interactions require simple, physically accurate parameterizations of the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of aerosols. Current models assume that organic aerosol species contribute to CCN activity by lowering water activity. We measured droplet diameters at the point of CCN activation for particles composed of dicarboxylic acids or secondary organic aerosol and ammonium sulfate. Droplet activation diameters were 40 to 60% larger than predicted if the organic was assumed to be dissolved within the bulk droplet, suggesting that a new mechanism is needed to explain cloud droplet formation. A compressed film model explains how surface tension depression by interfacial organic molecules can alter the relationship between water vapor supersaturation and droplet size (i.e., the Köhler curve), leading to the larger diameters observed at activation. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Application of Compressible Volume of Fluid Model in Simulating the Impact and Solidification of Hollow Spherical ZrO2 Droplet on a Surface

Science.gov (United States)

Safaei, Hadi; Emami, Mohsen Davazdah; Jazi, Hamidreza Salimi; Mostaghimi, Javad

2017-12-01

Applications of hollow spherical particles in thermal spraying process have been developed in recent years, accompanied by attempts in the form of experimental and numerical studies to better understand the process of impact of a hollow droplet on a surface. During such process, volume and density of the trapped gas inside droplet change. The numerical models should be able to simulate such changes and their consequent effects. The aim of this study is to numerically simulate the impact of a hollow ZrO2 droplet on a flat surface using the volume of fluid technique for compressible flows. An open-source, finite-volume-based CFD code was used to perform the simulations, where appropriate subprograms were added to handle the studied cases. Simulation results were compared with the available experimental data. Results showed that at high impact velocities ( U 0 > 100 m/s), the compression of trapped gas inside droplet played a significant role in the impact dynamics. In such velocities, the droplet splashed explosively. Compressibility effects result in a more porous splat, compared to the corresponding incompressible model. Moreover, the compressible model predicted a higher spread factor than the incompressible model, due to planetary structure of the splat.

Evaluation of droplet size distributions using univariate and multivariate approaches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gauno, M.H.; Larsen, C.C.; Vilhelmsen, T.

2013-01-01

of the distribution. The current study was aiming to compare univariate and multivariate approach in evaluating droplet size distributions. As a model system, the atomization of a coating solution from a two-fluid nozzle was investigated. The effect of three process parameters (concentration of ethyl cellulose...... in ethanol, atomizing air pressure, and flow rate of coating solution) on the droplet size and droplet size distribution using a full mixed factorial design was used. The droplet size produced by a two-fluid nozzle was measured by laser diffraction and reported as volume based size distribution....... Investigation of loading and score plots from principal component analysis (PCA) revealed additional information on the droplet size distributions and it was possible to identify univariate statistics (volume median droplet size), which were similar, however, originating from varying droplet size distributions...

Equilibrium Droplets on Deformable Substrates: Equilibrium Conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Koursari, Nektaria; Ahmed, Gulraiz; Starov, Victor M

2018-05-15

Equilibrium conditions of droplets on deformable substrates are investigated, and it is proven using Jacobi's sufficient condition that the obtained solutions really provide equilibrium profiles of both the droplet and the deformed support. At the equilibrium, the excess free energy of the system should have a minimum value, which means that both necessary and sufficient conditions of the minimum should be fulfilled. Only in this case, the obtained profiles provide the minimum of the excess free energy. The necessary condition of the equilibrium means that the first variation of the excess free energy should vanish, and the second variation should be positive. Unfortunately, the mentioned two conditions are not the proof that the obtained profiles correspond to the minimum of the excess free energy and they could not be. It is necessary to check whether the sufficient condition of the equilibrium (Jacobi's condition) is satisfied. To the best of our knowledge Jacobi's condition has never been verified for any already published equilibrium profiles of both the droplet and the deformable substrate. A simple model of the equilibrium droplet on the deformable substrate is considered, and it is shown that the deduced profiles of the equilibrium droplet and deformable substrate satisfy the Jacobi's condition, that is, really provide the minimum to the excess free energy of the system. To simplify calculations, a simplified linear disjoining/conjoining pressure isotherm is adopted for the calculations. It is shown that both necessary and sufficient conditions for equilibrium are satisfied. For the first time, validity of the Jacobi's condition is verified. The latter proves that the developed model really provides (i) the minimum of the excess free energy of the system droplet/deformable substrate and (ii) equilibrium profiles of both the droplet and the deformable substrate.

Giant resonance of electrical multipole from droplet model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tauhata, L.

1984-01-01

The formalism of the electrical multipole resonance developed from the Droplet nuclear model is presented. It combines the approaches of Goldhaber-Teller (GT) and Steinwedel-Jensen (SJ) and it shows the relative contribution of Coulomb, superficial and neutron excess energies. It also discusses the calculation of half-width. The model evaluates correctly the resonance energies as a function of nuclear mass and allows, through the Mixture Index, the prediction of the complementary participation of modes SJ and GT in the giant nuclear resonance. Values of the mixture index, for each multipolarity, reproduce well the form factors obtained from experiments of charged particle inelastic scattering. The formalism presented for the calculation of the half-width gives a macroscopic description of the friction mechanism. The establishment of the macroscopic structure of the Dissipation Function is used as a reference in the comparison of microscopic calculations. (Author) [pt

Droplet Traffic at a Simple Junction at Low Capillary Numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Engl, Wilfried; Roche, Matthieu; Colin, Annie; Panizza, Pascal; Ajdari, Armand

2005-11-01

We report that, when a train of confined droplets flowing through a channel reaches a junction, the droplets either are alternately distributed between the different outlets or all collect into the shortest one. We argue that this behavior is due to the hydrodynamic feedback of droplets in the different outlets on the selection process occurring at the junction. A “mean field” model, yielding semiquantitative results, offers a first guide to predict droplet traffic in branched networks.

Contribution of nitrogen oxides to the acidification of rain (part 2). Evaluation of nitrate production mechanisms in a droplet by fog chemical model simulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, A. (and others) (CRIEPI, Komae-shi (Japan). Komae Research Lab.)

1994-01-01

The fog chemical model developed in the previous work was applied to various types of fog. Simulated results of Cl[sup -], NO[sub 3][sup -] and SO[sub 4][sup 2-] concentrations in fogwater by the fog chemical model almost agreed with observed values in case the fog total ionic concentration was above 1000 [mu]eg/1. The chemical compositions of ideal water droplets formed under various atmospheric conditions based on observation data were predicted by the fog chemical model. About 80% of HNO[sub 3] and HCl in the atmosphere were scavenged by the droplets in all the cases. SO[sub 2] scavenging ratio by a droplet was dependent mainly on the pH of the droplet. When the droplet pH was decreased by dissolution of HNO[sub 3] and HCl, aqueous phase sulfate production was inhibited by decrease of SO[sub 2] solubility in the droplet. Contribution of HNO[sub 3] in the atmosphere was larger than that of SO[sub 2] to the acidification of highly acidic fogwater observed in Kanto district. In addition, HCl was considered to play an important role, as well as HNO[sub 3], in the acidification of fogwater.

Multi-scale simulations of droplets in generic time-dependent flows

Science.gov (United States)

Milan, Felix; Biferale, Luca; Sbragaglia, Mauro; Toschi, Federico

2017-11-01

We study the deformation and dynamics of droplets in time-dependent flows using a diffuse interface model for two immiscible fluids. The numerical simulations are at first benchmarked against analytical results of steady droplet deformation, and further extended to the more interesting case of time-dependent flows. The results of these time-dependent numerical simulations are compared against analytical models available in the literature, which assume the droplet shape to be an ellipsoid at all times, with time-dependent major and minor axis. In particular we investigate the time-dependent deformation of a confined droplet in an oscillating Couette flow for the entire capillary range until droplet break-up. In this way these multi component simulations prove to be a useful tool to establish from ``first principles'' the dynamics of droplets in complex flows involving multiple scales. European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 642069. & European Research Council under the European Community's Seventh Framework Program, ERC Grant Agreement No 339032.

Sensitive and predictable separation of microfluidic droplets by size using in-line passive filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Ruihua; Ung, W Lloyd; Heyman, John A; Weitz, David A

2017-01-01

Active manipulation of droplets is crucial in droplet microfluidics. However, droplet polydispersity decreases the accuracy of active manipulation. We develop a microfluidic "droplet filter" that accurately separates droplets by size. The droplet filter has a sharp size cutoff and is capable of distinguishing droplets differing in volume by 20%. A simple model explains the behavior of the droplets as they pass through the filter. We show application of the filter in improving dielectric sorting efficiency.

Performance of a chevron steam dryer for removal of lead-bismuth droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dostal, Vaclav; Yusibani, Elin; Takahashi, Minoru

2005-01-01

An analysis was performed of a chevron type steam dryer with a trap for the removal of lead-bismuth droplets from steam leaving the Water Boiling Direct Contact Lead or Lead-Bismuth Cooled Reactor. The Lagrangian method was used and is described here. The steam flow field was developed using a CFD code FrontFlow/Red. The simulated dryer performance results were compared to a simple theoretical model from literature. The simulation shown that droplets down to 6 microns in diameter can be completely removed by the steam dryer, which is better than reported earlier in literature. A discrepancy with the theoretical model was found for larger droplets (5 to 10 microns in diameter), where the theoretical model predicted lower removal efficiency. The discrepancy is attributed to be installation of the trap, which is not included in this theoretical model. Some droplets of 1 and 0.5 microns were removed in the dryer as well, which indicates the potential for the fine droplet removal if the trap design is carefully optimized. The investigation of the effect of initial droplet velocity shown that the removal efficiency increases with the increase of the positive velocity components. For larger droplets the effect of initial velocity was found to be minuscule. (author)

Thermocapillary droplet actuation on structured solid surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Karapetsas, George; Chamakos, Nikolaos T.; Papathanasiou, Athanasios G.

2017-11-01

The present work investigates, through 2D and 3D finite element simulations, the thermocapillary-driven flow inside a droplet which resides on a non-uniformly heated patterned surface. We employ a recently proposed sharp-interface scheme capable of efficiently modelling the flow over complicate surfaces and consider a wide range of substrate wettabilities, i.e. from hydrophilic to super-hydrophobic surfaces. Our simulations indicate that due to the presence of the solid structures and the induced effect of contact angle hysteresis, inherently predicted by our model, a critical thermal gradient arises beyond which droplet migration is possible, in line with previous experimental observations. The migration velocity as well as the direction of motion depends on the combined action of the net mechanical force along the contact line and the thermocapillary induced flow at the liquid-air interface. We also show that through a proper control and design of the substrate wettability, the contact angle hysteresis and the induced flow field it is possible to manipulate the droplet dynamics, e.g. controlling its motion along a predefined track or entrapping by a wetting defect a droplet based on its size as well as providing appropriate conditions for enhanced mixing inside the droplet. Funding from the European Research Council under the Europeans Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement no. [240710] is acknowledged.

Droplet based microfluidics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seemann, Ralf; Brinkmann, Martin; Pfohl, Thomas; Herminghaus, Stephan

2012-01-01

Droplet based microfluidics is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field of research combining soft matter physics, biochemistry and microsystems engineering. Its applications range from fast analytical systems or the synthesis of advanced materials to protein crystallization and biological assays for living cells. Precise control of droplet volumes and reliable manipulation of individual droplets such as coalescence, mixing of their contents, and sorting in combination with fast analysis tools allow us to perform chemical reactions inside the droplets under defined conditions. In this paper, we will review available drop generation and manipulation techniques. The main focus of this review is not to be comprehensive and explain all techniques in great detail but to identify and shed light on similarities and underlying physical principles. Since geometry and wetting properties of the microfluidic channels are crucial factors for droplet generation, we also briefly describe typical device fabrication methods in droplet based microfluidics. Examples of applications and reaction schemes which rely on the discussed manipulation techniques are also presented, such as the fabrication of special materials and biophysical experiments.

Models of lipid droplets growth and fission in adipocyte cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boschi, Federico, E-mail: federico.boschi@univr.it [Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona (Italy); Rizzatti, Vanni; Zamboni, Mauro [Department of Medicine, Geriatric Section, University of Verona, Piazzale Stefani 1, 37126 Verona (Italy); Sbarbati, Andrea [Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 8, 37134 Verona (Italy)

2015-08-15

catabolism (fission and the decrease through neutral lipid exit from pre-existing droplets) to reproduce their size reduction observed in lipolytic conditions. The results suggest that each single process, considered alone, can not be considered the only responsible for the size variation observed, but more than one of them, playing together, can quite well reproduce the experimental data. - Highlights: The growth and fission of the lipid droplets (LDs) were computationally simulated. To write and test the growth and fission models more than 110,000 LDs were measured. The usual processes considered alone, are not able to justify the experimental data. Some processes, playing together, can explain the growth and fission.

Models of lipid droplets growth and fission in adipocyte cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boschi, Federico; Rizzatti, Vanni; Zamboni, Mauro; Sbarbati, Andrea

2015-01-01

catabolism (fission and the decrease through neutral lipid exit from pre-existing droplets) to reproduce their size reduction observed in lipolytic conditions. The results suggest that each single process, considered alone, can not be considered the only responsible for the size variation observed, but more than one of them, playing together, can quite well reproduce the experimental data. - Highlights: The growth and fission of the lipid droplets (LDs) were computationally simulated. To write and test the growth and fission models more than 110,000 LDs were measured. The usual processes considered alone, are not able to justify the experimental data. Some processes, playing together, can explain the growth and fission

Modelling of heating and evaporation of n-Heptane droplets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yin, Chungen

2015-01-01

This study is a part of a project that is targeted to optimize the pyrolysis process of biomass pellets for bio-oil production and to develop new technology to upgrade the bio-oil for use in transportation. Among others, study of pyrolysis of the biomass pellets and evaporation of the pyrolysis bio...... and azimuthal directions, respectively, on each of which the flow, heat and mass transfer are numerically solved using the finite volume method. During the transient heating and evaporation process, the interaction between the moving droplets and free-stream flow are properly considered. Droplet dynamics...

Flashing liquid jets and two-phase droplet dispersion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cleary, Vincent; Bowen, Phil; Witlox, Henk

2007-01-01

The large-scale release of a liquid contained at upstream conditions above its local atmospheric boiling point is a scenario often given consideration in process industry risk analysis. Current-hazard quantification software often employs simplistic equilibrium two-phase approaches. Scaled water experiments have been carried out measuring droplet velocity and droplet size distributions for a range of exit orifice aspect ratios (L/d) and conditions representing low to high superheat. 2D Phase-Doppler Anemometry has been utilised to characterise droplet kinematics and spray quality. Droplet size correlations have been developed for non-flashing, the transition between non-flashing and flashing, and fully flashing jets. Using high-speed shadowography, transition between regimes is defined in terms of criteria identified in the external flow structure. An overview companion paper provides a wider overview of the problem and reports implementation of these correlations into consequence models and subsequent validation. The fluid utilised throughout is water, hence droplet correlations are developed in non-dimensional form to allow extrapolation to other fluids through similarity scaling, although verification of model performance for other fluids is required in future studies. Data is reduced via non-dimensionalisation in terms of the Weber number and Jakob number, essentially representing the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics of the system, respectively. A droplet-size distribution correlation has also been developed, conveniently presented as a volume undersize distribution based on the Rosin-Rammler distribution. Separate correlations are provided for sub-cooled mechanical break-up and fully flashing jets. This form of correlation facilitates rapid estimates of likely mass rainout quantities, as well as full distribution information for more rigorous two-phase thermodynamic modelling in the future

Improvement of a wall thinning rate model for liquid droplet impingement erosion. Implementation of liquid film thickness model with consideration of film behavior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morita, Ryo

2014-01-01

Liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDI) is defined as an erosion phenomenon caused by high-speed droplet attack in a steam flow. Pipe wall thinning by LDI is sometimes observed in a steam piping system of a power plant. As LDI usually occurs very locally and is difficult to detect, predicting LDI location is required for safe operation of power plant systems. Therefore, we have involved in the research program to develop prediction tools that will be used easily in actual power plants. Our previous researches developed a thinning rate evaluation model due to LDI (LDI model) and the evaluation system of the thinning rate and the thinning shape within a practically acceptable time (LDI evaluation system). Though the LDI model can include a cushioning effect of liquid film which is generated on the material surface by droplet impingement as an empirical equation with fluid parameter, the liquid film thickness is not clarified due to complex flow condition. In this study, to improve the LDI model and the LDI evaluation system, an analytical model of the liquid film thickness was proposed with consideration of the liquid film flow behavior on the material surface. The mass balance of the liquid film was considered, and the results of CFD calculations and existing researches were applied to obtain the liquid film thickness in this model. As a result of the LDI evaluation of the new LDI model with liquid film model, improvement of the LDI model was achieved. (author)

Simulating oil droplet dispersal from the Deepwater Horizon spill with a Lagrangian approach

Science.gov (United States)

North, Elizabeth W.; Schlag, Zachary; Adams, E. Eric; Sherwood, Christopher R.; He, Ruoying; Hyun, Hoon; Socolofsky, Scott A.

2011-01-01

An analytical multiphase plume model, combined with time-varying flow and hydrographic fields generated by the 3-D South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico model (SABGOM) hydrodynamic model, were used as input to a Lagrangian transport model (LTRANS), to simulate transport of oil droplets dispersed at depth from the recent Deepwater Horizon MC 252 oil spill. The plume model predicts a stratification-dominated near field, in which small oil droplets detrain from the central plume containing faster rising large oil droplets and gas bubbles and become trapped by density stratification. Simulated intrusion (trap) heights of ∼ 310–370 m agree well with the midrange of conductivity-temperature-depth observations, though the simulated variation in trap height was lower than observed, presumably in part due to unresolved variability in source composition (percentage oil versus gas) and location (multiple leaks during first half of spill). Simulated droplet trajectories by the SABGOM-LTRANS modeling system showed that droplets with diameters between 10 and 50 μm formed a distinct subsurface plume, which was transported horizontally and remained in the subsurface for >1 month. In contrast, droplets with diameters ≥90 μm rose rapidly to the surface. Simulated trajectories of droplets ≤50 μm in diameter were found to be consistent with field observations of a southwest-tending subsurface plume in late June 2010 reported by Camilli et al. [2010]. Model results suggest that the subsurface plume looped around to the east, with potential subsurface oil transport to the northeast and southeast. Ongoing work is focusing on adding degradation processes to the model to constrain droplet dispersal.

A kinetic model of droplet heating and evaporation: Effects of inelastic collisions and a non-unity evaporation coefficient

KAUST Repository

Sazhin, Sergei S.

2013-01-01

The previously developed kinetic model for droplet heating and evaporation into a high pressure air is generalised to take into account the combined effects of inelastic collisions between molecules in the kinetic region, a non-unity evaporation coefficient and temperature gradient inside droplets. It is pointed out that for the parameters typical for Diesel engine-like conditions, the heat flux in the kinetic region is a linear function of the vapour temperature at the outer boundary of this region, but practically does not depend on vapour density at this boundary for all models, including and not including the effects of inelastic collisions, and including and not including the effects of a non-unity evaporation coefficient. For any given temperature at the outer boundary of the kinetic region the values of the heat flux are shown to decrease with increasing numbers of internal degrees of freedom of the molecules. The rate of this decrease is strong for small numbers of these degrees of freedom but negligible when the number of these degrees exceeds 20. This allows us to restrict the analysis to the first 20 arbitrarily chosen degrees of freedom of n-dodecane molecules when considering the effects of inelastic collisions. The mass flux at this boundary decreases almost linearly with increasing vapour density at the same location for all above-mentioned models. For any given vapour density at the outer boundary of the kinetic region the values of the mass flux are smaller for the model, taking into account the contribution of internal degrees of freedom, than for the model ignoring these degrees of freedom. It is shown that the effects of inelastic collisions lead to stronger increase in the predicted droplet evaporation time in Diesel engine-like conditions relative to the hydrodynamic model, compared with the similar increase predicted by the kinetic model considering only elastic collisions. The effects of a non-unity evaporation coefficient are shown to be

Mathematical model for prediction of droplet sizes and distribution associated with impact of liquid-containing projectile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shelke, Ashish V.; Gera, B.; Maheshwari, N.K.; Singh, R.K.

2018-01-01

After the events of 9/11, the impact of fast flying commercial aircraft is considered as major hazard threatening the Nuclear Power Plant's (NPP) safety. The study of fuel spillage phenomenon and fireball formation is important to understand fire hazards due to burning of dispersed aviation fuel. The detailed analysis of fuel dispersion is very difficult to deliberate because both, large NPP structures and the large size of commercial aircrafts. Sandia National Laboratories, USA conducted impact tests using cylindrical projectiles filled with water to measure the associated parameters. Due to combustion properties and volatile nature of hydrocarbon fuels, the obtained parameters from impact studies using water are incomplete in fire analysis of flammable droplet clouds. A mathematical model is developed for prediction of droplet sizes and distribution associated with the impact of a liquid-containing projectile. The model can predict the transient behavior of droplet cloud. It is validated with experimental data available in literature. In the present study, the analysis has been performed using water and kerosene. The data obtained can be utilized as boundary and initial condition for CFD analysis. This information is useful for fire hazard analysis of aircraft impacts on NPP structures.

Fast electric control of the droplet size in a microfluidic T-junction droplet generator

Science.gov (United States)

Shojaeian, Mostafa; Hardt, Steffen

2018-05-01

The effect of DC electric fields on the generation of droplets of water and xanthan gum solutions in sunflower oil at a microfluidic T-junction is experimentally studied. The electric field leads to a significant reduction of the droplet diameter, by about a factor of 2 in the case of water droplets. The droplet size can be tuned by varying the electric field strength, an effect that can be employed to produce a stream of droplets with a tailor-made size sequence. Compared to the case of purely hydrodynamic droplet production without electric fields, the electric control has about the same effect on the droplet size if the electric stress at the liquid/liquid interface is the same as the hydrodynamic stress.

Can a droplet break up under flow without elongating? Fragmentation of smectic monodisperse droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Courbin, L.; Engl, W.; Panizza, P.

2004-06-01

We study the fragmentation under shear flow of smectic monodisperse droplets at high volume fraction. Using small angle light scattering and optical microscopy, we reveal the existence of a break-up mechanism for which the droplets burst into daughter droplets of the same size. Surprisingly, this fragmentation process, which is strain controlled and occurs homogeneously in the cell, does not require any transient elongation of the droplets. Systematic experiments as a function of the initial droplet size and the applied shear rate show that the rupture is triggered by an instability of the inner droplet structure.

Dual-nozzle microfluidic droplet generator

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Ji Wook; Lee, Jong Min; Kim, Tae Hyun; Ha, Jang Ho; Ahrberg, Christian D.; Chung, Bong Geun

2018-05-01

The droplet-generating microfluidics has become an important technique for a variety of applications ranging from single cell analysis to nanoparticle synthesis. Although there are a large number of methods for generating and experimenting with droplets on microfluidic devices, the dispensing of droplets from these microfluidic devices is a challenge due to aggregation and merging of droplets at the interface of microfluidic devices. Here, we present a microfluidic dual-nozzle device for the generation and dispensing of uniform-sized droplets. The first nozzle of the microfluidic device is used for the generation of the droplets, while the second nozzle can accelerate the droplets and increase the spacing between them, allowing for facile dispensing of droplets. Computational fluid dynamic simulations were conducted to optimize the design parameters of the microfluidic device.

CFD Model of Water Droplet Transport for ISS Hygiene Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Chang H.

2011-01-01

The goal of the study is to assess the impacts of free water propagation in the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC). Free water can be generated inside the WHC in small quantities due to crew hygiene activity. To mitigate potential impact of free water in Node 3 cabin the WHC doorway is enclosed by a waterproof bump-out, Kabin, with openings at the top and bottom. At the overhead side of the rack, there is a screen that prevents large drops of water from exiting. However, as the avionics fan in the WHC causes airflow toward the deck side of the rack, small quantities of free water may exit at the bottom of the Kabin. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of Node 3 cabin airflow made possible to identify the paths of water transport. The Node 3 airflow was computed for several ventilation scenarios. To simulate the droplet transport the Lagrangian discrete phase approach was used. Various initial droplet distributions were considered in the study. The droplet diameter was varied in the range of 2-20 mm. The results of the computations showed that most of the drops fall to the rack surface not far from the WHC curtain. The probability of the droplet transport to the adjacent rack surface with electronic equipment was predicted.

Optical calorimetry in microfluidic droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Chamoun, Jacob; Pattekar, Ashish; Afshinmanesh, Farzaneh; Martini, Joerg; Recht, Michael I

2018-05-29

A novel microfluidic calorimeter that measures the enthalpy change of reactions occurring in 100 μm diameter aqueous droplets in fluoropolymer oil has been developed. The aqueous reactants flow into a microfluidic droplet generation chip in separate fluidic channels, limiting contact between the streams until immediately before they form the droplet. The diffusion-driven mixing of reactants is predominantly restricted to within the droplet. The temperature change in droplets due to the heat of reaction is measured optically by recording the reflectance spectra of encapsulated thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC) that are added to one of the reactant streams. As the droplets travel through the channel, the spectral characteristics of the TLC represent the internal temperature, allowing optical measurement with a precision of ≈6 mK. The microfluidic chip and all fluids are temperature controlled, and the reaction heat within droplets raises their temperature until thermal diffusion dissipates the heat into the surrounding oil and chip walls. Position resolved optical temperature measurement of the droplets allows calculation of the heat of reaction by analyzing the droplet temperature profile over time. Channel dimensions, droplet generation rate, droplet size, reactant stream flows and oil flow rate are carefully balanced to provide rapid diffusional mixing of reactants compared to thermal diffusion, while avoiding thermal "quenching" due to contact between the droplets and the chip walls. Compared to conventional microcalorimetry, which has been used in this work to provide reference measurements, this new continuous flow droplet calorimeter has the potential to perform titrations ≈1000-fold faster while using ≈400-fold less reactants per titration.

DIMM-SC: a Dirichlet mixture model for clustering droplet-based single cell transcriptomic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Zhe; Wang, Ting; Deng, Ke; Wang, Xiao-Feng; Lafyatis, Robert; Ding, Ying; Hu, Ming; Chen, Wei

2018-01-01

Single cell transcriptome sequencing (scRNA-Seq) has become a revolutionary tool to study cellular and molecular processes at single cell resolution. Among existing technologies, the recently developed droplet-based platform enables efficient parallel processing of thousands of single cells with direct counting of transcript copies using Unique Molecular Identifier (UMI). Despite the technology advances, statistical methods and computational tools are still lacking for analyzing droplet-based scRNA-Seq data. Particularly, model-based approaches for clustering large-scale single cell transcriptomic data are still under-explored. We developed DIMM-SC, a Dirichlet Mixture Model for clustering droplet-based Single Cell transcriptomic data. This approach explicitly models UMI count data from scRNA-Seq experiments and characterizes variations across different cell clusters via a Dirichlet mixture prior. We performed comprehensive simulations to evaluate DIMM-SC and compared it with existing clustering methods such as K-means, CellTree and Seurat. In addition, we analyzed public scRNA-Seq datasets with known cluster labels and in-house scRNA-Seq datasets from a study of systemic sclerosis with prior biological knowledge to benchmark and validate DIMM-SC. Both simulation studies and real data applications demonstrated that overall, DIMM-SC achieves substantially improved clustering accuracy and much lower clustering variability compared to other existing clustering methods. More importantly, as a model-based approach, DIMM-SC is able to quantify the clustering uncertainty for each single cell, facilitating rigorous statistical inference and biological interpretations, which are typically unavailable from existing clustering methods. DIMM-SC has been implemented in a user-friendly R package with a detailed tutorial available on www.pitt.edu/∼wec47/singlecell.html. wei.chen@chp.edu or hum@ccf.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author

Insights into Evaporative Droplet Dynamics in the High-Wind Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, T.; Richter, D. H.

2017-12-01

Sea-spray droplets ejected into the air-sea boundary layer take part in a series of complex transport processes. To model the air-sea exchange of heat and moisture under high-wind conditions, it is important yet challenging to understand influences of evaporative droplets in the atmospheric boundary layer. We implement a high-resolution Eulerian-Lagrangian algorithm with droplets laden in a turbulent open-channel flow to reveal the dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of evaporating sea spray. Our past numerical simulations demonstrated an overall weak modification to the total heat flux by evaporative droplets. This is due to redistributed sensible and latent heat fluxes from relatively small droplets that respond rapidly to the ambient environment or the limited residence time of larger droplets. However, droplets with a slower thermodynamic response to the environment indicate a potential to enhance the total heat flux, but this is dependent on concentration and suspension time. In the current study, we focus on correlations between the residence time and thermodynamic statistics of droplets in order to better understand how best to parameterize in large-scale models. In addition, we focus in detail on the different scales of turbulence to further characterize the range of influence that evaporating droplets have on the surrounding fluid.

Droplet motion in microfluidic networks: Hydrodynamic interactions and pressure-drop measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Sessoms, D. A.; Belloul, M.; Engl, W.; Roche, M.; Courbin, L.; Panizza, P.

2009-07-01

We present experimental, numerical, and theoretical studies of droplet flows in hydrodynamic networks. Using both millifluidic and microfluidic devices, we study the partitioning of monodisperse droplets in an asymmetric loop. In both cases, we show that droplet traffic results from the hydrodynamic feedback due to the presence of droplets in the outlet channels. We develop a recently-introduced phenomenological model [W. Engl , Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 208304 (2005)] and successfully confront its predictions to our experimental results. This approach offers a simple way to measure the excess hydrodynamic resistance of a channel filled with droplets. We discuss the traffic behavior and the variations in the corresponding hydrodynamic resistance length Ld and of the droplet mobility β , as a function of droplet interdistance and confinement for channels having circular or rectangular cross sections.

MEASUREMENTS AND COMPUTATIONS OF FUEL DROPLET TRANSPORT IN TURBULENT FLOWS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joseph Katz and Omar Knio

2007-01-10

The objective of this project is to study the dynamics of fuel droplets in turbulent water flows. The results are essential for development of models capable of predicting the dispersion of slightly light/heavy droplets in isotropic turbulence. Since we presently do not have any experimental data on turbulent diffusion of droplets, existing mixing models have no physical foundations. Such fundamental knowledge is essential for understanding/modeling the environmental problems associated with water-fuel mixing, and/or industrial processes involving mixing of immiscible fluids. The project has had experimental and numerical components: 1. The experimental part of the project has had two components. The first involves measurements of the lift and drag forces acting on a droplet being entrained by a vortex. The experiments and data analysis associated with this phase are still in progress, and the facility, constructed specifically for this project is described in Section 3. In the second and main part, measurements of fuel droplet dispersion rates have been performed in a special facility with controlled isotropic turbulence. As discussed in detail in Section 2, quantifying and modeling the of droplet dispersion rate requires measurements of their three dimensional trajectories in turbulent flows. To obtain the required data, we have introduced a new technique - high-speed, digital Holographic Particle Image Velocimetry (HPIV). The technique, experimental setup and results are presented in Section 2. Further information is available in Gopalan et al. (2005, 2006). 2. The objectives of the numerical part are: (1) to develop a computational code that combines DNS of isotropic turbulence with Lagrangian tracking of particles based on integration of a dynamical equation of motion that accounts for pressure, added mass, lift and drag forces, (2) to perform extensive computations of both buoyant (bubbles) and slightly buoyant (droplets) particles in turbulence conditions

Evaluation of droplet size distributions using univariate and multivariate approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaunø, Mette Høg; Larsen, Crilles Casper; Vilhelmsen, Thomas; Møller-Sonnergaard, Jørn; Wittendorff, Jørgen; Rantanen, Jukka

2013-01-01

Pharmaceutically relevant material characteristics are often analyzed based on univariate descriptors instead of utilizing the whole information available in the full distribution. One example is droplet size distribution, which is often described by the median droplet size and the width of the distribution. The current study was aiming to compare univariate and multivariate approach in evaluating droplet size distributions. As a model system, the atomization of a coating solution from a two-fluid nozzle was investigated. The effect of three process parameters (concentration of ethyl cellulose in ethanol, atomizing air pressure, and flow rate of coating solution) on the droplet size and droplet size distribution using a full mixed factorial design was used. The droplet size produced by a two-fluid nozzle was measured by laser diffraction and reported as volume based size distribution. Investigation of loading and score plots from principal component analysis (PCA) revealed additional information on the droplet size distributions and it was possible to identify univariate statistics (volume median droplet size), which were similar, however, originating from varying droplet size distributions. The multivariate data analysis was proven to be an efficient tool for evaluating the full information contained in a distribution.

Droplet Breakup in Asymmetric T-Junctions at Intermediate to Large Capillary Numbers

Science.gov (United States)

Sadr, Reza; Cheng, Way Lee

2017-11-01

Splitting of a parent droplet into multiple daughter droplets of desired sizes is usually desired to enhance production and investigational efficiency in microfluidic devices. This can be done in an active or passive mode depending on whether an external power sources is used or not. In this study, three-dimensional simulations were done using the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method to analyze droplet splitting in asymmetric T-junctions with different outlet lengths. The parent droplet is divided into two uneven portions the volumetric ratio of the daughter droplets, in theory, depends on the length ratios of the outlet branches. The study identified various breakup modes such as primary, transition, bubble and non-breakup under various flow conditions and the configuration of the T-junctions. In addition, an analysis with the primary breakup regimes were conducted to study the breakup mechanisms. The results show that the way the droplet splits in an asymmetric T-junction is different than the process in a symmetric T-junction. A model for the asymmetric breakup criteria at intermediate or large Capillary number is presented. The proposed model is an expanded version to a theoretically derived model for the symmetric droplet breakup under similar flow conditions.

Recent Advances In Science Support For Isolated Droplet Combustion Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Dryer, F. L.; Kazakov, A.; Urban, B. D.; Kroenlein, K.

2003-01-01

In a joint program involving Prof. F.A. Williams of the University of California, San Diego and Dr. V. Nayagam of the National Center for Microgravity Research, the combustion characteristics of isolated liquid fuel droplets of n-heptane, n-decane, methanol, methanol-water, ethanol and ethanol-water having initial diameters between about 1 mm and 6 mm continues to be investigated. The objectives of the work are to improve fundamental knowledge of droplet combustion dynamics for pure fuels and fuel-water mixtures through microgravity experiments and theoretical analyses. The Princeton contributions support the engineering design, data analysis, and data interpretation requirements for the study of initially single component, spherically symmetric, isolated droplet combustion studies through experiments and numerical modeling. UCSD contributions are described in a companion communication in this conference. The Princeton effort also addresses the analyses of Fiber Supported Droplet Combustion (FSDC) experiments conducted with the above fuels and collaborative work with others who are investigating droplet combustion in the presence of steady convection. A thorough interpretation of droplet burning behavior for n-heptane and n-decane over a relatively wide range of conditions also involves the influences of sooting on the combustion behavior, and this particular aspect on isolated burning of droplets is under consideration in a collaborative program underway with Drexel University. This collaboration is addressed in another communication at this conference. The one-dimensional, time-dependent, numerical modeling approach that we have continued to evolve for analyzing isolated, quiescent droplet combustion data has been further applied to investigate several facets of isolated droplet burning of simple alcohols, n-heptane, and n-decane. Some of the new results are described below.

Two-fluid model with droplet size distribution for condensing steam flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wróblewski, Włodzimierz; Dykas, Sławomir

2016-01-01

The process of energy conversion in the low pressure part of steam turbines may be improved using new and more accurate numerical models. The paper presents a description of a model intended for the condensing steam flow modelling. The model uses a standard condensation model. A physical and a numerical model of the mono- and polydispersed wet-steam flow are presented. The proposed two-fluid model solves separate flow governing equations for the compressible, inviscid vapour and liquid phase. The method of moments with a prescribed function is used for the reconstruction of the water droplet size distribution. The described model is presented for the liquid phase evolution in the flow through the de Laval nozzle. - Highlights: • Computational Fluid Dynamics. • Steam condensation in transonic flows through the Laval nozzles. • In-house CFD code – two-phase flow, two-fluid monodispersed and polydispersed model.

Diffusive growth of a single droplet with three different boundary conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Tavassoli, Z.; Rodgers, G. J.

2000-02-01

We study a single, motionless three-dimensional droplet growing by adsorption of diffusing monomers on a 2D substrate. The diffusing monomers are adsorbed at the aggregate perimeter of the droplet with different boundary conditions. Models with both an adsorption boundary condition and a radiation boundary condition, as well as a phenomenological model, are considered and solved in a quasistatic approximation. The latter two models allow particle detachment. In the short time limit, the droplet radius grows as a power of the time with exponents of 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 for the models with adsorption, radiation and phenomenological boundary conditions, respectively. In the long time limit a universal growth rate as $[t/\\ln(t)]^{1/3}$ is observed for the radius of the droplet for all models independent of the boundary conditions. This asymptotic behaviour was obtained by Krapivsky \\cite{krapquasi} where a similarity variable approach was used to treat the growth of a droplet with an adsorption boundary condition based on a quasistatic approximation. Another boundary condition with a constant flux of monomers at the aggregate perimeter is also examined. The results exhibit a power law growth rate with an exponent of 1/3 for all times.

The Phospholipid:Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase Lro1 Is Responsible for Hepatitis C Virus Core-Induced Lipid Droplet Formation in a Yeast Model System.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shingo Iwasa

Full Text Available Chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus frequently induces steatosis, which is a significant risk factor for liver pathogenesis. Steatosis is characterized by the accumulation of lipid droplets in hepatocytes. The structural protein core of the virus induces lipid droplet formation and localizes on the surface of the lipid droplets. However, the precise molecular mechanisms for the core-induced formation of lipid droplets remain elusive. Recently, we showed that the expression of the core protein in yeast as a model system could induce lipid droplet formation. In this study, we probed the cellular factors responsible for the formation of core-induced lipid-droplets in yeast cells. We demonstrated that one of the enzymes responsible for triglyceride synthesis, a phospholipid:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (Lro1, is required for the core-induced lipid droplet formation. While core proteins inhibit Lro1 degradation and alter Lro1 localization, the characteristic localization of Lro1 adjacent to the lipid droplets appeared to be responsible for the core-induced lipid droplet formation. RNA virus genomes have evolved using high mutation rates to maintain their ability to replicate. Our observations suggest a functional relationship between the core protein with hepatocytes and yeast cells. The possible interactions between core proteins and the endoplasmic reticulum membrane affect the mobilization of specific proteins.

Cavitation-induced fragmentation of an acoustically-levitated droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez Avila, Silvestre Roberto; Ohl, Claus-Dieter

2015-12-01

In this paper we investigate the initial sequence of events that lead to the fragmentation of a millimetre sized water droplets when interacting with a focused ns-laser pulse. The experimental results show complex processes that result from the reflection of an initial shock wave from plasma generation with the soft boundary of the levitating droplet; furthermore, when the reflected waves from the walls of the droplet refocus they leave behind a trail of microbubbles that later act as cavitation inception regions. Numerical simulations of a shock wave impacting and reflecting from a soft boundary are also reported; the simulated results show that the lowest pressure inside the droplet occurs at the equatorial plane. The results of the numerical model display good agreement with the experimental results both in time and in space.

Cavitation-induced fragmentation of an acoustically-levitated droplet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avila, Silvestre Roberto Gonzalez; Ohl, Claus-Dieter

2015-01-01

In this paper we investigate the initial sequence of events that lead to the fragmentation of a millimetre sized water droplets when interacting with a focused ns-laser pulse. The experimental results show complex processes that result from the reflection of an initial shock wave from plasma generation with the soft boundary of the levitating droplet; furthermore, when the reflected waves from the walls of the droplet refocus they leave behind a trail of microbubbles that later act as cavitation inception regions. Numerical simulations of a shock wave impacting and reflecting from a soft boundary are also reported; the simulated results show that the lowest pressure inside the droplet occurs at the equatorial plane. The results of the numerical model display good agreement with the experimental results both in time and in space. (paper)

A theoretical study of the spheroidal droplet evaporation in forced convection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Jie, E-mail: leejay1986@163.com; Zhang, Jian

2014-11-07

In many applications, the shape of a droplet may be assumed to be an oblate spheroid. A theoretical study is conducted on the evaporation of an oblate spheroidal droplet under forced convection conditions. Closed-form analytical expressions of the mass evaporation rate for an oblate spheroid are derived, in the regime of controlled mass-transfer and heat-transfer, respectively. The variation of droplet size during the evaporation process is presented in the regime of shrinking dynamic model. Comparing with the droplets having the same surface area, an increase in the aspect ratio enhances the mass evaporation rate and prolongs the burnout time. - Highlights: • Fully algebraic solutions for the spheroidal droplet evaporation rate is obtained. • We examine the effect of aspect ratio on the droplet evaporation. • We propose a calculation method of Nusselt number for spheroidal droplet.

A theoretical study of the spheroidal droplet evaporation in forced convection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Jie; Zhang, Jian

2014-01-01

In many applications, the shape of a droplet may be assumed to be an oblate spheroid. A theoretical study is conducted on the evaporation of an oblate spheroidal droplet under forced convection conditions. Closed-form analytical expressions of the mass evaporation rate for an oblate spheroid are derived, in the regime of controlled mass-transfer and heat-transfer, respectively. The variation of droplet size during the evaporation process is presented in the regime of shrinking dynamic model. Comparing with the droplets having the same surface area, an increase in the aspect ratio enhances the mass evaporation rate and prolongs the burnout time. - Highlights: • Fully algebraic solutions for the spheroidal droplet evaporation rate is obtained. • We examine the effect of aspect ratio on the droplet evaporation. • We propose a calculation method of Nusselt number for spheroidal droplet

Field dependent shape variation of magnetic fluid droplets on magnetic dots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chiun-Peng; Yang, Shu-Ting; Wei, Zung-Hang

2012-01-01

The morphology of magnetic fluid droplets on magnetic thin film dots is studied experimentally, including the aspect ratio and the contact angle variation of the droplets. Under a uniform external magnetic field, the droplet's aspect ratio increases with the external field and with the diameter of the magnetic dot due to the concentrated magnetic flux inside the magnetic fluid droplet. Similar to the electrical wetting phenomenon, the induced magnetic dipoles in the magnetic film and in the magnetic fluid near the solid–liquid interface change the solid–liquid interfacial tension, and in consequence reduce the apparent contact angle of the magnetic fluid droplet. - Highlights: ► Morphology of ferrofluid droplets on magnetic thin film dots was studied experimentally. ► Aspect ratio of ferrofluid droplets was found to increase with increasing of magnetic field. ► Liquid–solid contact angle of ferrofluid droplets was found to vary with magnetic field. ► Relationship between magnetic field and the liquid–solid interfacial tension was modeled.

Kinetics of heterogeneous nucleation of gas-atomized Sn-5 mass%Pb droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Shu; Wu Ping; Zhou Wei; Ando, Teiichi

2008-01-01

A method for predicting the nucleation kinetics of gas-atomized droplets has been developed by combining models predicting the nucleation temperature of cooling droplets with a model simulating the droplet motion and cooling in gas atomization. Application to a Sn-5 mass%Pb alloy has yielded continuous-cooling transformation (CCT) diagrams for the heterogeneous droplet nucleation in helium gas atomization. Both internal nucleation caused by a catalyst present in the melt and surface nucleation caused by oxidation are considered. Droplets atomized at a high atomizing gas velocity get around surface oxidation and nucleate internally at high supercoolings. Low atomization gas velocities promote oxidation-catalyzed nucleation which leads to lower supercoolings. The developed method enables improved screening of atomized powders for critical applications where stringent control of powder microstructure is required

Evaporation kinetics of surfactant solution droplets on rice (Oryza sativa) leaves

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Li-Dong; Zheng, Li; Xu, Jun; Li, Feng-Min; Huang, Qi-Liang

2017-01-01

The dynamics of evaporating sessile droplets on hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces is widely studied, and many models for these processes have been developed based on experimental evidence. However, few research has been explored on the evaporation of sessile droplets of surfactant or pesticide solutions on target crop leaves. Thus, in this paper the impact of surfactant concentrations on contact angle, contact diameter, droplet height, and evolution of the droplets’ evaporative volume on rice leaf surfaces have been investigated. The results indicate that the evaporation kinetics of surfactant droplets on rice leaves were influenced by both the surfactant concentrations and the hydrophobicity of rice leaf surfaces. When the surfactant concentration is lower than the surfactant CMC (critical micelle concentration), the droplet evaporation time is much longer than that of the high surfactant concentration. This is due to the longer existence time of a narrow wedge region under the lower surfactant concentration, and such narrow wedge region further restricts the droplet evaporation. Besides, our experimental data are shown to roughly collapse onto theoretical curves based on the model presented by Popov. This study could supply theoretical data on the evaporation of the adjuvant or pesticide droplets for practical applications in agriculture. PMID:28472108

Chemotactic droplet swimmers in complex geometries

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Chenyu; Hokmabad, Babak V.; Baldwin, Kyle A.; Maass, Corinna C.

2018-02-01

Chemotaxis1 and auto-chemotaxis are key mechanisms in the dynamics of micro-organisms, e.g. in the acquisition of nutrients and in the communication between individuals, influencing the collective behaviour. However, chemical signalling and the natural environment of biological swimmers are generally complex, making them hard to access analytically. We present a well-controlled, tunable artificial model to study chemotaxis and autochemotaxis in complex geometries, using microfluidic assays of self-propelling oil droplets in an aqueous surfactant solution (Herminghaus et al 2014 Soft Matter 10 7008-22 Krüger et al 2016 Phys. Rev. Lett. 117). Droplets propel via interfacial Marangoni stresses powered by micellar solubilisation. Moreover, filled micelles act as a chemical repellent by diffusive phoretic gradient forces. We have studied these chemotactic effects in a series of microfluidic geometries, as published in Jin et al (2017 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 114 5089-94): first, droplets are guided along the shortest path through a maze by surfactant diffusing into the maze from the exit. Second, we let auto-chemotactic droplet swimmers pass through bifurcating microfluidic channels and record anticorrelations between the branch choices of consecutive droplets. We present an analytical Langevin model matching the experimental data. In a previously unpublished experiment, pillar arrays of variable sizes and shapes provide a convex wall interacting with the swimmer and, in the case of attachment, bending its trajectory and forcing it to revert to its own trail. We observe different behaviours based on the interplay of wall curvature and negative autochemotaxis, i.e. no attachment for highly curved interfaces, stable trapping at large pillars, and a narrow transition region where negative autochemotaxis makes the swimmers detach after a single orbit.

Modelling of coughed droplets in a hospital ward

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sadrizadeh, Sasan; Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm

2016-01-01

Coughing and its importance for spreading respiratory infectious diseases has been confirmed in many previous studies. The dispersion process of respiratory droplets released by the coughing of a patient in a hospital ward was studied using computational fluid dynamics simulation. Two relatively ...

Experimental and numerical study of palm oil and castor oil biodiesel droplet evaporation

OpenAIRE

Botero, M.L; Molina, A.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT: The vaporization characteristics of Palm and Castor oil biodiesel (Ricinus comunis) droplets were studied. An experimental set-up for measuring the evaporation rate of fuel droplets at atmospheric pressure and variable temperatures was developed. The droplets were suspended on a quartz fiber with initial droplet diameters ranging from 0.9 mm to 1.3 mm. The D2 law model for droplet evaporation was used to predict the evaporation rate of the fuels. Biodiesel physical properties were e...

Evaluation method for radiative heat transfer in polydisperse water droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruyama, Shigenao; Nakai, Hirotaka; Sakurai, Atsushi; Komiya, Atsuki

2008-01-01

Simplifications of the model for nongray radiative heat transfer analysis in participating media comprised of polydisperse water droplets are presented. Databases of the radiative properties for a water droplet over a wide range of wavelengths and diameters are constructed using rigorous Mie theory. The accuracy of the radiative properties obtained from the database interpolation is validated by comparing them with those obtained from the Mie calculations. The radiative properties of polydisperse water droplets are compared with those of monodisperse water droplets with equivalent mean diameters. Nongray radiative heat transfer in the anisotropic scattering fog layer, including direct and diffuse solar irradiations and infrared sky flux, is analyzed using REM 2 . The radiative heat fluxes within the fog layer containing polydisperse water droplets are compared with those in the layer containing monodisperse water droplets. Through numerical simulation of the radiative heat transfer, polydisperse water droplets can be approximated by using the Sauter diameter, a technique that can be useful in several research fields, such as engineering and atmospheric science. Although this approximation is valid in the case of pure radiative transfer problems, the Sauter diameter is reconfirmed to be the appropriate diameter for approximating problems in radiative heat transfer, although volume-length mean diameter shows better accordance in some cases. The CPU time for nongray radiative heat transfer analysis with a fog model is evaluated. It is proved that the CPU time is decreased by using the databases and the approximation method for polydisperse particulate media

Classification of the ejection mechanisms of charged macromolecules from liquid droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Consta, Styliani; Malevanets, Anatoly

2013-01-28

The relation between the charge state of a macromolecule and its ejection mechanism from droplets is one of the important questions in electrospray ionization methods. In this article, effects of solvent-solute interaction on the manifestation of the charge induced instability in a droplet are examined. We studied the instabilities in a prototype system of a droplet comprised of charged poly(ethylene glycol) and methanol, acetonitrile, and water solvents. We observed instances of three, previously only conjectured, [S. Consta, J. Phys. Chem. B 114, 5263 (2010)] mechanisms of macroion ejection. The mechanism of ejection of charged macroion in methanol is reminiscent of "pearl" model in polymer physics. In acetonitrile droplets, the instability manifests through formation of solvent spines around the solvated macroion. In water, we find that the macroion is ejected from the droplet through contiguous extrusion of a part of the chain. The difference in the morphology of the instabilities is attributed to the interplay between forces arising from the macroion solvation energy and the surface energy of the droplet interface. For the contiguous extrusion of a charged macromolecule from a droplet, we demonstrate that the proposed mechanism leads to ejection of the macromolecule from droplets with sizes well below the Rayleigh limit. The ejected macromolecule may hold charge significantly higher than that suggested by prevailing theories. The simulations reveal new mechanisms of macroion evaporation that differ from conventional charge residue model and ion evaporation mechanisms.

Application of rainbow refractometry for measurement of droplets with solid inclusions

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Can; Wu, Xue-cheng; Cao, Jian-zheng; Chen, Ling-hong; Gréhan, Gerard; Cen, Ke-fa

2018-01-01

Characterization of droplets with solid inclusions is of great research interest and has wide industrial applications. Reported here is a theoretical and experimental investigation of the measurement of droplets with solid inclusions using rainbow refractometry. A rainbow extinction model of a droplet with solid inclusions was deduced based on Beer-Lambert's Law. It takes into account the volume concentration, relative size, scattering efficiency of the solid inclusion, and liquid refractive index. An acoustic levitation system for a single droplet and a global rainbow instrumentation system for spray were integrated to study the effect of the H2O-CaCO3 suspension droplets on the rainbow signal and the measured parameters. The results showed that the rainbow encountered unusual disturbances, introduced by the solid inclusions, but its overall structure was not destroyed. Discoveries also included that for volume concentrations of 2.5% or less the CaCO3 particles with diameters below 4 μm had little effect on the measured parameters of the host droplet. The extinction characteristic was also analyzed. The rainbow extinction model failed to quantity the volume concentration of CaCO3, but succeeded in its qualitative analysis.

Broadening of cloud droplet spectra through turbulent entrainment and eddy hopping

Science.gov (United States)

Abade, Gustavo; Grabowski, Wojciech; Pawlowska, Hanna

2017-11-01

This work discusses the effect of cloud turbulence and turbulent entrainment on the evolution of the cloud droplet-size spectrum. We simulate an ensemble of idealized turbulent cloud parcels that are subject to entrainment events, modeled as a random Poisson process. Entrainment events, subsequent turbulent mixing inside the parcel, supersaturation fluctuations, and the resulting stochastic droplet growth by condensation are simulated using a Monte Carlo scheme. Quantities characterizing the turbulence intensity, entrainment rate and the mean fraction of environmental air entrained in an event are specified as external parameters. Cloud microphysics is described by applying Lagrangian particles, the so-called superdroplets. They are either unactivated cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) or cloud droplets that form from activated CCN. The model accounts for the transport of environmental CCN into the cloud by the entraining eddies at the cloud edge. Turbulent mixing of the entrained dry air with cloudy air is described using a linear model. We show that turbulence plays an important role in aiding entrained CCN to activate, providing a source of small cloud droplets and thus broadening the droplet size distribution. Further simulation results will be reported at the meeting.

Transport of expiratory droplets in an aircraft cabin.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Jitendra K; Lin, Chao-Hsin; Chen, Qingyan

2011-02-01

The droplets exhaled by an index patient with infectious disease such as influenza or tuberculosis may be the carriers of contagious agents. Indoor environments such as the airliner cabins may be susceptible to infection from such airborne contagious agents. The present investigation computed the transport of the droplets exhaled by the index patient seated in the middle of a seven-row, twin-aisle, fully occupied cabin using the CFD simulations. The droplets exhaled were from a single cough, a single breath, and a 15-s talk of the index patient. The expiratory droplets were tracked by using Lagrangian method, and their evaporation was modeled. It was found that the bulk airflow pattern in the cabin played the most important role on the droplet transport. The droplets were contained in the row before, at, and after the index patient within 30 s and dispersed uniformly to all the seven rows in 4 minutes. The total airborne droplet fraction reduced to 48, 32, 20, and 12% after they entered the cabin for 1, 2, 3, and 4 min, respectively, because of the ventilation from the environmental control system. It is critical to predict the risk of airborne infection to take appropriate measures to control and mitigate the risk. Most of the studies in past either assume a homogenous distribution of contaminants or use steady-state conditions. The present study instead provides information on the transient movement of the droplets exhaled by an index passenger in an aircraft cabin. These droplets may contain active contagious agents and can be potent enough to cause infection. The findings can be used by medical professionals to estimate the spatial and temporal distribution of risk of infection to various passengers in the cabin. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Investigation on Shock Induced Stripping Breakup Process of A Liquid Droplet

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yao

2017-03-02

Stripping breakup process of a single liquid droplet under the impact of a planar shock wave is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The droplet breakup experiment is conducted in a horizontal shock tube and the evolution of the droplet is recorded by direct high-speed photography. The experimental images clearly illustrate the droplet interface evolution features from its early to relatively late stage. Compressible Euler equations are solved using an in-house inviscid upwind characteristic space-time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) method coupled with the HLLC approximate Riemann solver. A reduced five-equation model is employed to demonstrate the air/liquid interface. Numerical results accurately reproduce the water column and axi-symmetric water droplet breakup processes in experiments. The present study confirms the validity of the present numerical method in solving the shock wave induced droplet breakup problem and elaborates the stripping breakup process numerically in a long period. Droplet inner flow pattern is depicted, based on which the drives of protrusions emerged on the droplet surface are clearly seen. The droplet deformation is proved to be determined by not only the outer air flow, but also the inner liquid flow.

Investigation on Shock Induced Stripping Breakup Process of A Liquid Droplet

KAUST Repository

Liu, Yao; Wen, Chihyung; Shen, Hua; Guan, Ben

2017-01-01

Stripping breakup process of a single liquid droplet under the impact of a planar shock wave is investigated both experimentally and numerically. The droplet breakup experiment is conducted in a horizontal shock tube and the evolution of the droplet is recorded by direct high-speed photography. The experimental images clearly illustrate the droplet interface evolution features from its early to relatively late stage. Compressible Euler equations are solved using an in-house inviscid upwind characteristic space-time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) method coupled with the HLLC approximate Riemann solver. A reduced five-equation model is employed to demonstrate the air/liquid interface. Numerical results accurately reproduce the water column and axi-symmetric water droplet breakup processes in experiments. The present study confirms the validity of the present numerical method in solving the shock wave induced droplet breakup problem and elaborates the stripping breakup process numerically in a long period. Droplet inner flow pattern is depicted, based on which the drives of protrusions emerged on the droplet surface are clearly seen. The droplet deformation is proved to be determined by not only the outer air flow, but also the inner liquid flow.

Marangoni Convection in Evaporating Organic Liquid Droplets on a Nonwetting Substrate.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandramohan, Aditya; Dash, Susmita; Weibel, Justin A; Chen, Xuemei; Garimella, Suresh V

2016-05-17

We quantitatively characterize the flow field inside organic liquid droplets evaporating on a nonwetting substrate. A mushroom-structured surface yields the desired nonwetting behavior with methanol droplets, while use of a cooled substrate (5-15 °C) slows the rate of evaporation to allow quasi-static particle image velocimetry. Visualization reveals a toroidal vortex within the droplet that is characteristic of surface tension-driven flow; we demonstrate by means of a scaling analysis that this recirculating flow is Marangoni convection. The velocities in the droplet are on the order of 10-45 mm/s. Thus, unlike in the case of evaporation on wetting substrates where Marangoni convection can be ignored for the purpose of estimating the evaporation rate, advection due to the surface tension-driven flow plays a dominant role in the heat transfer within an evaporating droplet on a nonwetting substrate because of the large height-to-radius aspect ratio of the droplet. We formulate a reduced-order model that includes advective transport within the droplet for prediction of organic liquid droplet evaporation on a nonwetting substrate and confirm that the predicted temperature differential across the height of the droplet matches experiments.

Fundamentals of magnet-actuated droplet manipulation on an open hydrophobic surface†

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Zhicheng; Shetty, Abhishek M.; Solomon, Michael J.; Larson, Ronald G.

2010-01-01

We systematically investigate droplet movement, coalescence, and splitting on an open hydrophobic surface. These processes are actuated by magnetic beads internalized in an oil-coated aqueous droplet using an external magnet. Results are organized into an ‘operating diagram’ that describes regions of droplet stable motion, breakage, and release from the magnet. The results are explained theoretically with a simple model that balances magnetic, friction, and capillary-induced drag forces and includes the effects of particle type, droplet size, surrounding oil layer, surface tension, and viscosity. Finally, we discuss the implications of the results for the design of magnet-actuated droplet systems for applications such as nucleic acid purification, immunoassay and drug delivery. PMID:19458864

Drag Coefficient of Water Droplets Approaching the Leading Edge of an Airfoil

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas, Mario; Sor, Suthyvann; Magarino, Adelaida Garcia

2013-01-01

This work presents results of an experimental study on droplet deformation and breakup near the leading edge of an airfoil. The experiment was conducted in the rotating rig test cell at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA) in Madrid, Spain. An airfoil model was placed at the end of the rotating arm and a monosize droplet generator produced droplets that fell from above, perpendicular to the path of the airfoil. The interaction between the droplets and the airfoil was captured with high speed imaging and allowed observation of droplet deformation and breakup as the droplet approached the airfoil near the stagnation line. Image processing software was used to measure the position of the droplet centroid, equivalent diameter, perimeter, area, and the major and minor axes of an ellipse superimposed over the deforming droplet. The horizontal and vertical displacement of each droplet against time was also measured, and the velocity, acceleration, Weber number, Bond number, Reynolds number, and the drag coefficients were calculated along the path of the droplet to the beginning of breakup. Results are presented and discussed for drag coefficients of droplets with diameters in the range of 300 to 1800 micrometers, and airfoil velocities of 50, 70 and 90 meters/second. The effect of droplet oscillation on the drag coefficient is discussed.

Modeling of droplet dynamic and thermal behaviour during spray ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

Supersonic atomization; droplets; thermal history; solid fraction; secondary dendrite arm spacing. 1. Introduction .... velocity with distance as illustrated in (1) (Eon-Sik Lee and Ahn ...... Uhlenwinkel and U Fritsching (Bremen, Germany: Univer-.

Composition measurements of binary mixture droplets by rainbow refractometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilms, J; Weigand, B

2007-04-10

So far, refractive index measurements by rainbow refractometry have been used to determine the temperature of single droplets and ensembles of droplets. Rainbow refractometry is, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, applied to measure composition histories of evaporating, binary mixture droplets. An evaluation method is presented that makes use of Airy theory and the simultaneous size measurement by Mie scattering imaging. The method further includes an empirical correction function for a certain diameter and refractive index range. The measurement uncertainty was investigated by numerical simulations with Lorenz-Mie theory. For the experiments, an optical levitation setup was used allowing for long measurement periods. Temperature measurements of single-component droplets at different temperature levels are shown to demonstrate the accuracy of rainbow refractometry. Measurements of size and composition histories of binary mixture droplets are presented for two different mixtures. Experimental results show good agreement with numerical results using a rapid-mixing model.

Composition measurements of binary mixture droplets by rainbow refractometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilms, J.; Weigand, B.

2007-01-01

So far, refractive index measurements by rainbow refractometry have been used to determine the temperature of single droplets and ensembles of droplets. Rainbow refractometry is, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, applied to measure composition histories of evaporating, binary mixture droplets. An evaluation method is presented that makes use of Airy theory and the simultaneous size measurement by Mie scattering imaging. The method further includes an empirical correction function for a certain diameter and refractive index range. The measurement uncertainty was investigated by numerical simulations with Lorenz-Mie theory. For the experiments, an optical levitation setup was used allowing for long measurement periods. Temperature measurements of single-component droplets at different temperature levels are shown to demonstrate the accuracy of rainbow refractometry. Measurements of size and composition histories of binary mixture droplets are presented for two different mixtures. Experimental results show good agreement with numerical results using a rapid-mixing model

Quantitative study of the production rate of droplets in a T-junction microdroplet generator

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Hai; Zeng, Wen; Li, Songjing

2017-12-01

In a T-junction microdroplet generator, a mathematical model which can quantify the production rate of droplets is demonstrated. The experiments of droplet formation are performed for different geometries of the T-junction microchannels, and good agreements are shown between the predicted and the measured values of the droplet production rates. From both theoretical and experimental study, the production rate of droplets varies nonlinearly with the flow-rate ratio of the two phases during droplet formation, and by fixing the flow-rate ratio, the production rate of droplets is approximately a linear function of the flow rate of the fluids. In particular, the coefficients of the linear relation are only determined by the geometrical parameters of the T-junction microchannel. As a result, our model can be validated experimentally, and especially for a specific geometry of the T-junction, the production rate of droplets can be precisely predicted and controlled based on the flow rate of the fluids.

Parameterization of cloud droplet formation for global and regional models: including adsorption activation from insoluble CCN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Kumar

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Dust and black carbon aerosol have long been known to exert potentially important and diverse impacts on cloud droplet formation. Most studies to date focus on the soluble fraction of these particles, and overlook interactions of the insoluble fraction with water vapor (even if known to be hydrophilic. To address this gap, we developed a new parameterization that considers cloud droplet formation within an ascending air parcel containing insoluble (but wettable particles externally mixed with aerosol containing an appreciable soluble fraction. Activation of particles with a soluble fraction is described through well-established Köhler theory, while the activation of hydrophilic insoluble particles is treated by "adsorption-activation" theory. In the latter, water vapor is adsorbed onto insoluble particles, the activity of which is described by a multilayer Frenkel-Halsey-Hill (FHH adsorption isotherm modified to account for particle curvature. We further develop FHH activation theory to i find combinations of the adsorption parameters A_FHH, B_FHH which yield atmospherically-relevant behavior, and, ii express activation properties (critical supersaturation that follow a simple power law with respect to dry particle diameter.

The new parameterization is tested by comparing the parameterized cloud droplet number concentration against predictions with a detailed numerical cloud model, considering a wide range of particle populations, cloud updraft conditions, water vapor condensation coefficient and FHH adsorption isotherm characteristics. The agreement between parameterization and parcel model is excellent, with an average error of 10% and R²~0.98. A preliminary sensitivity study suggests that the sublinear response of droplet number to Köhler particle concentration is not as strong for FHH particles.

An analytical model for droplet separation in vane separators and measurements of grade efficiency and pressure drop

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koopman, Hans K.; Köksoy, Çağatay; Ertunç, Özgür; Lienhart, Hermann; Hedwig, Heinz; Delgado, Antonio

2014-01-01

Highlights: • An analytical model for efficiency is extended with additional geometrical features. • A simplified and a novel vane separator design are investigated experimentally. • Experimental results are significantly affected by re-entrainment effects. • Outlet droplet size spectra are accurately predicted by the model. • The improved grade efficiency doubles the pressure drop. - Abstract: This study investigates the predictive power of analytical models for the droplet separation efficiency of vane separators and compares experimental results of two different vane separator geometries. The ability to predict the separation efficiency of vane separators simplifies their design process, especially when analytical research allows the identification of the most important physical and geometrical parameters and can quantify their contribution. In this paper, an extension of a classical analytical model for separation efficiency is proposed that accounts for the contributions provided by straight wall sections. The extension of the analytical model is benchmarked against experiments performed by Leber (2003) on a single stage straight vane separator. The model is in very reasonable agreement with the experimental values. Results from the analytical model are also compared with experiments performed on a vane separator of simplified geometry (VS-1). The experimental separation efficiencies, computed from the measured liquid mass balances, are significantly below the model predictions, which lie arbitrarily close to unity. This difference is attributed to re-entrainment through film detachment from the last stage of the vane separators. After adjustment for re-entrainment effects, by applying a cut-off filter to the outlet droplet size spectra, the experimental and theoretical outlet Sauter mean diameters show very good agreement. A novel vane separator geometry of patented design (VS-2) is also investigated, comparing experimental results with VS-1

Experimental and theoretical investigation of droplet dispersion in venturi scrubbers with axial liquid injection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mokhtarian, N.; Talaei, A.; Karimikhosroabadi, M. [Islamic Azad University, Shahreza Branch, Shahreza (Iran); Sadeghi, F. [Chemical Engineering Department, University of Isfahan, Isfahan (Iran); Talaie, M.R.

2009-05-15

Droplet dispersion in a Venturi scrubber with axial liquid injection was investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The main objective of this study was to develop a mathematical model to predict droplet dispersion in a Venturi scrubber with axial liquid injection. The effects of the Peclet number and droplet size distribution on droplet dispersion were studied using the developed model. Sampling of the droplets was carried out, isokinetically, in 16 positions at the end of the throat section. The experimental data were used to find the parameters of the developed model, such as the Peclet number. From the results of this study, it was found that the Peclet number was not constant across the cross section of the scrubber channel. In order to achieve a better agreement between the results of the model and the experimental data, it was required to consider Peclet number variations across the Venturi channel. It was also revealed that the parameter representing the width of the Rosin-Rammler distribution of droplet size could not be considered constant and it was influenced significantly by the operating parameters such as liquid flow rate and gas velocity. (Abstract Copyright [2009], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Droplet motion in one-component fluids on solid substrates with wettability gradients

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng

2012-05-11

Droplet motion on solid substrates has been widely studied not only because of its importance in fundamental research but also because of its promising potentials in droplet-based devices developed for various applications in chemistry, biology, and industry. In this paper, we investigate the motion of an evaporating droplet in one-component fluids on a solid substrate with a wettability gradient. As is well known, there are two major difficulties in the continuum description of fluid flows and heat fluxes near the contact line of droplets on solid substrates, namely, the hydrodynamic (stress) singularity and thermal singularity. To model the droplet motion, we use the dynamic van der Waals theory [Phys. Rev. E 75, 036304 (2007)] for the hydrodynamic equations in the bulk region, supplemented with the boundary conditions at the fluid-solid interface. In this continuum hydrodynamic model, various physical processes involved in the droplet motion can be taken into account simultaneously, e.g., phase transitions (evaporation or condensation), capillary flows, fluid velocity slip, and substrate cooling or heating. Due to the use of the phase field method (diffuse interface method), the hydrodynamic and thermal singularities are resolved automatically. Furthermore, in the dynamic van der Waals theory, the evaporation or condensation rate at the liquid-gas interface is an outcome of the calculation rather than a prerequisite as in most of the other models proposed for evaporating droplets. Numerical results show that the droplet migrates in the direction of increasing wettability on the solid substrates. The migration velocity of the droplet is found to be proportional to the wettability gradients as predicted by Brochard [Langmuir 5, 432 (1989)]. The proportionality coefficient is found to be linearly dependent on the ratio of slip length to initial droplet radius. These results indicate that the steady migration of the droplets results from the balance between the

Droplet motion in one-component fluids on solid substrates with wettability gradients

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

2012-01-01

Droplet motion on solid substrates has been widely studied not only because of its importance in fundamental research but also because of its promising potentials in droplet-based devices developed for various applications in chemistry, biology, and industry. In this paper, we investigate the motion of an evaporating droplet in one-component fluids on a solid substrate with a wettability gradient. As is well known, there are two major difficulties in the continuum description of fluid flows and heat fluxes near the contact line of droplets on solid substrates, namely, the hydrodynamic (stress) singularity and thermal singularity. To model the droplet motion, we use the dynamic van der Waals theory [Phys. Rev. E 75, 036304 (2007)] for the hydrodynamic equations in the bulk region, supplemented with the boundary conditions at the fluid-solid interface. In this continuum hydrodynamic model, various physical processes involved in the droplet motion can be taken into account simultaneously, e.g., phase transitions (evaporation or condensation), capillary flows, fluid velocity slip, and substrate cooling or heating. Due to the use of the phase field method (diffuse interface method), the hydrodynamic and thermal singularities are resolved automatically. Furthermore, in the dynamic van der Waals theory, the evaporation or condensation rate at the liquid-gas interface is an outcome of the calculation rather than a prerequisite as in most of the other models proposed for evaporating droplets. Numerical results show that the droplet migrates in the direction of increasing wettability on the solid substrates. The migration velocity of the droplet is found to be proportional to the wettability gradients as predicted by Brochard [Langmuir 5, 432 (1989)]. The proportionality coefficient is found to be linearly dependent on the ratio of slip length to initial droplet radius. These results indicate that the steady migration of the droplets results from the balance between the

Deformation of an Elastic Substrate Due to a Resting Sessile Droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Bardall, Aaron; Daniels, Karen; Shearer, Michael

2017-11-01

On a sufficiently soft substrate, a resting fluid droplet will cause significant deformation of the substrate. This deformation is driven by a combination of capillary forces at the contact line and the fluid pressure at the solid surface. These forces are balanced at the surface by the solid traction stress induced by the substrate deformation. Young's Law, which predicts the equilibrium contact angle of the droplet, also indicates an a priori radial force balance for rigid substrates, but not necessarily for soft substrates which deform under loading. It remains an open question whether the contact line transmits a non-zero force tangent to the substrate surface in addition to the conventional normal force. This talk will present a model for the static deformation of the substrate that includes a non-zero tangential contact line force as well as general interfacial energy conditions governing the angle of a two-dimensional droplet. We discuss extensions of this model to non-symmetric droplets and their effect on the static configuration of the droplet/substrate system. NSF #DMS-1517291.

A Computational Study of Internal Flows in a Heated Water-Oil Emulsion Droplet

KAUST Repository

Sim, Jaeheon

2015-01-05

The vaporization characteristics of water-oil emulsion droplets are investigated by high fidelity computational simulations. One of the key objectives is to identify the physical mechanism for the experimentally observed behavior that the component in the dispersed micro-droplets always vaporizes first, for both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsion droplets. The mechanism of this phenomenon has not been clearly understood. In this study, an Eulerian-Lagrangian method was implemented with a temperature-dependent surface tension model and a dynamic adaptive mesh refinement in order to effectively capture the thermo-capillary effect of a micro-droplet in an emulsion droplet efficiently. It is found that the temperature difference in an emulsion droplet creates a surface tension gradient along the micro-droplet surface, inducing surface movement. Subsequently, the outer shear flow and internal flow circulation inside the droplet, referred to as the Marangoni convection, are created. The present study confirms that the Marangoni effect can be sufficiently large to drive the micro-droplets to the emulsion droplet surface at higher temperature, for both water-in-oil and oil-and-water emulsion droplets. A further parametric study with different micro-droplet sizes and temperature gradients demonstrates that larger micro-droplets move faster with larger temperature gradient. The oil micro-droplet in oil-in-water emulsion droplets moves faster due to large temperature gradients by smaller thermal conductivity.

Dynamics of contact line depinning during droplet evaporation based on thermodynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Dong In; Kwak, Ho Jae; Doh, Seung Woo; Ahn, Ho Seon; Park, Hyun Sun; Kiyofumi, Moriyama; Kim, Moo Hwan

2015-02-17

For several decades, evaporation phenomena have been intensively investigated for a broad range of applications. However, the dynamics of contact line depinning during droplet evaporation has only been inductively inferred on the basis of experimental data and remains unclear. This study focuses on the dynamics of contact line depinning during droplet evaporation based on thermodynamics. Considering the decrease in the Gibbs free energy of a system with different evaporation modes, a theoretical model was developed to estimate the receding contact angle during contact line depinning as a function of surface conditions. Comparison of experimentally measured and theoretically modeled receding contact angles indicated that the dynamics of contact line depinning during droplet evaporation was caused by the most favorable thermodynamic process encountered during constant contact radius (CCR mode) and constant contact angle (CCA mode) evaporation to rapidly reach an equilibrium state during droplet evaporation.

Uniform-droplet spray forming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blue, C.A.; Sikka, V.K. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Chun, Jung-Hoon [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Ando, T. [Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States)

1997-04-01

The uniform-droplet process is a new method of liquid-metal atomization that results in single droplets that can be used to produce mono-size powders or sprayed-on to substrates to produce near-net shapes with tailored microstructure. The mono-sized powder-production capability of the uniform-droplet process also has the potential of permitting engineered powder blends to produce components of controlled porosity. Metal and alloy powders are commercially produced by at least three different methods: gas atomization, water atomization, and rotating disk. All three methods produce powders of a broad range in size with a very small yield of fine powders with single-sized droplets that can be used to produce mono-size powders or sprayed-on substrates to produce near-net shapes with tailored microstructures. The economical analysis has shown the process to have the potential of reducing capital cost by 50% and operating cost by 37.5% when applied to powder making. For the spray-forming process, a 25% savings is expected in both the capital and operating costs. The project is jointly carried out at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tuffs University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Preliminary interactions with both finished parts and powder producers have shown a strong interest in the uniform-droplet process. Systematic studies are being conducted to optimize the process parameters, understand the solidification of droplets and spray deposits, and develop a uniform-droplet-system (UDS) apparatus appropriate for processing engineering alloys.

A Numerical Analysis of Droplet Breakup in Asymmetric T-Junctions with Different Outlet Pressure Gradients

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Way Lee; Han, Arum; Sadr, Reza

2016-11-01

Droplet splitting is the breakup of a parent droplet into two or more daughter droplets of desired sizes. It is done to improve production efficiency and investigational capacity in microfluidic devices. Passive splitting is the breakup of droplets into precise volume ratios at predetermined locations without external power sources. In this study, a 3-D simulation was conducted using the Volume-of-Fluid method to analysis the breakup process of a droplet in asymmetric T-junctions with different outlet arm lengths. The arrangement allows a droplet to be split into two smaller droplets of different sizes, where the volumetric ratio of the daughter droplets depends on the length ratios of the outlet arms. The study identified different breakup regimes such as primary, transition, bubble and non-breakup under different flow conditions and channel configurations. Furthermore, a close analysis to the primary breakup regimes were done to determine the breakup mechanisms at various flow conditions. The analysis show that the breakup mechanisms in asymmetric T-junctions is different than a regular split. A pseudo-phenomenological model for the breakup criteria was presented at the end. The model was an expanded version to a theoretically derived model for the symmetric droplet breakup. The Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Founda- tion), under Grant NPRP 5-671-2-278, supported this work.

Mechanism of Water Droplet Breakup Near the Leading Edge of an Airfoil

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas, Mario; Sor, Suthyvann; Magarino, Adelaida, Garcia

2012-01-01

This work presents results of an experimental study on droplet deformation and breakup near the leading edge of an airfoil. The experiment was conducted in the rotating rig test cell at the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA) in Madrid, Spain. The airfoil model was placed at the end of the rotating arm and a monosize droplet generator produced droplets that fell from above, perpendicular to the path of the airfoil. The interaction between the droplets and the airfoil was captured with high speed imaging and allowed observation of droplet deformation and breakup as the droplet approached the airfoil near the stagnation line. Image processing software was used to measure the position of the droplet centroid, equivalent diameter, perimeter, area, and the major and minor axes of an ellipse superimposed over the deforming droplet. The horizontal and vertical displacement of each droplet against time was also measured, and the velocity, acceleration, Weber number, Bond number, Reynolds number, and the drag coefficients were calculated along the path of the droplet to the beginning of breakup. Droplet deformation is defined and studied against main parameters. The high speed imaging allowed observation of the actual mechanism of breakup and identification of the sequence of configurations from the initiation of the breakup to the disintegration of the droplet. Results and comparisons are presented for droplets of diameters in the range of 500 to 1800 microns, and airfoil velocities of 70 and 90 m/sec.

Linear Stability Analysis of an Acoustically Vaporized Droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Siddiqui, Junaid; Qamar, Adnan; Samtaney, Ravi

2015-11-01

Acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) is a phase transition phenomena of a superheat liquid (Dodecafluoropentane, C5F12) droplet to a gaseous bubble, instigated by a high-intensity acoustic pulse. This approach was first studied in imaging applications, and applicable in several therapeutic areas such as gas embolotherapy, thrombus dissolution, and drug delivery. High-speed imaging and theoretical modeling of ADV has elucidated several physical aspects, ranging from bubble nucleation to its subsequent growth. Surface instabilities are known to exist and considered responsible for evolving bubble shapes (non-spherical growth, bubble splitting and bubble droplet encapsulation). We present a linear stability analysis of the dynamically evolving interfaces of an acoustically vaporized micro-droplet (liquid A) in an infinite pool of a second liquid (liquid B). We propose a thermal ADV model for the base state. The linear analysis utilizes spherical harmonics (Ynm, of degree m and order n) and under various physical assumptions results in a time-dependent ODE of the perturbed interface amplitudes (one at the vapor/liquid A interface and the other at the liquid A/liquid B interface). The perturbation amplitudes are found to grow exponentially and do not depend on m. Supported by KAUST Baseline Research Funds.

Droplet Traffic Control at a simple T junction

Science.gov (United States)

Panizza, Pascal; Engl, Wilfried; Colin, Annie; Ajdari, Armand

2006-03-01

A basic yet essential element of every traffic flow control is the effect of a junction where the flow is separated into several streams. How do pedestrians, vehicles or blood cells divide when they reach a junction? How does the outcome depend on their density? Similar fundamental questions hold for much simpler systems: in this paper, we have studied the behaviour of periodic trains of water droplets flowing in oil through a channel as they reach a simple, locally symmetric, T junction. Depending on their dilution, we observe that the droplets are either alternately partitioned between both outlets or sorted exclusively into the shortest one. We show that this surprising behaviour results from the hydrodynamic feed-back of drops in the two outlets on the selection process occurring at the junction. Our results offer a first guide for the design and modelling of droplet traffic in complex branched networks, a necessary step towards parallelized droplet-based ``lab-on-chip'' devices.

Vitrification and levitation of a liquid droplet on liquid nitrogen.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Young S; Adler, Douglas; Xu, Feng; Kayaalp, Emre; Nureddin, Aida; Anchan, Raymond M; Maas, Richard L; Demirci, Utkan

2010-03-09

The vitrification of a liquid occurs when ice crystal formation is prevented in the cryogenic environment through ultrarapid cooling. In general, vitrification entails a large temperature difference between the liquid and its surrounding medium. In our droplet vitrification experiments, we observed that such vitrification events are accompanied by a Leidenfrost phenomenon, which impedes the heat transfer to cool the liquid, when the liquid droplet comes into direct contact with liquid nitrogen. This is distinct from the more generally observed Leidenfrost phenomenon that occurs when a liquid droplet is self-vaporized on a hot plate. In the case of rapid cooling, the phase transition from liquid to vitrified solid (i.e., vitrification) and the levitation of droplets on liquid nitrogen (i.e., Leidenfrost phenomenon) take place simultaneously. Here, we investigate these two simultaneous physical events by using a theoretical model containing three dimensionless parameters (i.e., Stefan, Biot, and Fourier numbers). We explain theoretically and observe experimentally a threshold droplet radius during the vitrification of a cryoprotectant droplet in the presence of the Leidenfrost effect.

Evaporation of inclined water droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin Young; Hwang, In Gyu; Weon, Byung Mook

2017-01-01

When a drop is placed on a flat substrate tilted at an inclined angle, it can be deformed by gravity and its initial contact angle divides into front and rear contact angles by inclination. Here we study on evaporation dynamics of a pure water droplet on a flat solid substrate by controlling substrate inclination and measuring mass and volume changes of an evaporating droplet with time. We find that complete evaporation time of an inclined droplet becomes longer as gravitational influence by inclination becomes stronger. The gravity itself does not change the evaporation dynamics directly, whereas the gravity-induced droplet deformation increases the difference between front and rear angles, which quickens the onset of depinning and consequently reduces the contact radius. This result makes the evaporation rate of an inclined droplet to be slow. This finding would be important to improve understanding on evaporation dynamics of inclined droplets. PMID:28205642

Cool-flame Extinction During N-Alkane Droplet Combustion in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Nayagam, Vedha; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Hicks, Michael C.; Williams, Forman A.

2014-01-01

Recent droplet combustion experiments onboard the International Space Station (ISS) have revealed that large n-alkane droplets can continue to burn quasi-steadily following radiative extinction in a low-temperature regime, characterized by negative-temperaturecoefficient (NTC) chemistry. In this study we report experimental observations of n-heptane, n-octane, and n-decane droplets of varying initial sizes burning in oxygen/nitrogen/carbon dioxide and oxygen/helium/nitrogen environments at 1.0, 0.7, and 0.5 atmospheric pressures. The oxygen concentration in these tests varied in the range of 14% to 25% by volume. Large n-alkane droplets exhibited quasi-steady low-temperature burning and extinction following radiative extinction of the visible flame while smaller droplets burned to completion or disruptively extinguished. A vapor-cloud formed in most cases slightly prior to or following the "cool flame" extinction. Results for droplet burning rates in both the hot-flame and cool-flame regimes as well as droplet extinction diameters at the end of each stage are presented. Time histories of radiant emission from the droplet captured using broadband radiometers are also presented. Remarkably the "cool flame" extinction diameters for all the three n-alkanes follow a trend reminiscent of the ignition delay times observed in previous studies. The similarities and differences among the n-alkanes during "cool flame" combustion are discussed using simplified theoretical models of the phenomenon

Modelling of heating and evaporation of gasoline fuel droplets: A comparative analysis of approximations

KAUST Repository

Elwardani, Ahmed Elsaid

2013-09-01

Modelling of gasoline fuel droplet heating and evaporation processes is investigated using several approximations of this fuel. These are quasi-components used in the quasi-discrete model and the approximations of these quasi-components (Surrogate I (molar fractions: 83.0% n-C 6H14 + 15.6% n-C10H22 + 1.4% n-C14H30) and Surrogate II (molar fractions: 83.0% n-C7H16 + 15.6% n-C11H24 + 1.4% n-C15H32)). Also, we have used Surrogate A (molar fractions: 56% n-C7H16 + 28% iso-C8H 18 + 17% C7H8) and Surrogate B (molar fractions: 63% n-C7H16 + 20% iso-C8H 18 + 17% C7H8), originally introduced based on the closeness of the ignition delay of surrogates to that of gasoline fuel. The predictions of droplet radii and temperatures based on three quasi-components and their approximations (Surrogates I and II) are shown to be much more accurate than the predictions using Surrogates A and B. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering plant membranes using droplet interface bilayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlow, N E; Smpokou, E; Friddin, M S; Macey, R; Gould, I R; Turnbull, C; Flemming, A J; Brooks, N J; Ces, O; Barter, L M C

2017-03-01

Droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) have become widely recognised as a robust platform for constructing model membranes and are emerging as a key technology for the bottom-up assembly of synthetic cell-like and tissue-like structures. DIBs are formed when lipid-monolayer coated water droplets are brought together inside a well of oil, which is excluded from the interface as the DIB forms. The unique features of the system, compared to traditional approaches (e.g., supported lipid bilayers, black lipid membranes, and liposomes), is the ability to engineer multi-layered bilayer networks by connecting multiple droplets together in 3D, and the capability to impart bilayer asymmetry freely within these droplet architectures by supplying droplets with different lipids. Yet despite these achievements, one potential limitation of the technology is that DIBs formed from biologically relevant components have not been well studied. This could limit the reach of the platform to biological systems where bilayer composition and asymmetry are understood to play a key role. Herein, we address this issue by reporting the assembly of asymmetric DIBs designed to replicate the plasma membrane compositions of three different plant species; Arabidopsis thaliana , tobacco, and oats, by engineering vesicles with different amounts of plant phospholipids, sterols and cerebrosides for the first time. We show that vesicles made from our plant lipid formulations are stable and can be used to assemble asymmetric plant DIBs. We verify this using a bilayer permeation assay, from which we extract values for absolute effective bilayer permeation and bilayer stability. Our results confirm that stable DIBs can be assembled from our plant membrane mimics and could lead to new approaches for assembling model systems to study membrane translocation and to screen new agrochemicals in plants.

Evaluation of evaporation coefficient for micro-droplets exposed to low pressure: A semi-analytical approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chakraborty, Prodyut R., E-mail: pchakraborty@iitj.ac.in [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, 342011 (India); Hiremath, Kirankumar R., E-mail: k.r.hiremath@iitj.ac.in [Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, 342011 (India); Sharma, Manvendra, E-mail: PG201283003@iitj.ac.in [Defence Laboratory Jodhpur, Defence Research & Development Organisation, 342011 (India)

2017-02-05

Evaporation rate of water is strongly influenced by energy barrier due to molecular collision and heat transfer limitations. The evaporation coefficient, defined as the ratio of experimentally measured evaporation rate to that maximum possible theoretical limit, varies over a conflicting three orders of magnitude. In the present work, a semi-analytical transient heat diffusion model of droplet evaporation is developed considering the effect of change in droplet size due to evaporation from its surface, when the droplet is injected into vacuum. Negligible effect of droplet size reduction due to evaporation on cooling rate is found to be true. However, the evaporation coefficient is found to approach theoretical limit of unity, when the droplet radius is less than that of mean free path of vapor molecules on droplet surface contrary to the reported theoretical predictions. Evaporation coefficient was found to reduce rapidly when the droplet under consideration has a radius larger than the mean free path of evaporating molecules, confirming the molecular collision barrier to evaporation rate. The trend of change in evaporation coefficient with increasing droplet size predicted by the proposed model will facilitate obtaining functional relation of evaporation coefficient with droplet size, and can be used for benchmarking the interaction between multiple droplets during evaporation in vacuum.

Evaluation of evaporation coefficient for micro-droplets exposed to low pressure: A semi-analytical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakraborty, Prodyut R.; Hiremath, Kirankumar R.; Sharma, Manvendra

2017-01-01

Evaporation rate of water is strongly influenced by energy barrier due to molecular collision and heat transfer limitations. The evaporation coefficient, defined as the ratio of experimentally measured evaporation rate to that maximum possible theoretical limit, varies over a conflicting three orders of magnitude. In the present work, a semi-analytical transient heat diffusion model of droplet evaporation is developed considering the effect of change in droplet size due to evaporation from its surface, when the droplet is injected into vacuum. Negligible effect of droplet size reduction due to evaporation on cooling rate is found to be true. However, the evaporation coefficient is found to approach theoretical limit of unity, when the droplet radius is less than that of mean free path of vapor molecules on droplet surface contrary to the reported theoretical predictions. Evaporation coefficient was found to reduce rapidly when the droplet under consideration has a radius larger than the mean free path of evaporating molecules, confirming the molecular collision barrier to evaporation rate. The trend of change in evaporation coefficient with increasing droplet size predicted by the proposed model will facilitate obtaining functional relation of evaporation coefficient with droplet size, and can be used for benchmarking the interaction between multiple droplets during evaporation in vacuum.

Evaluating the capabilities and uncertainties of droplet measurements for the fog droplet spectrometer (FM-100

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. K. Spiegel

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Droplet size spectra measurements are crucial to obtain a quantitative microphysical description of clouds and fog. However, cloud droplet size measurements are subject to various uncertainties. This work focuses on the error analysis of two key measurement uncertainties arising during cloud droplet size measurements with a conventional droplet size spectrometer (FM-100: first, we addressed the precision with which droplets can be sized with the FM-100 on the basis of the Mie theory. We deduced error assumptions and proposed a new method on how to correct measured size distributions for these errors by redistributing the measured droplet size distribution using a stochastic approach. Second, based on a literature study, we summarized corrections for particle losses during sampling with the FM-100. We applied both corrections to cloud droplet size spectra measured at the high alpine site Jungfraujoch for a temperature range from 0 °C to 11 °C. We showed that Mie scattering led to spikes in the droplet size distributions using the default sizing procedure, while the new stochastic approach reproduced the ambient size distribution adequately. A detailed analysis of the FM-100 sampling efficiency revealed that particle losses were typically below 10% for droplet diameters up to 10 μm. For larger droplets, particle losses can increase up to 90% for the largest droplets of 50 μm at ambient wind speeds below 4.4 m s⁻¹ and even to >90% for larger angles between the instrument orientation and the wind vector (sampling angle at higher wind speeds. Comparisons of the FM-100 to other reference instruments revealed that the total liquid water content (LWC measured by the FM-100 was more sensitive to particle losses than to re-sizing based on Mie scattering, while the total number concentration was only marginally influenced by particle losses. Consequently, for further LWC measurements with the FM-100 we strongly recommend to consider (1 the

Numerical simulation of droplet evaporation between two circular plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bam, Hang Jin; Son, Gi Hun

2015-01-01

Numerical simulation is performed for droplet evaporation between two circular plates. The flow and thermal characteristics of the droplet evaporation are numerically investigated by solving the conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy and mass fraction in the liquid and gas phases. The liquid-gas interface is tracked by a sharp-interface level-set method which is modified to include the effects of evaporation at the liquid-gas interface and contact angle hysteresis at the liquid-gas-solid contact line. An analytical model to predict the droplet evaporation is also developed by simplifying the mass and vapor fraction equations in the gas phase. The numerical results demonstrate that the 1-D analytical prediction is not applicable to the high rate evaporation process. The effects of plate gap and receding contact angle on the droplet evaporation are also quantified.

Photoacoustic measurements of photokinetics in single optically trapped aerosol droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Covert, Paul; Cremer, Johannes; Signorell, Ruth; Thaler, Klemens; Haisch, Christoph

2017-04-01

It is well established that interaction of light with atmospheric aerosols has a large impact on the Earth's climate. However, uncertainties in the magnitude of this impact remain large, due in part to broad distributions of aerosol size, composition, and chemical reactivity. In this context, photoacoustic spectroscopy is commonly used to measure light absorption by aerosols. Here, we present photoacoustic measurements of single, optically-trapped nanodroplets to reveal droplet size-depencies of photochemical and physical processes. Theoretical considerations have pointed to a size-dependence in the magnitude and phase of the photoacoustic response from aerosol droplets. This dependence is thought to originate from heat transfer processes that are slow compared to the acoustic excitation frequency. In the case of a model aerosol, our measurements of single particle absorption cross-section versus droplet size confirm these theoretical predictions. In a related study, using the same model aerosol, we also demonstrate a droplet size-dependence of photochemical reaction rates [1]. Within sub-micron sized particles, photolysis rates were observed to be an order of magnitude greater than those observed in larger droplets. [1] J. W. Cremer, K. M. Thaler, C. Haisch, and R. Signorell. Photoacoustics of single laser-trapped nanodroplets for the direct observation of nanofocusing in aerosol photokinetics. Nat. Commun., 7:10941, 2016.

Grouping and trapping of evaporating droplets in an oscillating gas flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katoshevski, David; Shakked, Tal; Sazhin, Sergei S.; Crua, Cyril; Heikal, Morgan R.

2008-01-01

A new approach to the analysis of droplet grouping in an oscillating gas flow is suggested. This is based on the investigation of droplet trajectories in the frame of reference moving with the phase velocity of the wave. Although the equations involved are relatively simple, the analysis shows distinctive characteristics of grouping and non-grouping cases. In the case of grouping, droplet trajectories converge to the points for which the ratio of flow velocity in this frame of reference and the amplitude of flow oscillations is less than 1, and the cosine of the arc sine of this ratio is positive. In the case of non-grouping, droplet trajectories in this frame of reference oscillate around the translational velocity close to the velocity of flow in the same frame of reference. The effect of droplet size on the grouping pattern is investigated. It has been pointed out that for the smaller droplets much more stable grouping is observed. The effect of droplet evaporation is studied in the limiting case when the contribution of the heat-up period can be ignored. It is shown that evaporation can lead to droplet grouping even in the case when the non-evaporating droplets are not grouped. This is related to the reduction in droplet diameter during the evaporation process. Coupling between gas and droplets is shown to decrease the grouping tendency. A qualitative agreement between predictions of the model and in-house experimental observations referring to Diesel engine sprays has been demonstrated

Growth Kinetics of the Homogeneously Nucleated Water Droplets: Simulation Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mokshin, Anatolii V; Galimzyanov, Bulat N

2012-01-01

The growth of homogeneously nucleated droplets in water vapor at the fixed temperatures T = 273, 283, 293, 303, 313, 323, 333, 343, 353, 363 and 373 K (the pressure p = 1 atm.) is investigated on the basis of the coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation data with the mW-model. The treatment of simulation results is performed by means of the statistical method within the mean-first-passage-time approach, where the reaction coordinate is associated with the largest droplet size. It is found that the water droplet growth is characterized by the next features: (i) the rescaled growth law is unified at all the considered temperatures and (ii) the droplet growth evolves with acceleration and follows the power law.

Numerical study of droplet evaporation in an acoustic levitator

Science.gov (United States)

Bänsch, Eberhard; Götz, Michael

2018-03-01

We present a finite element method for the simulation of all relevant processes of the evaporation of a liquid droplet suspended in an acoustic levitation device. The mathematical model and the numerical implementation take into account heat and mass transfer across the interface between the liquid and gaseous phase and the influence of acoustic streaming on this process, as well as the displacement and deformation of the droplet due to acoustic radiation pressure. We apply this numerical method to several theoretical and experimental examples and compare our results with the well-known d2-law for the evaporation of spherical droplets and with theoretical predictions for the acoustic streaming velocity. We study the influence of acoustic streaming on the distribution of water vapor and temperature in the levitation device, with special attention to the vapor distribution in the emerging toroidal vortices. We also compare the evaporation rate of a droplet with and without acoustic streaming, as well as the evaporation rates in dependence of different temperatures and sound pressure levels. Finally, a simple model of protein inactivation due to heat damage is considered and studied for different evaporation settings and their respective influence on protein damage.

Theoretical analysis for the optical deformation of emulsion droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Tapp, David; Taylor, Jonathan M; Lubansky, Alex S; Bain, Colin D; Chakrabarti, Buddhapriya

2014-02-24

We propose a theoretical framework to predict the three-dimensional shapes of optically deformed micron-sized emulsion droplets with ultra-low interfacial tension. The resulting shape and size of the droplet arises out of a balance between the interfacial tension and optical forces. Using an approximation of the laser field as a Gaussian beam, working within the Rayleigh-Gans regime and assuming isotropic surface energy at the oil-water interface, we numerically solve the resulting shape equations to elucidate the three-dimensional droplet geometry. We obtain a plethora of shapes as a function of the number of optical tweezers, their laser powers and positions, surface tension, initial droplet size and geometry. Experimentally, two-dimensional droplet silhouettes have been imaged from above, but their full side-on view has not been observed and reported for current optical configurations. This experimental limitation points to ambiguity in differentiating between droplets having the same two-dimensional projection but with disparate three-dimensional shapes. Our model elucidates and quantifies this difference for the first time. We also provide a dimensionless number that indicates the shape transformation (ellipsoidal to dumbbell) at a value ≈ 1.0, obtained by balancing interfacial tension and laser forces, substantiated using a data collapse.

Investigation of a piezoelectric droplet delivery method for fuel injection and physical property evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Wei; Menon, Shyam

2017-11-01

A piezoelectric droplet generator is investigated to deliver liquid hydrocarbon fuels to a micro-combustor application. Besides fuel delivery, the setup is intended to measure fuel physical properties such as viscosity and surface tension. These properties are highly relevant to spray generation in internal combustion engines. Accordingly, a drop-on-demand piezoelectric dispenser is used to generate fuel droplet trains, which are studied using imaging and Phase Doppler Particle Anemometry (PDPA). The diagnostics provide information regarding droplet size and velocity and their evolution over time. The measurements are correlated with results from one-dimensional (1D) models that incorporate sub-models for piezo-electric actuation and droplet vaporization. By validating the 1D models for fuels with known physical properties, a technique is developed that has the capability to meter low-vapor pressure liquid fuels to the microcombustor and use information from the droplet train to calculate physical properties of novel fuels.

EVAPORATIVE DROPLETS IN ONE-COMPONENT FLUIDS DRIVEN BY THERMAL GRADIENTS ON SOLID SUBSTRATES

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

2013-01-01

A continuum hydrodynamic model is presented for one-component liquid-gas flows on nonisothermal solid substrates. Numerical simulations are carried out for evaporative droplets moving on substrates with thermal gradients. For droplets in one-component fluids on heated/cooled substrates, the free liquid-gas interfaces are nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line while the Marangoni effect due to interfacial temperature variation is suppressed. Through evaporation/condensation near the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. Due to this effect, droplets will move toward the cold end on substrates with thermal gradients. The droplet migration velocity is found to be proportional to the change of substrate temperature across the droplet. It follows that for two droplets of different sizes on a substrate with temperature gradient, the larger droplet moves faster and will catch up with the smaller droplet ahead. As soon as they touch, they coalesce rapidly into an even larger droplet that will move even faster. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.

EVAPORATIVE DROPLETS IN ONE-COMPONENT FLUIDS DRIVEN BY THERMAL GRADIENTS ON SOLID SUBSTRATES

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng

2013-03-20

A continuum hydrodynamic model is presented for one-component liquid-gas flows on nonisothermal solid substrates. Numerical simulations are carried out for evaporative droplets moving on substrates with thermal gradients. For droplets in one-component fluids on heated/cooled substrates, the free liquid-gas interfaces are nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line while the Marangoni effect due to interfacial temperature variation is suppressed. Through evaporation/condensation near the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. Due to this effect, droplets will move toward the cold end on substrates with thermal gradients. The droplet migration velocity is found to be proportional to the change of substrate temperature across the droplet. It follows that for two droplets of different sizes on a substrate with temperature gradient, the larger droplet moves faster and will catch up with the smaller droplet ahead. As soon as they touch, they coalesce rapidly into an even larger droplet that will move even faster. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Control of charged droplets using electrohydrodynamic repulsion for circular droplet patterning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Bumjoo; Sung, Jungwoo; Lim, Geunbae; Nam, Hyoryung; Kim, Sung Jae; Joo, Sang W

2011-01-01

We report a novel method to form a circular pattern of monodisperse microdroplets using an electrohydrodynamic repulsion (EDR) mechanism. EDR is a phenomenon of electrostatical bounced microdroplets from an accumulated droplet on a bottom substrate. In addition to a regular EDR system, by placing a ring electrode between the capillary and ground substrate, two separate regions were created. A parameter study of two regions was carried out for droplet formation and falling velocity to control the radius of the generated droplets and the circular patterns independently. Based on energy conservation theory, our experimental results showed that the free-falling region exerted crucial influences on the sizes of the circular patterns

High-resolution liquid patterns via three-dimensional droplet shape control.

Science.gov (United States)

Raj, Rishi; Adera, Solomon; Enright, Ryan; Wang, Evelyn N

2014-09-25

Understanding liquid dynamics on surfaces can provide insight into nature's design and enable fine manipulation capability in biological, manufacturing, microfluidic and thermal management applications. Of particular interest is the ability to control the shape of the droplet contact area on the surface, which is typically circular on a smooth homogeneous surface. Here, we show the ability to tailor various droplet contact area shapes ranging from squares, rectangles, hexagons, octagons, to dodecagons via the design of the structure or chemical heterogeneity on the surface. We simultaneously obtain the necessary physical insights to develop a universal model for the three-dimensional droplet shape by characterizing the droplet side and top profiles. Furthermore, arrays of droplets with controlled shapes and high spatial resolution can be achieved using this approach. This liquid-based patterning strategy promises low-cost fabrication of integrated circuits, conductive patterns and bio-microarrays for high-density information storage and miniaturized biochips and biosensors, among others.

Breakup, instabilities, and dynamics of high-speed droplet under transcritical conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanfei Gao

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A droplet breakup model is developed for a single droplet introduced into transcritical and strong convective environments. The numerical model takes into account variable thermophysical properties, gas solubility in the liquid phase, and vapor–liquid interfacial thermodynamics. The influences of ambient conditions on droplet breakup characteristics are investigated. The results indicate that (1 the drag acceleration decreases slowly at first and then increases drastically with the initial droplet temperature increasing, but always increases at a constant rate with ambient pressure; (2 the pressure and the drop temperature have similar effects on the Kelvin–Helmholtz and Rayleigh–Taylor wave growth at high pressures (reduced pressure higher than 1.2 and high temperatures (reduced temperature higher than 0.7, but the impact of pressure on the wave growth is relatively stronger than that of droplet temperature at relatively low pressures (reduced pressure lower than 0.8 and low temperatures (reduced temperature lower than 0.63; (3 the temperature significantly affects the surface instability growth at high drop temperatures (reduced temperature higher than 0.7, but has no effect on the instability growth at low temperatures (reduced temperature lower than 0.63.

Droplet dispersion angle measurements on a Pease-Antony Venturi scrubber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. G. Puentes

2012-03-01

Full Text Available A Pease-Anthony Venturi scrubber is a gas cleaning device that uses liquid, injected in the equipment as jets, to remove contaminants from the gas. The liquid jet is atomized into droplets, which are dispersed throughout the equipment due to the turbulence. The performance of the scrubber is affected by the spatial distribution of the droplets. Although CFD models have been used to predict the droplet dispersion, these models are expensive. Alternatively, the concept of "jet spreading angle" could be used as a simple and quick way to estimate droplet dispersion. The purpose of this paper is to measure the spreading angle of jets transversally injected into the throat of a Venturi scrubber and correlate it with both gas and jet velocities. The throat gas velocities varied between 59 and 74 m/s and the jet velocity between 3.18 and 19.1 m/s. The angles were measured through image analysis, obtained with high velocity photography. The spreading angle was found to be strongly dependent on jet velocity.

Selfbound quantum droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Langen, Tim; Wenzel, Matthias; Schmitt, Matthias; Boettcher, Fabian; Buehner, Carl; Ferrier-Barbut, Igor; Pfau, Tilman

2017-04-01

Self-bound many-body systems are formed through a balance of attractive and repulsive forces and occur in many physical scenarios. Liquid droplets are an example of a self-bound system, formed by a balance of the mutual attractive and repulsive forces that derive from different components of the inter-particle potential. On the basis of the recent finding that an unstable bosonic dipolar gas can be stabilized by a repulsive many-body term, it was predicted that three-dimensional self-bound quantum droplets of magnetic atoms should exist. Here we report on the observation of such droplets using dysprosium atoms, with densities 108 times lower than a helium droplet, in a trap-free levitation field. We find that this dilute magnetic quantum liquid requires a minimum, critical number of atoms, below which the liquid evaporates into an expanding gas as a result of the quantum pressure of the individual constituents. Consequently, around this critical atom number we observe an interaction-driven phase transition between a gas and a self-bound liquid in the quantum degenerate regime with ultracold atoms.

Free Surface Waves And Interacting Bouncing Droplets: A Parametric Resonance Case Study

KAUST Repository

Borja, Francisco J.

2013-01-01

Parametric resonance is a particular type of resonance in which a parameter in a system changes with time. A particularly interesting case is when the parameter changes in a periodic way, which can lead to very intricate behavior. This di↵ers from periodic forcing in that solutions are not necessarily periodic. A system in which parametric resonance is realized is when a fluid bath is shaken periodically, which leads to an e↵ective time dependent gravitational force. This system will be used to study the onset of surface waves in a bath with non-uniform topography. A linear model for the surface waves is derived from the Euler equations in the limit of shallow waves, which includes the geometry of the bottom and surface tension. Experiments are performed to compare with the proposed model and good qualitative agreement is found. Another experiment which relies on a shaking fluid bath is that of bouncing fluid droplets. In the case of two droplets the shaking allows for a larger bouncing droplet to attract a smaller moving droplet in a way that creates a bound system. This bound system is studied and shows some analogous properties to quantum systems, so a quantum mechanical model for a two dimensional atom is studied, as well as a proposed model for the droplet-wave system in terms of equations of fluid mechanics.

Free Surface Waves And Interacting Bouncing Droplets: A Parametric Resonance Case Study

KAUST Repository

Borja, Francisco J.

2013-07-01

Parametric resonance is a particular type of resonance in which a parameter in a system changes with time. A particularly interesting case is when the parameter changes in a periodic way, which can lead to very intricate behavior. This di↵ers from periodic forcing in that solutions are not necessarily periodic. A system in which parametric resonance is realized is when a fluid bath is shaken periodically, which leads to an e↵ective time dependent gravitational force. This system will be used to study the onset of surface waves in a bath with non-uniform topography. A linear model for the surface waves is derived from the Euler equations in the limit of shallow waves, which includes the geometry of the bottom and surface tension. Experiments are performed to compare with the proposed model and good qualitative agreement is found. Another experiment which relies on a shaking fluid bath is that of bouncing fluid droplets. In the case of two droplets the shaking allows for a larger bouncing droplet to attract a smaller moving droplet in a way that creates a bound system. This bound system is studied and shows some analogous properties to quantum systems, so a quantum mechanical model for a two dimensional atom is studied, as well as a proposed model for the droplet-wave system in terms of equations of fluid mechanics.

L2 droplet interaction with α-Al during solidification of hypermonotectic Al-8 wt.% Bi alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaffer, P.L.; Mathiesen, R.H.; Arnberg, L.

2009-01-01

Studies of Al-based hypermonotectics have so far focused mainly on droplet motion and coagulation dynamics, with limited attention given to the interaction between droplets and the advancing solidification front which is decisive for the final distribution of the second phase within the α-Al matrix. The current work presents results from directional solidification experiments with Al-8 wt.% Bi alloys. It was found that droplets with large radii were frequently pushed and small droplets were engulfed. This is contradictory to the many models that have been proposed to explain pushing/engulfment of solid particles and can in part be ascribed to the fact that while solid-particle models only consider single, non-interacting particles that remain unaffected by solutal gradients ahead of the advancing solidification front, droplet-droplet interaction and local solute gradients have been found to be critical for droplet pushing/engulfment behaviour in hypermonotectic alloys.

Numerical Simulation on Head-On Binary Collision of Gel Propellant Droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zejun Liu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Binary collision of droplets is a fundamental form of droplet interaction in the spraying flow field. In order to reveal the central collision mechanism of two gel droplets with equal diameters, an axi-symmetric form of the Navier-Stokes equations are firstly solved and the method of VOF (volume of fluid is utilized to track the evolution of the gas-liquid free interface. Then, the numerical computation model is validated with Qian’s experimental results on Newtonian liquids. Phenomena of rebound, coalescence and reflexive separation of droplets after collision are investigated, and structures of the complicated flow fields during the collision process are also analyzed in detail. Results show that the maximum shear rate will appear at the point where the flow is redirected and accelerated. Rebound of droplets is determined by the Weber number and viscosity of the fluid together. It can be concluded that the gel droplets are easier to rebound in comparison with the base fluid droplets. The results also show that the alternant appearance along with the deformation of droplets in the radial and axial direction is the main characteristic of the droplet coalescence process, and the deformation amplitude attenuates gradually. Moreover, the reflexive separation process of droplets can be divided into three distinctive stages including the radial expansion, the recovery of the spherical shape, and the axial extension and reflexive separation. The variation trend of the kinetic energy is opposite to that of the surface energy. The maximum deformation of droplets appears in the radial expansion stage; in the case of a low Weber number, the minimum central thickness of a droplet appears later than its maximum deformation, however, this result is on the contrary in the case of a high Weber number.

Explosive Leidenfrost droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Colinet, Pierre; Moreau, Florian; Dorbolo, Stéphane

2017-11-01

We show that Leidenfrost droplets made of an aqueous solution of surfactant undergo a violent explosion in a wide range of initial volumes and concentrations. This unexpected behavior turns out to be triggered by the formation of a gel-like shell, followed by a sharp temperature increase. Comparing a simple model of the radial surfactant distribution inside a spherical droplet with experiments allows highlighting the existence of a critical surface concentration for the shell to form. The temperature rise (attributed to boiling point elevation with surface concentration) is a key feature leading to the explosion, instead of the implosion (buckling) scenario reported by other authors. Indeed, under some conditions, this temperature increase is shown to be sufficient to trigger nucleation and growth of vapor bubbles in the highly superheated liquid bulk, stretching the surrounding elastic shell up to its rupture limit. The successive timescales characterizing this explosion sequence are also discussed. Funding sources: F.R.S. - FNRS (ODILE and DITRASOL projects, RD and SRA positions of P. Colinet and S. Dorbolo), BELSPO (IAP 7/38 MicroMAST project).

Ordering and stability in lipid droplets with applications to low-density lipoproteins

Science.gov (United States)

Lancaster, Jarrett L.; Antonijevic, Todor; Starobin, Joseph M.

2014-06-01

In this article, we present a framework for investigating the order-disorder transition in lipid droplets using the standard Ising model. While a single lipid droplet is itself a complex system whose constituent cholesteryl esters each possesses many degrees of freedom, we present justification for using this effective approach to isolate the underlying physics. It is argued that the behavior of the esters confined within lipid droplets is significantly different from that of a bulk system of similar esters, which is adequately described by continuum mean-field theory in the thermodynamic limit. When the droplet's shell is modeled as an elastic membrane, a simple picture emerges for a transition between two ordered phases within the core which is tuned by the strength of interactions between the esters. Triglyceride concentration is proposed as a variable which strongly influences the strength of interactions between cholesteryl esters within droplets. The possible relevance of this mechanism to the well known atherogenic nature of small low-density lipoprotein particles is discussed in detail.

On the relevance of droplet sedimentation in stratocumulus-top mixing

Science.gov (United States)

Mellado, Juan Pedro; de Lozar, Alberto

2017-11-01

The interaction between droplet sedimentation, turbulent mixing, evaporative cooling, and radiative cooling at the top of stratocumulus clouds has been studied using direct numerical simulations. This interaction is important to determine the mixing rate of the cloud and dry air above it, which eventually determines the cloud lifetime. By investigating the entrainment-rate equation, which is an analytical relationship between the contributions to cloud-top entrainment from the phenomena indicated above, we have found that the reduction of entrainment velocity by droplet sedimentation can be 2 to 3 times larger than previously conjectured. The reason is twofold. First, the reduction of evaporative cooling as droplets fall out of the inversion is stronger than previously observed in large-eddy simulations, where excessive mixing by turbulence models and numerical artifacts may have partially masked this effect of sedimentation on entrainment. Second, there is a non-negligible direct contribution from mass loading, as falling droplets leave behind more buoyant air in the inversion. This contribution is proportional to the fifth moment of the droplet-size distribution, which provides further evidence for the need to better understand the evolution of the droplet-size distribution.

Collective oscillations and coupled modes in confined microfluidic droplet arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Schiller, Ulf D.; Fleury, Jean-Baptiste; Seemann, Ralf; Gompper, Gerhard

Microfluidic droplets have a wide range of applications ranging from analytic assays in cellular biology to controlled mixing in chemical engineering. Ensembles of microfluidic droplets are interesting model systems for non-equilibrium many-body phenomena. When flowing in a microchannel, trains of droplets can form microfluidic crystals whose dynamics are governed by long-range hydrodynamic interactions and boundary effects. In this contribution, excitation mechanisms for collective waves in dense and confined microfluidic droplet arrays are investigated by experiments and computer simulations. We demonstrate that distinct modes can be excited by creating specific `defect' patterns in flowing droplet trains. While longitudinal modes exhibit a short-lived cascade of pairs of laterally displacing droplets, transversely excited modes form propagating waves that behave like microfluidic phonons. We show that the confinement induces a coupling between longitudinal and transverse modes. We also investigate the life time of the collective oscillations and discuss possible mechanisms for the onset of instabilities. Our results demonstrate that microfluidic phonons can exhibit effects beyond the linear theory, which can be studied particularly well in dense and confined systems. This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Grant No. SE 1118/4.

Chip-based droplet sorting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beer, Neil Reginald; Lee, Abraham; Hatch, Andrew

2017-11-21

A non-contact system for sorting monodisperse water-in-oil emulsion droplets in a microfluidic device based on the droplet's contents and their interaction with an applied electromagnetic field or by identification and sorting.

A kinetic model of droplet heating and evaporation: Effects of inelastic collisions and a non-unity evaporation coefficient

KAUST Repository

Sazhin, Sergei S.; Xie, Jianfei; Shishkova, Irina N.; Elwardani, Ahmed Elsaid; Heikal, Morgan Raymond

2013-01-01

The previously developed kinetic model for droplet heating and evaporation into a high pressure air is generalised to take into account the combined effects of inelastic collisions between molecules in the kinetic region, a non-unity evaporation

Nanoparticle motion on the surface of drying droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Mingfei; Yong, Xin

2018-03-01

Advances in solution-based printing and surface patterning techniques for additive manufacturing demand a clear understanding of particle dynamics in drying colloidal droplets and its relationship with deposit structure. Although the evaporation-driven deposition has been studied thoroughly for the particles dispersed in the bulk of the droplet, few investigations have focused on the particles strongly adsorbed to the droplet surface. We modeled the assembly and deposition of the surface-active particles in a drying sessile droplet with a pinned contact line by the multiphase lattice Boltzmann-Brownian dynamics method. The particle trajectory and its area density profile characterize the assembly dynamics and deposition pattern development during evaporation. While the bulk-dispersed particles continuously move to the contact line, forming the typical "coffee-ring" deposit, the interface-bound particles migrate first toward the apex and then to the contact line as the droplet dries out. To understand this unexpected behavior, we resolve the droplet velocity field both in the bulk and within the interfacial region. The simulation results agree well with the analytical solution for the Stokes flow inside an evaporating droplet. At different stages of evaporation, our study reveals that the competition between the tangential surface flow and the downward motion of the evaporating liquid-vapor interface governs the dynamics of the interface-bound particles. In particular, the interface displacement contributes to the particle motion toward the droplet apex in a short phase, while the outward advective flow prevails at the late stage of drying and carries the particles to the contact line. The final deposit of the surface-adsorbed particles exhibits a density enhancement at the center, in addition to a coffee ring. Despite its small influence on the final deposit in the present study, the distinct dynamics of surface-active particles due to the interfacial confinement

Hydrodynamics and PIV study in the impingement zone formed by a droplet train

Science.gov (United States)

Kanjirakat, Anoop; Sadr, Reza; Zhang, Taolue; Muthusamy, Jayaveera; Alvarado, Jorge; Texas A; M University at Qatar Collaboration; Texas A; M University College Station Collaboration

2016-11-01

Droplet impingement is encountered in numerous technical applications, such as ink jet printing, spray cooling, and fuel injection in internal combustion engines. Even though many studies in droplet impingement were conducted in past, not many have measured the near-wall velocities in the droplet impingement zone. With the goal of gaining a better understanding of the hydrodynamics in the impingement zone, well-controlled experiments are performed in combination with micro-PIV measurements and numerical simulations. Hydrodynamics of HFE-7100 droplets generated using a piezoelectric droplet generator, impinging on a pre-wetted surface is investigated. Micro-PIV studies in the high-velocity impingement zone are performed using one-micron meter fluorescent particles dispersed in HFE-7100 along with the double exposed images. Three-dimensional and 2D-axisymmetric numerical modeling for a transient droplet crown development is performed. The interface between the gas and the liquid is modeled using a Volume of Fluid (VOF) method. Numerical simulation results obtained are observed to be in good agreement with that of the experimental observations. Supported by National Priority Research Program (NPRP) of Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), Grant No.: NPRP 6-1304-2-525.

The thermal-hydraulic fundamental experiment for the development of characteristic droplet behavior model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

No, Hee Cheon; Moon, Young Min; Lee, Kyung Won; Lee, Sang Ik; Kim, Eung Su; Kim, Ji Hwan [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2005-04-15

The main objective of this study are to develop the droplet behavior model in the upper plenum during the reflood phase of LBLOCA. We investigated the water accumulation and CCFL phenomena at UCSP, liquid carry-over rate into a hot-leg, the de-entrainment efficiency of vertical rods, and the de-entrainment rate on the inside wall of horizontal pipe. In addition, we investigated the parametric effects of various experimental conditions on the water accumulation and CCFL, and on the de-entrainment phenomena.

Assessment of water droplet evaporation mechanisms on hydrophobic and superhydrophobic substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Zhenhai; Dash, Susmita; Weibel, Justin A; Garimella, Suresh V

2013-12-23

Evaporation rates are predicted and important transport mechanisms identified for evaporation of water droplets on hydrophobic (contact angle ~110°) and superhydrophobic (contact angle ~160°) substrates. Analytical models for droplet evaporation in the literature are usually simplified to include only vapor diffusion in the gas domain, and the system is assumed to be isothermal. In the comprehensive model developed in this study, evaporative cooling of the interface is accounted for, and vapor concentration is coupled to local temperature at the interface. Conjugate heat and mass transfer are solved in the solid substrate, liquid droplet, and surrounding gas. Buoyancy-driven convective flows in the droplet and vapor domains are also simulated. The influences of evaporative cooling and convection on the evaporation characteristics are determined quantitatively. The liquid-vapor interface temperature drop induced by evaporative cooling suppresses evaporation, while gas-phase natural convection acts to enhance evaporation. While the effects of these competing transport mechanisms are observed to counterbalance for evaporation on a hydrophobic surface, the stronger influence of evaporative cooling on a superhydrophobic surface accounts for an overprediction of experimental evaporation rates by ~20% with vapor diffusion-based models. The local evaporation fluxes along the liquid-vapor interface for both hydrophobic and superhydrophobic substrates are investigated. The highest local evaporation flux occurs at the three-phase contact line region due to proximity to the higher temperature substrate, rather than at the relatively colder droplet top; vapor diffusion-based models predict the opposite. The numerically calculated evaporation rates agree with experimental results to within 2% for superhydrophobic substrates and 3% for hydrophobic substrates. The large deviations between past analytical models and the experimental data are therefore reconciled with the

Droplets bouncing on a standing wave field

Science.gov (United States)

Pucci, Giuseppe; Tambasco, Lucas; Harris, Daniel; Bush, John

2017-11-01

A liquid bath subject to a vertical vibration becomes unstable to standing surface waves at a critical vibrational acceleration known as the Faraday threshold. We examine the behavior of a millimetric droplet bouncing on the surface of a quasi-one-dimensional fluid channel above the Faraday threshold. We identify a sequence of bifurcations that occurs as the vibrational acceleration is increased progressively, ultimately leading to the erratic, diffusive motion of the droplet along the length of the channel. A simple theoretical model is presented. This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation through Grants CMMI-1333242 and DMS-1614043.

Methanol Droplet Combustion in Oxygen-Inert Environments in Microgravity

Science.gov (United States)

Nayagam, Vedha; Dietrich, Daniel L.; Hicks, Michael C.; Williams, Forman A.

2013-01-01

The Flame Extinguishment (FLEX) experiment that is currently underway in the Combustion Integrated Rack facility onboard the International Space Station is aimed at understanding the effects of inert diluents on the flammability of condensed phase fuels. To this end, droplets of various fuels, including alkanes and alcohols, are burned in a quiescent microgravity environment with varying amounts of oxygen and inert diluents to determine the limiting oxygen index (LOI) for these fuels. In this study we report experimental observations of methanol droplets burning in oxygen-nitrogen-carbon dioxide and oxygen-nitrogen-helium gas mixtures at 0.7 and 1 atmospheric pressures. The initial droplet size varied between approximately 1.5 mm and 4 mm to capture both diffusive extinction brought about by insufficient residence time at the flame and radiative extinction caused by excessive heat loss from the flame zone. The ambient oxygen concentration varied from a high value of 30% by volume to as low as 12%, approaching the limiting oxygen index for the fuel. The inert dilution by carbon dioxide and helium varied over a range of 0% to 70% by volume. In these experiments, both freely floated and tethered droplets were ignited using symmetrically opposed hot-wire igniters and the burning histories were recorded onboard using digital cameras, downlinked later to the ground for analysis. The digital images yielded droplet and flame diameters as functions of time and subsequently droplet burning rate, flame standoff ratio, and initial and extinction droplet diameters. Simplified theoretical models correlate the measured burning rate constant and the flame standoff ratio reasonably well. An activation energy asymptotic theory accounting for time-dependent water dissolution or evaporation from the droplet is shown to predict the measured diffusive extinction conditions well. The experiments also show that the limiting oxygen index for methanol in these diluent gases is around 12% to

Numerical study of droplet evaporation in coupled high-temperature and electrostatic fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziwen Zuo

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The evaporation of a sessile water droplet under the coupled electrostatic and high-temperature fields is studied numerically. The leaky dielectric model and boiling point evaporation model are used for calculating the electric force and heat mass transfer. The free surface is captured using the volume of fluid method accounting for the variable surface tension and the transition of physical properties across the interface. The flow behaviors and temperature evolutions in different applied fields are predicted. It shows that in the coupled fields, the external electrostatic field restrains the flow inside the droplet and keeps a steady circulation. The flow velocity is reduced due to the interaction between electric body force and the force caused by temperature gradient. The heat transfer from air into the droplet is reduced by the lower flow velocity. The evaporation rate of the droplet in the high-temperature field is decreased.

Particle Manipulation Methods in Droplet Microfluidics.

Science.gov (United States)

Tenje, Maria; Fornell, Anna; Ohlin, Mathias; Nilsson, Johan

2018-02-06

This Feature describes the different particle manipulation techniques available in the droplet microfluidics toolbox to handle particles encapsulated inside droplets and to manipulate whole droplets. We address the advantages and disadvantages of the different techniques to guide new users.

Colliding droplets: A short film presentation

Science.gov (United States)

Hendricks, C. D.

1981-12-01

A series of experiments were performed in which liquid droplets were caused to collide. Impact velocities to several meters per second and droplet diameters up to 600 micrometers were used. The impact parameters in the collisions vary from zero to greater than the sum of the droplet radii. Photographs of the collisions were taken with a high speed framing camera in order to study the impacts and subsequent behavior of the droplets.

Electrical actuation of electrically conducting and insulating droplets using ac and dc voltages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumari, N; Bahadur, V; Garimella, S V

2008-01-01

Electrical actuation of liquid droplets at the microscale offers promising applications in the fields of microfluidics and lab-on-chip devices. Much prior research has targeted the electrical actuation of electrically conducting liquid droplets using dc voltages (classical electrowetting). Electrical actuation of conducting droplets using ac voltages and the actuation of insulating droplets (using dc or ac voltages) has remained relatively unexplored. This paper utilizes an energy-minimization-based analytical framework to study the electrical actuation of a liquid droplet (electrically conducting or insulating) under ac actuation. It is shown that the electromechanical regimes of classical electrowetting, electrowetting under ac actuation and insulating droplet actuation can be extracted from the generic electromechanical actuation framework, depending on the electrical properties of the droplet, the underlying dielectric layer and the frequency of the actuation voltage. This paper also presents experiments which quantify the influence of the ac frequency and the electrical properties of the droplet on its velocity under electrical actuation. The velocities of droplets moving between two parallel plates under ac actuation are experimentally measured; these velocities are then related to the actuation force on the droplet which is predicted by the electromechanical model developed in this work. It is seen that the droplet velocities are strongly dependent on the frequency of the ac actuation voltage; the cut-off ac frequency, above which the droplet fails to actuate, is experimentally determined and related to the electrical conductivity of the liquid. This paper then analyzes and directly compares the various electromechanical regimes for the actuation of droplets in microfluidic applications

Ignition of an organic water-coal fuel droplet floating in a heated-air flow

Science.gov (United States)

Valiullin, T. R.; Strizhak, P. A.; Shevyrev, S. A.; Bogomolov, A. R.

2017-01-01

Ignition of an organic water-coal fuel (CWSP) droplet floating in a heated-air flow has been studied experimentally. Rank B2 brown-coal particles with a size of 100 μm, used crankcase Total oil, water, and a plasticizer were used as the main CWSP components. A dedicated quartz-glass chamber has been designed with inlet and outlet elements made as truncated cones connected via a cylindrical ring. The cones were used to shape an oxidizer flow with a temperature of 500-830 K and a flow velocity of 0.5-5.0 m/s. A technique that uses a coordinate-positioning gear, a nichrome thread, and a cutter element has been developed for discharging CWSP droplets into the working zone of the chamber. Droplets with an initial size of 0.4 to 2.0 mm were used. Conditions have been determined for a droplet to float in the oxidizer flow long enough for the sustainable droplet burning to be initiated. Typical stages and integral ignition characteristics have been established. The integral parameters (ignition-delay times) of the examined processes have been compared to the results of experiments with CWSP droplets suspended on the junction of a quick-response thermocouple. It has been shown that floating fuel droplets ignite much quicker than the ones that sit still on the thermocouple due to rotation of an CWSP droplet in the oxidizer flow, more uniform heating of the droplet, and lack of heat drainage towards the droplet center. High-speed video recording of the peculiarities of floatation of a burning fuel droplet makes it possible to complement the existing models of water-coal fuel burning. The results can be used for a more substantiated modeling of furnace CWSP burning with the ANSYS, Fluent, and Sigma-Flow software packages.

Evaporation and discharge dynamics of highly charged multicomponent droplets generated by electrospray ionization.

Science.gov (United States)

Grimm, Ronald L; Beauchamp, J L

2010-01-28

We investigate the Rayleigh discharge and evaporation dynamics of highly charged two-component droplets consisting principally of methanol with 2-methoxyethanol, tert-butanol, or m-nitrobenzyl alcohol. A phase Doppler anemometer (PDA) characterizes droplets generated by electrospray ionization (ESI) according to size, velocity, and charge as they move through a uniform electric field within an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). Repeated field reversals result in droplet "ping-pong" through the PDA. This generates individual droplet histories of solvent evaporation behavior and the dynamics of charge loss to progeny droplets during Rayleigh discharge events. On average, methanol droplets discharge at 127% their Rayleigh limit of charge, q(R), and release 25% of the net charge. Charge loss from methanol/2-methoxyethanol droplets behaves similarly to pure 2-methoxyethanol droplets which release approximately 28% of their net charge. Binary methanol droplets containing up to 50% tert-butanol discharge at a lower percent q(R) than pure methanol and release a greater fraction of their net charge. Mixed 99% methanol/1% m-nitrobenzyl alcohol droplets possess discharge characteristics similar to those of methanol. However, droplets of methanol containing 2% m-nitrobenzyl evaporate down to a fixed size and charge that remains constant with no observable discharges. Quasi-steady-state evaporation models accurately describe observed evaporation phenomena in which methanol/tert-butanol droplets evaporate at a rate similar to that of pure methanol and methanol/2-methoxyethanol droplets evaporate at a rate similar to that of 2-methoxyethanol. We compare these results to previous Rayleigh discharge experiments and discuss the implications for binary solvents in electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and field-induced droplet ionization mass spectrometry (FIDI-MS).

Self-propelled oil droplets consuming "fuel" surfactant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toyota, Taro; Maru, Naoto; Hanczyc, Martin M

2009-01-01

A micrometer-sized oil droplet of 4-octylaniline containing 5 mol % of an amphiphilic catalyst exhibited a self-propelled motion, producing tiny oil droplets, in an aqueous dispersion of an amphiphilic precursor of 4-octylaniline. The tiny droplets on the surface of the self-propelled droplet wer...

Evaporation kinetics of sessile water droplets on micropillared superhydrophobic surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Wei; Leeladhar, Rajesh; Kang, Yong Tae; Choi, Chang-Hwan

2013-05-21

Evaporation modes and kinetics of sessile droplets of water on micropillared superhydrophobic surfaces are experimentally investigated. The results show that a constant contact radius (CCR) mode and a constant contact angle (CCA) mode are two dominating evaporation modes during droplet evaporation on the superhydrophobic surfaces. With the decrease in the solid fraction of the superhydrophobic surfaces, the duration of a CCR mode is reduced and that of a CCA mode is increased. Compared to Rowan's kinetic model, which is based on the vapor diffusion across the droplet boundary, the change in a contact angle in a CCR (pinned) mode shows a remarkable deviation, decreasing at a slower rate on the superhydrophobic surfaces with less-solid fractions. In a CCA (receding) mode, the change in a contact radius agrees well with the theoretical expectation, and the receding speed is slower on the superhydrophobic surfaces with lower solid fractions. The discrepancy between experimental results and Rowan's model is attributed to the initial large contact angle of a droplet on superhydrophobic surfaces. The droplet geometry with a large contact angle results in a narrow wedge region of air along the contact boundary, where the liquid-vapor diffusion is significantly restricted. Such an effect becomes minor as the evaporation proceeds with the decrease in a contact angle. In both the CCR and CCA modes, the evaporative mass transfer shows the linear relationship between mass(2/3) and evaporation time. However, the evaporation rate is slower on the superhydrophobic surfaces, which is more significant on the surfaces with lower solid fractions. As a result, the superhydrophobic surfaces slow down the drying process of a sessile droplet on them.

Droplets, Bubbles and Ultrasound Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shpak, Oleksandr; Verweij, Martin; de Jong, Nico; Versluis, Michel

2016-01-01

The interaction of droplets and bubbles with ultrasound has been studied extensively in the last 25 years. Microbubbles are broadly used in diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications, for instance, as ultrasound contrast agents. They have a similar size as red blood cells, and thus are able to circulate within blood vessels. Perfluorocarbon liquid droplets can be a potential new generation of microbubble agents as ultrasound can trigger their conversion into gas bubbles. Prior to activation, they are at least five times smaller in diameter than the resulting bubbles. Together with the violent nature of the phase-transition, the droplets can be used for local drug delivery, embolotherapy, HIFU enhancement and tumor imaging. Here we explain the basics of bubble dynamics, described by the Rayleigh-Plesset equation, bubble resonance frequency, damping and quality factor. We show the elegant calculation of the above characteristics for the case of small amplitude oscillations by linearizing the equations. The effect and importance of a bubble coating and effective surface tension are also discussed. We give the main characteristics of the power spectrum of bubble oscillations. Preceding bubble dynamics, ultrasound propagation is introduced. We explain the speed of sound, nonlinearity and attenuation terms. We examine bubble ultrasound scattering and how it depends on the wave-shape of the incident wave. Finally, we introduce droplet interaction with ultrasound. We elucidate the ultrasound-focusing concept within a droplets sphere, droplet shaking due to media compressibility and droplet phase-conversion dynamics.

Thermal singularity and droplet motion in one-component fluids on solid substrates with thermal gradients

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng

2012-06-26

Using a continuum model capable of describing the one-component liquid-gas hydrodynamics down to the contact line scale, we carry out numerical simulation and physical analysis for the droplet motion driven by thermal singularity. For liquid droplets in one-component fluids on heated or cooled substrates, the liquid-gas interface is nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line and the Marangoni effect due to temperature gradient is suppressed. Through evaporation or condensation in the vicinity of the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. This effect on the contact angle can be used to move the droplets on substrates with thermal gradients. Our numerical results for this kind of droplet motion are explained by a simple fluid dynamical model at the droplet length scale. Since the mechanism for droplet motion is based on the change of contact angle, a separation of length scales is exhibited through a comparison between the droplet motion induced by a wettability gradient and that by a thermal gradient. It is shown that the flow field at the droplet length scale is independent of the statics or dynamics at the contact line scale.

Thermal singularity and droplet motion in one-component fluids on solid substrates with thermal gradients

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

2012-01-01

Using a continuum model capable of describing the one-component liquid-gas hydrodynamics down to the contact line scale, we carry out numerical simulation and physical analysis for the droplet motion driven by thermal singularity. For liquid droplets in one-component fluids on heated or cooled substrates, the liquid-gas interface is nearly isothermal. Consequently, a thermal singularity occurs at the contact line and the Marangoni effect due to temperature gradient is suppressed. Through evaporation or condensation in the vicinity of the contact line, the thermal singularity makes the contact angle increase with the increasing substrate temperature. This effect on the contact angle can be used to move the droplets on substrates with thermal gradients. Our numerical results for this kind of droplet motion are explained by a simple fluid dynamical model at the droplet length scale. Since the mechanism for droplet motion is based on the change of contact angle, a separation of length scales is exhibited through a comparison between the droplet motion induced by a wettability gradient and that by a thermal gradient. It is shown that the flow field at the droplet length scale is independent of the statics or dynamics at the contact line scale.

Sensible Heat Transfer during Droplet Cooling: Experimental and Numerical Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuele Teodori

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study presents the numerical reproduction of the entire surface temperature field resulting from a water droplet spreading on a heated surface, which is compared with experimental data. High-speed infrared thermography of the back side of the surface and high-speed images of the side view of the impinging droplet were used to infer on the solid surface temperature field and on droplet dynamics. Numerical reproduction of the phenomena was performed using OpenFOAM CFD toolbox. An enhanced volume of fluid (VOF model was further modified for this purpose. The proposed modifications include the coupling of temperature fields between the fluid and the solid regions, to account for transient heat conduction within the solid. The results evidence an extremely good agreement between the temporal evolution of the measured and simulated spreading factors of the considered droplet impacts. The numerical and experimental dimensionless surface temperature profiles within the solid surface and along the droplet radius, were also in good agreement. Most of the differences were within the experimental measurements uncertainty. The numerical results allowed relating the solid surface temperature profiles with the fluid flow. During spreading, liquid recirculation within the rim, leads to the appearance of different regions of heat transfer that can be correlated with the vorticity field within the droplet.

3D trajectories re-construction of droplets ejected in controlled tungsten melting studies in ASDEX Upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Zhongshi; Krieger, K.; Lunt, T.; Brochard, F.; Briancon, J.-L.; Neu, R.; Dux, R.; Janzer, A.; Potzel, S.; Pütterich, T.

2013-01-01

Two fast visible range camera systems with vertically and tangentially oriented crossed viewing fields in the divertor region of ASDEX Upgrade were used to observe tungsten (W) droplets ejected from a melting W-pin into the divertor plasma. To obtain the spatial (3D) trajectories of the tungsten droplets, the trajectory of a given droplet in the (2D) camera image coordinate system was derived for each view separately. From these data, the 3D droplet position was derived by computing the shortest line segment connecting crossed viewing chords to a given droplet taking the centre coordinate of the line segment as actual coordinate. The experimental error of the derived position was estimated from the length of the connecting line segment. In the toroidal direction, the computed trajectories can be described by an analytical transport model for the droplets assuming an initial droplet diameter in the range of 60–100 μm. In the vertical direction the vertical distance droplets travelled when reaching the edge of the viewing field also agrees with the model predictions. However, discrepancies are found with respect to the time point whence a droplet reverts its initial downwards motion due to centrifugal forces exceeding gravity and plasma generated force components

Droplet Nucleation: Physically-Based Parameterizations and Comparative Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve Ghan

2011-10-01

Full Text Available One of the greatest sources of uncertainty in simulations of climate and climate change is the influence of aerosols on the optical properties of clouds. The root of this influence is the droplet nucleation process, which involves the spontaneous growth of aerosol into cloud droplets at cloud edges, during the early stages of cloud formation, and in some cases within the interior of mature clouds. Numerical models of droplet nucleation represent much of the complexity of the process, but at a computational cost that limits their application to simulations of hours or days. Physically-based parameterizations of droplet nucleation are designed to quickly estimate the number nucleated as a function of the primary controlling parameters: the aerosol number size distribution, hygroscopicity and cooling rate. Here we compare and contrast the key assumptions used in developing each of the most popular parameterizations and compare their performances under a variety of conditions. We find that the more complex parameterizations perform well under a wider variety of nucleation conditions, but all parameterizations perform well under the most common conditions. We then discuss the various applications of the parameterizations to cloud-resolving, regional and global models to study aerosol effects on clouds at a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. We compare estimates of anthropogenic aerosol indirect effects using two different parameterizations applied to the same global climate model, and find that the estimates of indirect effects differ by only 10%. We conclude with a summary of the outstanding challenges remaining for further development and application.

Mechanism of Supercooled Water Droplet Breakup near the Leading Edge of an Airfoil

Science.gov (United States)

Veras-Alba, Belen; Palacios, Jose; Vargas, Mario; Ruggeri, Charles; Bartkus, Tadas P.

2017-01-01

This work presents the results of an experimental study on supercooled droplet deformation and breakup near the leading edge of an airfoil. The results are compared to prior room temperature droplet deformation results to explore the effects of droplet supercooling. The experiments were conducted in the Adverse Environment Rotor Test Stand (AERTS) at The Pennsylvania State University. An airfoil model placed at the end of the rotor blades mounted onto the hub in the AERTS chamber was moved at speeds ranging between 50 and 80 m/sec. The temperature of the chamber was set at -20°C. A monotonic droplet generator was used to produce droplets that fell from above, perpendicular to the path of the airfoil. The supercooled state of the droplets was determined by measurement of the temperature of the drops at various locations below the droplet generator exit. A temperature prediction code was also used to estimate the temperature of the droplets based on vertical velocity and the distance traveled by droplets from the droplet generator to the airfoil stagnation line. High speed imaging was employed to observe the interaction between the droplets and the airfoil. The high speed imaging provided droplet deformation information as the droplet approached the airfoil near the stagnation line. A tracking software program was used to measure the horizontal and vertical displacement of the droplet against time. It was demonstrated that to compare the effects of water supercooling on droplet deformation, the ratio of the slip velocity and the initial droplet velocity must be equal. A case with equal slip velocity to initial velocity ratios was selected for room temperature and supercooled droplet conditions. The airfoil velocity was 60 m/s and the slip velocity for both sets of data was 40 m/s. In these cases, the deformation of the weakly supercooled and warm droplets did not present different trends. The similar behavior for both environmental conditions indicates that water

Quantifying the role of noise on droplet decisions in bifurcating microchannels

Science.gov (United States)

Norouzi Darabad, Masoud; Vaughn, Mark; Vanapalli, Siva

2017-11-01

While many aspects of path selection of droplets flowing through a bifurcating microchannel have been studied, there are still unaddressed issues in predicting and controlling droplet traffic. One of the more important is understanding origin of aperiodic patterns. As a new tool to investigate this phenomena we propose monitoring the continuous time response of pressure fluctuations at different locations. Then we use time-series analysis to investigate the dynamics of the system. We suggest that natural system noise is the cause of irregularity in the traffic patterns. Using a mathematical model, we investigate the effect of noise on droplet decisions at the junction. Noise can be derived from different sources including droplet size variation, droplet spacing, and pump induced velocity fluctuation. By analyzing different situations we explain system behavior. We also investigate the ``memory'' of a microfluidic system in terms of the resistance to perturbations that quantify the allowable deviation in operating condition before the system changes state.

Mass spectrometry of acoustically levitated droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Westphall, Michael S; Jorabchi, Kaveh; Smith, Lloyd M

2008-08-01

Containerless sample handling techniques such as acoustic levitation offer potential advantages for mass spectrometry, by eliminating surfaces where undesired adsorption/desorption processes can occur. In addition, they provide a unique opportunity to study fundamental aspects of the ionization process as well as phenomena occurring at the air-droplet interface. Realizing these advantages is contingent, however, upon being able to effectively interface levitated droplets with a mass spectrometer, a challenging task that is addressed in this report. We have employed a newly developed charge and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (CALDI) technique to obtain mass spectra from a 5-microL acoustically levitated droplet containing peptides and an ionic matrix. A four-ring electrostatic lens is used in conjunction with a corona needle to produce bursts of corona ions and to direct those ions toward the droplet, resulting in droplet charging. Analyte ions are produced from the droplet by a 337-nm laser pulse and detected by an atmospheric sampling mass spectrometer. The ion generation and extraction cycle is repeated at 20 Hz, the maximum operating frequency of the laser employed. It is shown in delayed ion extraction experiments that both positive and negative ions are produced, behavior similar to that observed for atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser absorption/ionization. No ion signal is observed in the absence of droplet charging. It is likely, although not yet proven, that the role of the droplet charging is to increase the strength of the electric field at the surface of the droplet, reducing charge recombination after ion desorption.

Leidenfrost boiling of water droplet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orzechowski Tadeusz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The investigations concerned a large water droplet at the heating surface temperature above the Leidenfrost point. The heating cylinder was the main component of experimental stand on which investigations were performed. The measurement system was placed on the high-sensitivity scales. Data transmission was performed through RS232 interface. The author-designed program, with extended functions to control the system, was applied. The present paper examines the behaviour of a large single drop levitating over a hot surface, unsteady mass of the drop, and heat transfer. In computations, the dependence, available in the literature, for the orthogonal droplet projection on the heating surface as a function of time was employed. It was confirmed that the local value of the heat transfer coefficient is a power function of the area of the droplet surface projection. Also, a linear relationship between the flux of mass evaporated from the droplet and the droplet orthogonal projection was observed.

Leidenfrost boiling of water droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Orzechowski, Tadeusz

The investigations concerned a large water droplet at the heating surface temperature above the Leidenfrost point. The heating cylinder was the main component of experimental stand on which investigations were performed. The measurement system was placed on the high-sensitivity scales. Data transmission was performed through RS232 interface. The author-designed program, with extended functions to control the system, was applied. The present paper examines the behaviour of a large single drop levitating over a hot surface, unsteady mass of the drop, and heat transfer. In computations, the dependence, available in the literature, for the orthogonal droplet projection on the heating surface as a function of time was employed. It was confirmed that the local value of the heat transfer coefficient is a power function of the area of the droplet surface projection. Also, a linear relationship between the flux of mass evaporated from the droplet and the droplet orthogonal projection was observed.

On the formation of nitrogen oxides during the combustion of partially pre-vaporized droplets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moesl, Klaus Georg

2012-12-12

achieved. The degree of droplet vaporization has an effect on flame stabilization around the droplet and on NOx formation. More than half of the droplet mass needs to be pre-vaporized, before the required technical effort leads to a significant reduction of the overall NO{sub x} emissions. In the ignition model, the NO{sub x} production rate turns out to be very sensitive against the ignition position. Thus, it is important to adjust the model parameters carefully to obtain realistic emission results.

Measurement of droplet vaporization rate enhancement caused by acoustic disturbances

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, T. J.; Winter, M.

1992-10-01

Advanced laser diagnostics are being applied to quantify droplet vaporization enhancement in the presence of acoustic fields which can lead to instability in liquid-fueled rockets. While models have been developed to describe the interactions between subcritical droplet vaporization and acoustic fields in the surrounding gases, they have not been verified experimentally. In the super critical environment of a rocket engine combustor, little is understood about how the injected fluid is distributed. Experiments in these areas have been limited because of the lack of diagnostic techniques capable of providing quantitative results. Recently, however, extremely accurate vaporization rate measurements have been performed on droplets in a subcritical environment using morphology-dependent resonances (MDR's) in which fluorescence from an individual droplet provides information about its diameter. Initial measurements on methanol droplets behind a pressure pulse with a pressure ratio of 1.2 indicated that the evaporation rate in the first few microsec after wave passage was extremely high. Subsequent measurements have been made to validate these results using MDR's acquired from similarly-sized droplets using a pulse with a 1.1 pressure ratio. A baseline measurement was also made using a non evaporative fluid under similar Weber and Reynolds number conditions. The MDR technique employed for these measurements is explained and the facilities are described. The evaporation measurement results are shown and the rates observed from different droplet materials and different wave strengths are compared.

Microfluidic droplet generator with controlled break-up mechanism

KAUST Repository

Gonzalez, David Conchouso

2017-04-13

Droplet generation devices and systems that parallelize droplet generation devices are provided. The droplet generation devices can include a symmetric block-and-break system and a tapered droplet generation zone. The symmetric block-and-break system can include a pair of break channels and a pair of bypass channels symmetrically arranged with respect to the dispersed-phase input channel and the output channel. The droplet generation devices can generate monodisperse droplets with a predefined volume over a range of flow rates, pressures, and fluid properties. The droplet generation devices are therefore capable of parallelization to achieve large-capacity droplet generation, e.g. greater than 1 L/hr, with small overall coefficients of variation.

Droplet generation during core reflood

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kocamustafaogullari, G.; De Jarlais, G.; Ishii, M.

1983-01-01

The process of entrainment and disintegration of liquid droplets by a flow of steam has considerable practical importance in calculating the effectivenes of the emergency core cooling system. Liquid entrainment is also important in determination of the critical heat flux point in general. Thus the analysis of the reflooding phase of a LOCA requires detailed knowledge of droplet size. Droplet size is mainly determined by the droplet generation mechanisms involved. To study these mechanisms, data generated in the PWR FLECHT SEASET series of experiments was analyzed. In addition, an experiment was performed in which the hydrodynamics of low quality post-CHF flow (inverted annular flow) were simulated in an adiabatic test section

Influence of film dimensions on film droplet formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmgren, Helene; Ljungström, Evert

2012-02-01

Aerosol particles may be generated from rupturing liquid films through a droplet formation mechanism. The present work was undertaken with the aim to throw some light on the influence of film dimensions on droplet formation with possible consequences for exhaled breath aerosol formation. The film droplet formation process was mimicked by using a purpose-built device, where fluid films were spanned across holes of known diameters. As the films burst, droplets were formed and the number and size distributions of the resulting droplets were determined. No general relation could be found between hole diameter and the number of droplets generated per unit surface area of fluid film. Averaged over all film sizes, a higher surface tension yielded higher concentrations of droplets. Surface tension did not influence the resulting droplet diameter, but it was found that smaller films generated smaller droplets. This study shows that small fluid films generate droplets as efficiently as large films, and that droplets may well be generated from films with diameters below 1 mm. This has implications for the formation of film droplets from reopening of closed airways because human terminal bronchioles are of similar dimensions. Thus, the results provide support for the earlier proposed mechanism where reopening of closed airways is one origin of exhaled particles.

A compact and facile microfluidic droplet creation device using a piezoelectric diaphragm micropump for droplet digital PCR platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Okura, Naoaki; Nakashoji, Yuta; Koshirogane, Toshihiro; Kondo, Masaki; Tanaka, Yugo; Inoue, Kohei; Hashimoto, Masahiko

2017-10-01

We have exploited a compact and facile microfluidic droplet creation device consisting of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic chip possessing T-junction channel geometry, two inlet reservoirs, and one outlet reservoir, and a piezoelectric (PZT) diaphragm micropump with controller. Air was evacuated from the outlet reservoir using the PZT pump, reducing the pressure inside. The reduced pressure within the outlet reservoir pulled oil and aqueous solution preloaded in the inlet reservoirs into the microchannels, which then merged at the T-junction, successfully forming water-in-oil emulsion droplets at a rate of ∼1000 per second with minimal sample loss. We confirmed that the onset of droplet formation occurred immediately after turning on the pump (<1 s). Over repeated runs, droplet formation was highly reproducible, with droplet size purity (polydispersity, <4%) comparable to that achieved using other microfluidic droplet preparation techniques. We also demonstrated single-molecule PCR amplification in the created droplets, suggesting that the device could be used for effective droplet digital PCR platforms in most laboratories without requiring great expense, space, or time for acquiring technical skills. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microfluidic passive permeability assay using nanoliter droplet interface lipid bilayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Nisisako, Takasi; Portonovo, Shiva A; Schmidt, Jacob J

2013-11-21

Membrane permeability assays play an important role in assessing drug transport activities across biological membranes. However, in conventional parallel artificial membrane permeability assays (PAMPA), the membrane model used is dissimilar to biological membranes physically and chemically. Here, we describe a microfluidic passive permeability assay using droplet interface bilayers (DIBs). In a microfluidic network, nanoliter-sized donor and acceptor aqueous droplets are alternately formed in cross-flowing oil containing phospholipids. Subsequently, selective removal of oil through hydrophobic pseudo-porous sidewalls induces the contact of the lipid monolayers, creating arrayed planar DIBs between the donor and acceptor droplets. Permeation of fluorescein from the donor to the acceptor droplets was fluorometrically measured. From the measured data and a simple diffusion model we calculated the effective permeabilities of 5.1 × 10(-6) cm s(-1), 60.0 × 10(-6) cm s(-1), and 87.6 × 10(-6) cm s(-1) with donor droplets at pH values of 7.5, 6.4 and 5.4, respectively. The intrinsic permeabilities of specific monoanionic and neutral fluorescein species were obtained similarly. We also measured the permeation of caffeine in 10 min using UV microspectroscopy, obtaining a permeability of 20.8 × 10(-6) cm s(-1). With the small solution volumes, short measurement time, and ability to measure a wide range of compounds, this device has considerable potential as a platform for high-throughput drug permeability assays.

Hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets in one-component fluids

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng; Qian, Tiezheng

2013-01-01

Using the dynamic van der Waals theory [Phys. Rev. E 75, 036304 (2007)], we numerically investigate the hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets under gravity in two dimensions. Some recent theoretical predictions and experimental observations are confirmed in our simulations. A Leidenfrost droplet larger than a critical size is shown to be unstable and break up into smaller droplets due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the bottom surface of the droplet. Our simulations demonstrate that an evaporating Leidenfrost droplet changes continuously from a puddle to a circular droplet, with the droplet shape controlled by its size in comparison with a few characteristic length scales. The geometry of the vapor layer under the droplet is found to mainly depend on the droplet size and is nearly independent of the substrate temperature, as reported in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 074301 (2012)]. Finally, our simulations demonstrate that a Leidenfrost droplet smaller than a characteristic size takes off from the hot substrate because the levitating force due to evaporation can no longer be balanced by the weight of the droplet, as observed in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 034501 (2012)].

Binary particle separation in droplet microfluidics using acoustophoresis

Science.gov (United States)

Fornell, Anna; Cushing, Kevin; Nilsson, Johan; Tenje, Maria

2018-02-01

We show a method for separation of two particle species with different acoustic contrasts originally encapsulated in the same droplet in a continuous two-phase system. This was realized by using bulk acoustic standing waves in a 380 μm wide silicon-glass microfluidic channel. Polystyrene particles (positive acoustic contrast particles) and in-house synthesized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) particles (negative acoustic contrast particles) were encapsulated inside water-in-oil droplets either individually or in a mixture. At acoustic actuation of the system at the fundamental resonance frequency, the polystyrene particles were moved to the center of the droplet (pressure node), while the PDMS particles were moved to the sides of the droplet (pressure anti-nodes). The acoustic particle manipulation step was combined in series with a trifurcation droplet splitter, and as the original droplet passed through the splitter and was divided into three daughter droplets, the polystyrene particles were directed into the center daughter droplet, while the PDMS particles were directed into the two side daughter droplets. The presented method expands the droplet microfluidics tool-box and offers new possibilities to perform binary particle separation in droplet microfluidic systems.

Hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets in one-component fluids

KAUST Repository

Xu, Xinpeng

2013-04-24

Using the dynamic van der Waals theory [Phys. Rev. E 75, 036304 (2007)], we numerically investigate the hydrodynamics of Leidenfrost droplets under gravity in two dimensions. Some recent theoretical predictions and experimental observations are confirmed in our simulations. A Leidenfrost droplet larger than a critical size is shown to be unstable and break up into smaller droplets due to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of the bottom surface of the droplet. Our simulations demonstrate that an evaporating Leidenfrost droplet changes continuously from a puddle to a circular droplet, with the droplet shape controlled by its size in comparison with a few characteristic length scales. The geometry of the vapor layer under the droplet is found to mainly depend on the droplet size and is nearly independent of the substrate temperature, as reported in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 074301 (2012)]. Finally, our simulations demonstrate that a Leidenfrost droplet smaller than a characteristic size takes off from the hot substrate because the levitating force due to evaporation can no longer be balanced by the weight of the droplet, as observed in a recent experimental study [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 034501 (2012)].

Experimental test of liquid droplet radiator performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattick, A.T.; Simon, M.A.

1986-01-01

This liquid droplet radiator (LDR) is evolving rapidly as a lightweight system for heat rejection in space power systems. By using recirculating free streams of submillimeter droplets to radiate waste energy directly to space, the LDR can potentially be an order of magnitude lighter than conventional radiator systems which radiate from solid surfaces. The LDR is also less vulnerable to micrometeoroid damage than are conventional radiators, and it has a low transport volume. Three major development issues of this new heat rejection system are the ability to direct the droplet streams with sufficient precision to avoid fluid loss, radiative performance of the array of droplet streams which comprise the radiating elements of the LDR, and the efficacy of the droplet stream collector, again with respect to fluid loss. This paper reports experimental results bearing on the first two issues - droplet aiming in a multikilowatt-sized system, and radiated power from a large droplet array. Parallel efforts on droplet collection and LDR system design are being pursued by several research groups

The collaborative work of droplet assembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiao; Goodman, Joel M

2017-10-01

Three proteins have been implicated in the assembly of cytoplasmic lipid droplets: seipin, FIT2, and perilipin. This review examines the current theories of seipin function as well as the evidence for the involvement of all three proteins in droplet biogenesis, and ends with a proposal of how they collaborate to regulate the formation of droplets. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Recent Advances in Lipid Droplet Biology edited by Rosalind Coleman and Matthijs Hesselink. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Droplet collisions in turbulence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oldenziel, G.

2014-01-01

Liquid droplets occur in many natural phenomena and play an important role in a large number of industrial applications. One of the distinct properties of droplets as opposed to solid particles is their ability to merge, or coalesce upon collision. Coalescence of liquid drops is of importance in for

Evaporation of nanofluid droplet on heated surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeung Chan Kim

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, an experiment on the evaporation of nanofluid sessile droplet on a heated surface was conducted. A nanofluid of 0.5% volumetric concentration mixed with 80-nm-sized CuO powder and pure water were used for experiment. Droplet was applied to the heated surface, and images of the evaporation process were obtained. The recorded images were analyzed to find the volume, diameter, and contact angle of the droplet. In addition, the evaporative heat transfer coefficient was calculated from experimental result. The results of this study are summarized as follows: the base diameter of the droplet was maintained stably during the evaporation. The measured temperature of the droplet was increased rapidly for a very short time, then maintained constantly. The nanofluid droplet was evaporated faster than the pure water droplet under the experimental conditions of the same initial volume and temperature, and the average evaporative heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluid droplet was higher than that of pure water. We can consider the effects of the initial contact angle and thermal conductivity of nanofluid as the reason for this experimental result. However, the effect of surface roughness on the evaporative heat transfer of nanofluid droplet appeared unclear.

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics study of the roughness effect on contact angle and droplet flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Shigorina, Elena; Kordilla, Jannes; Tartakovsky, Alexandre M

2017-09-01

We employ a pairwise force smoothed particle hydrodynamics (PF-SPH) model to simulate sessile and transient droplets on rough hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. PF-SPH allows modeling of free-surface flows without discretizing the air phase, which is achieved by imposing the surface tension and dynamic contact angles with pairwise interaction forces. We use the PF-SPH model to study the effect of surface roughness and microscopic contact angle on the effective contact angle and droplet dynamics. In the first part of this work, we investigate static contact angles of sessile droplets on different types of rough surfaces. We find that the effective static contact angles of Cassie and Wenzel droplets on a rough surface are greater than the corresponding microscale static contact angles. As a result, microscale hydrophobic rough surfaces also show effective hydrophobic behavior. On the other hand, microscale hydrophilic surfaces may be macroscopically hydrophilic or hydrophobic, depending on the type of roughness. We study the dependence of the transition between Cassie and Wenzel states on roughness and droplet size, which can be linked to the critical pressure for the given fluid-substrate combination. We observe good agreement between simulations and theoretical predictions. Finally, we study the impact of the roughness orientation (i.e., an anisotropic roughness) and surface inclination on droplet flow velocities. Simulations show that droplet flow velocities are lower if the surface roughness is oriented perpendicular to the flow direction. If the predominant elements of surface roughness are in alignment with the flow direction, the flow velocities increase compared to smooth surfaces, which can be attributed to the decrease in fluid-solid contact area similar to the lotus effect. We demonstrate that classical linear scaling relationships between Bond and capillary numbers for droplet flow on flat surfaces also hold for flow on rough surfaces.

Numerical simulation code for combustion of sodium liquid droplet and its verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okano, Yasushi

1997-11-01

The computer programs for sodium leak and burning phenomena had been developed based on mechanistic approach. Direct numerical simulation code for sodium liquid droplet burning had been developed for numerical analysis of droplet combustion in forced convection air flow. Distributions of heat generation and temperature and reaction rate of chemical productions, such as sodium oxide and hydroxide, are calculated and evaluated with using this numerical code. Extended MAC method coupled with a higher-order upwind scheme had been used for combustion simulation of methane-air mixture. In the numerical simulation code for combustion of sodium liquid droplet, chemical reaction model of sodium was connected with the extended MAC method. Combustion of single sodium liquid droplet was simulated in this report for the verification of developed numerical simulation code. The changes of burning rate and reaction product with droplet diameter and inlet wind velocity were investigated. These calculation results were qualitatively and quantitatively conformed to the experimental and calculation observations in combustion engineering. It was confirmed that the numerical simulation code was available for the calculation of sodium liquid droplet burning. (author)

Colliding droplets: a short film presentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendricks, C.D.

1981-01-01

A series of experiments were performed in which liquid droplets were caused to collide. Impact velocities to several meters per second and droplet diameters up to 600 micrometers were used. The impact parameters in the collisions vary from zero to greater than the sum of the droplet radii. Photographs of the collisions were taken with a high speed framing camera in order to study the impacts and subsequent behavior of the droplets. The experiments will be discussed and a short movie film presentation of some of the impacts will be shown

Dynamic Chemically Driven Dewetting, Spreading, and Self-Running of Sessile Droplets on Crystalline Silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Arscott, Steve

2016-12-06

A chemically driven dewetting effect is demonstrated using sessile droplets of dilute hydrofluoric acid on chemically oxidized silicon wafers. The dewetting occurs as the thin oxide is slowly etched by the droplet and replaced by a hydrogen-terminated surface; the result of this is a gradual increase in the contact angle of the droplet with time. The time-varying work of adhesion is calculated from the time-varying contact angle; this corresponds to the changing chemical nature of the surface during dewetting and can be modeled by the well-known logistic (sigmoid) function often used for the modeling of restricted growth, in this case, the transition from an oxidized surface to a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface. The observation of the time-varying contact angle allows one to both measure the etch rate of the silicon oxide and estimate the hydrogenation rate as a function of HF concentration and wafer type. In addition to this, at a certain HF concentration, a self-running droplet effect is observed. In contrast, on hydrogen-terminated silicon wafers, a chemically induced spreading effect is observed using sessile droplets of nitric acid. The droplet spreading can also be modeled using a logistical function, where the restricted growth is the transition from hydrogen-terminated to a chemically induced oxidized silicon surface. The chemically driven dewetting and spreading observed here add to the methods available to study dynamic wetting (e.g., the moving three-phase contact line) of sessile droplets on surfaces. By slowing down chemical kinetics of the wetting, one is able to record the changing profile of the sessile droplet with time and gather information concerning the time-varying surface chemistry. The data also indicates a chemical interface hysteresis (CIH) that is compared to contact angle hysteresis (CAH). The approach can also be used to study the chemical etching and deposition behavior of thin films using liquids by monitoring the macroscopic

Charging and coagulation of water aerosols with negligible addition of high-radioactive droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasil'eva, N.L.; Sedova, G.L.; Chernyj, L.T.

1994-01-01

The mechanics of electrocoagulation of water aerosols with negligible admixture of high-radioactive droplets is considered. A corresponding mathematical model has been worked out which describes the processes of ionization, electrification and coagulation of radioactive aerosols. Numerical studies are carried out for a series of typical aerosols on the time dependence of ion concentrations, charge and pure droplet concentrations, as well as the charge and radius of radioactive droplets. It is shown that coagulation can give rise to the growth of droplet radius from 5-10 μm up to 30-40 μm for a 10 4 s period f time, and therefore it can play a considerable role in the development of aerosols with droplet radius up to 20 μm when gravitational coagulation is insignificant

Scissors Mode of Dipolar Quantum Droplets of Dysprosium Atoms

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrier-Barbut, Igor; Wenzel, Matthias; Böttcher, Fabian; Langen, Tim; Isoard, Mathieu; Stringari, Sandro; Pfau, Tilman

2018-04-01

We report on the observation of the scissors mode of a single dipolar quantum droplet. The existence of this mode is due to the breaking of the rotational symmetry by the dipole-dipole interaction, which is fixed along an external homogeneous magnetic field. By modulating the orientation of this magnetic field, we introduce a new spectroscopic technique for studying dipolar quantum droplets. This provides a precise probe for interactions in the system, allowing us to extract a background scattering length for 164Dy of 69 (4 )a0 . Our results establish an analogy between quantum droplets and atomic nuclei, where the existence of the scissors mode is also only due to internal interactions. They further open the possibility to explore physics beyond the available theoretical models for strongly dipolar quantum gases.

Collisions of droplets on spherical particles

Science.gov (United States)

Charalampous, Georgios; Hardalupas, Yannis

2017-10-01

Head-on collisions between droplets and spherical particles are examined for water droplets in the diameter range between 170 μm and 280 μm and spherical particles in the diameter range between 500 μm and 2000 μm. The droplet velocities range between 6 m/s and 11 m/s, while the spherical particles are fixed in space. The Weber and Ohnesorge numbers and ratio of droplet to particle diameter were between 92 deposition and splashing regimes, a regime is observed in the intermediate region, where the droplet forms a stable crown, which does not breakup but propagates along the particle surface and passes around the particle. This regime is prevalent when the droplets collide on small particles. The characteristics of the collision at the onset of rim instability are also described in terms of the location of the film on the particle surface and the orientation and length of the ejected crown. Proper orthogonal decomposition identified that the first 2 modes are enough to capture the overall morphology of the crown at the splashing threshold.

Velocity and rotation measurements in acoustically levitated droplets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saha, Abhishek [University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States); Basu, Saptarshi [Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012 (India); Kumar, Ranganathan, E-mail: ranganathan.kumar@ucf.edu [University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States)

2012-10-01

The velocity scale inside an acoustically levitated droplet depends on the levitator and liquid properties. Using Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV), detailed velocity measurements have been made in a levitated droplet of different diameters and viscosity. The maximum velocity and rotation are normalized using frequency and amplitude of acoustic levitator, and droplet viscosity. The non-dimensional data are fitted for micrometer- and millimeter-sized droplets levitated in different levitators for different viscosity fluids. It is also shown that the rotational speed of nanosilica droplets at an advanced stage of vaporization compares well with that predicted by exponentially fitted parameters. -- Highlights: ► Demonstrates the importance of rotation in a levitated droplet that leads to controlled morphology. ► Provides detailed measurements of Particle Image Velocimetry inside levitated droplets. ► Shows variation of vortex strength with the droplet diameter and viscosity of the liquid.

Velocity and rotation measurements in acoustically levitated droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, Abhishek; Basu, Saptarshi; Kumar, Ranganathan

2012-01-01

The velocity scale inside an acoustically levitated droplet depends on the levitator and liquid properties. Using Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV), detailed velocity measurements have been made in a levitated droplet of different diameters and viscosity. The maximum velocity and rotation are normalized using frequency and amplitude of acoustic levitator, and droplet viscosity. The non-dimensional data are fitted for micrometer- and millimeter-sized droplets levitated in different levitators for different viscosity fluids. It is also shown that the rotational speed of nanosilica droplets at an advanced stage of vaporization compares well with that predicted by exponentially fitted parameters. -- Highlights: ► Demonstrates the importance of rotation in a levitated droplet that leads to controlled morphology. ► Provides detailed measurements of Particle Image Velocimetry inside levitated droplets. ► Shows variation of vortex strength with the droplet diameter and viscosity of the liquid.

Scattering theory of walking droplets in the presence of obstacles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubertrand, Rémy; Hubert, Maxime; Schlagheck, Peter; Vandewalle, Nicolas; Bastin, Thierry; Martin, John

2016-01-01

We aim to describe a droplet bouncing on a vibrating bath using a simple and highly versatile model inspired from quantum mechanics. Close to the Faraday instability, a long-lived surface wave is created at each bounce, which serves as a pilot wave for the droplet. This leads to so called walking droplets or walkers. Since the seminal experiment by Couder et al (2006 Phys. Rev. Lett. 97 154101) there have been many attempts to accurately reproduce the experimental results.We propose to describe the trajectories of a walker using a Green function approach. The Green function is related to the Helmholtz equation with Neumann boundary conditions on the obstacle(s) and outgoing boundary conditions at infinity. For a single-slit geometry our model is exactly solvable and reproduces some general features observed experimentally. It stands for a promising candidate to account for the presence of arbitrary boundaries in the walker’s dynamics. (paper)

Levitated droplet dye laser

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Azzouz, H.; Alkafadiji, L.; Balslev, Søren

2006-01-01

a high quality optical resonator. Our 750 nL lasing droplets consist of Rhodamine 6G dissolved in ethylene glycol, at a concentration of 0.02 M. The droplets are optically pumped at 532 nm light from a pulsed, frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser, and the dye laser emission is analyzed by a fixed grating...

Water Entry by a Train of Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Ohl, Claus-Dieter; Huang, Xin; Chan, Chon U.; Frommhold, Philipp Erhard; Lippert, Alexander

2014-11-01

The impact of single droplets on a deep pool is a well-studied phenomenon which reveals reach fluid mechanics. Lesser studied is the impact of a train of droplet and the accompanied formation of largely elongated cavities, in particular for well controlled droplets. The droplets with diameters of 20-40 μm and velocities of approx. 20 m/s are generated with a piezo-actuated nozzle at rates of 200-300 kHz. Individual droplets are selected by electric charging and deflection and the impact is visualized with stroboscopic photography and high-speed videos. We study in particular the formation and shape of the cavity as by varying the number of droplets from one to 64. The cavities reach centimetres in length with lateral diameters of the order of 100 of micrometres.

Lipid droplets of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi emerge in concert with arbuscule collapse.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobae, Yoshihiro; Gutjahr, Caroline; Paszkowski, Uta; Kojima, Tomoko; Fujiwara, Toru; Hata, Shingo

2014-11-01

Plants share photosynthetically fixed carbon with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi to maintain their growth and nutrition. AM fungi are oleogenic fungi that contain numerous lipid droplets in their syncytial mycelia during most of their life cycle. These lipid droplets are probably used for supporting growth of extraradical mycelia and propagation; however, when and where the lipid droplets are produced remains unclear. To address these issues, we investigated the correlation between intracellular colonization stages and the appearance of fungal lipid droplets in roots by a combination of vital staining of fungal structures, selective staining of lipids and live imaging. We discovered that a surge of lipid droplets coincided with the collapse of arbuscular branches, indicating that arbuscule collapse and the emergence of lipid droplets may be associated processes. This phenomenon was observed in the model AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis and the ancestral member of AM fungi Paraglomus occultum. Because the collapsing arbuscules were metabolically inactive, the emerged lipid droplets are probably derived from preformed lipids but not de novo synthesized. Our observations highlight a novel mode of lipid release by AM fungi. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Molecular dynamics simulations for the motion of evaporative droplets driven by thermal gradients along nanochannels

KAUST Repository

Wu, Congmin

2013-04-04

For a one-component fluid on a solid substrate, a thermal singularity may occur at the contact line where the liquid-vapor interface intersects the solid surface. Physically, the liquid-vapor interface is almost isothermal at the liquid-vapor coexistence temperature in one-component fluids while the solid surface is almost isothermal for solids of high thermal conductivity. Therefore, a temperature discontinuity is formed if the two isothermal interfaces are of different temperatures and intersect at the contact line. This leads to the so-called thermal singularity. The localized hydrodynamics involving evaporation/condensation near the contact line leads to a contact angle depending on the underlying substrate temperature. This dependence has been shown to lead to the motion of liquid droplets on solid substrates with thermal gradients (Xu and Qian 2012 Phys. Rev. E 85 061603). In the present work, we carry out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations as numerical experiments to further confirm the predictions made from our previous continuum hydrodynamic modeling and simulations, which are actually semi-quantitatively accurate down to the small length scales in the problem. Using MD simulations, we investigate the motion of evaporative droplets in one-component Lennard-Jones fluids confined in nanochannels with thermal gradients. The droplet is found to migrate in the direction of decreasing temperature of solid walls, with a migration velocity linearly proportional to the temperature gradient. This agrees with the prediction of our continuum model. We then measure the effect of droplet size on the droplet motion. It is found that the droplet mobility is inversely proportional to a dimensionless coefficient associated with the total rate of dissipation due to droplet movement. Our results show that this coefficient is of order unity and increases with the droplet size for the small droplets (∼10 nm) simulated in the present work. These findings are in semi

Cough aerosol in healthy participants: fundamental knowledge to optimize droplet-spread infectious respiratory disease management.

Science.gov (United States)

Zayas, Gustavo; Chiang, Ming C; Wong, Eric; MacDonald, Fred; Lange, Carlos F; Senthilselvan, Ambikaipakan; King, Malcolm

2012-03-21

The Influenza A H1N1 virus can be transmitted via direct, indirect, and airborne route to non-infected subjects when an infected patient coughs, which expels a number of different sized droplets to the surrounding environment as an aerosol. The objective of the current study was to characterize the human cough aerosol pattern with the aim of developing a standard human cough bioaerosol model for Influenza Pandemic control. 45 healthy non-smokers participated in the open bench study by giving their best effort cough. A laser diffraction system was used to obtain accurate, time-dependent, quantitative measurements of the size and number of droplets expelled by the cough aerosol. Voluntary coughs generated droplets ranging from 0.1 - 900 microns in size. Droplets of less than one-micron size represent 97% of the total number of measured droplets contained in the cough aerosol. Age, sex, weight, height and corporal mass have no statistically significant effect on the aerosol composition in terms of size and number of droplets. We have developed a standard human cough aerosol model. We have quantitatively characterized the pattern, size, and number of droplets present in the most important mode of person-to-person transmission of IRD: the cough bioaerosol. Small size droplets (< 1 μm) predominated the total number of droplets expelled when coughing. The cough aerosol is the single source of direct, indirect and/or airborne transmission of respiratory infections like the Influenza A H1N1 virus. Open bench, Observational, Cough, Aerosol study. © 2012 Zayas et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Quantum dissipative dynamics and decoherence of dimers on helium droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schlesinger, Martin

2011-01-01

In this thesis, quantum dynamical simulations are performed in order to describe the vibrational motion of diatomic molecules in a highly quantum environment, so-called helium droplets. We aim to reproduce and explain experimental findings which were obtained from dimers on helium droplets. Nanometer-sized helium droplets contain several thousands of 4 He atoms. They serve as a host for embedded atoms or molecules and provide an ultracold ''refrigerator'' for them. Spectroscopy of molecules in or on these droplets reveals information on both the molecule and the helium environment. The droplets are known to be in the superfluid He II phase. Superfluidity in nanoscale systems is a steadily growing field of research. Spectra obtained from full quantum simulations for the unperturbed dimer show deviations from measurements with dimers on helium droplets. These deviations result from the influence of the helium environment on the dimer dynamics. In this work, a well-established quantum optical master equation is used in order to describe the dimer dynamics effectively. The master equation allows to describe damping fully quantum mechanically. By employing that equation in the quantum dynamical simulation, one can study the role of dissipation and decoherence in dimers on helium droplets. The effective description allows to explain experiments with Rb 2 dimers on helium droplets. Here, we identify vibrational damping and associated decoherence as the main explanation for the experimental results. The relation between decoherence and dissipation in Morse-like systems at zero temperature is studied in more detail. The dissipative model is also used to investigate experiments with K 2 dimers on helium droplets. However, by comparing numerical simulations with experimental data, one finds that further mechanisms are active. Here, a good agreement is obtained through accounting for rapid desorption of dimers. We find that decoherence occurs in the electronic manifold of the

Volatility of Organic Aerosol: Evaporation of Ammonium Sulfate/Succinic Acid Aqueous Solution Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Condensation and evaporation modify the properties and effects of atmospheric aerosol particles. We studied the evaporation of aqueous succinic acid and succinic acid/ammonium sulfate droplets to obtain insights on the effect of ammonium sulfate on the gas/particle partitioning of atmospheric organic acids. Droplet evaporation in a laminar flow tube was measured in a Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer setup. A wide range of droplet compositions was investigated, and for some of the experiments the composition was tracked using an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer. The measured evaporation was compared to model predictions where the ammonium sulfate was assumed not to directly affect succinic acid evaporation. The model captured the evaporation rates for droplets with large organic content but overestimated the droplet size change when the molar concentration of succinic acid was similar to or lower than that of ammonium sulfate, suggesting that ammonium sulfate enhances the partitioning of dicarboxylic acids to aqueous particles more than currently expected from simple mixture thermodynamics. If extrapolated to the real atmosphere, these results imply enhanced partitioning of secondary organic compounds to particulate phase in environments dominated by inorganic aerosol. PMID:24107221

Electrostatic charging and control of droplets in microfluidic devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Hongbo; Yao, Shuhuai

2013-03-07

Precharged droplets can facilitate manipulation and control of low-volume liquids in droplet-based microfluidics. In this paper, we demonstrate non-contact electrostatic charging of droplets by polarizing a neutral droplet and splitting it into two oppositely charged daughter droplets in a T-junction microchannel. We performed numerical simulation to analyze the non-contact charging process and proposed a new design with a notch at the T-junction in aid of droplet splitting for more efficient charging. We experimentally characterized the induced charge in droplets in microfabricated devices. The experimental results agreed well with the simulation. Finally, we demonstrated highly effective droplet manipulation in a path selection unit appending to the droplet charging. We expect our work could enable precision manipulation of droplets for more complex liquid handling in microfluidics and promote electric-force based manipulation in 'lab-on-a-chip' systems.

Liquid films and droplet deposition in a BWR fuel element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damsohn, M.

2011-01-01

In the upper part of boiling water reactors (BWR) the flow regime is dominated by a steam-water droplet flow with liquid films on the nuclear fuel rod, the so called (wispy) annular flow regime. The film thickness and liquid flow rate distribution around the fuel rod play an important role especially in regard to so called dryout, which is the main phenomenon limiting the thermal power of a fuel assembly. The deposition of droplets in the liquid film is important, because this process sustains the liquid film and delays dryout. Functional spacers with different vane shapes have been used in recent decades to enhance droplet deposition and thus create more favorable conditions for heat removal. In this thesis the behavior of liquid films and droplet deposition in the annular flow regime in BWR bundles is addressed by experiments in an adiabatic flow at nearly ambient pressure. The experimental setup consists of a vertical channel with the cross-section resembling a pair of neighboring subchannels of a fuel rod bundle. Within this double subchannel an annular flow is established with a gas-water mixture. The impact of functional spacers on the annular flow behavior is studied closely. Parameter variations comprise gas and liquid flow rates, gas density and spacer shape. The setup is instrumented with a newly developed liquid film sensor that measures the electrical conductance between electrodes flush to the wall with high temporal and spatial resolution. Advanced post-processing methods are used to investigate the dynamic behavior of liquid films and droplet deposition. The topic is also assessed numerically by means of single-phase Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes CFD simulations of the flow in the gas core. For this the commercial code STAR-CCM+ is used coupled with additional models for the liquid film distribution and droplet motion. The results of the experiments show that the liquid film is quite evenly distributed around the circumference of the fuel rods. The

Charge Transfer into Aqueous Droplets via Kilovolt Potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Hamlin, B. S.; Rosenberg, E. R.; Ristenpart, W. D.

2012-11-01

When an aqueous droplet immersed in an insulating oil contacts an electrified surface, the droplet acquires net charge. For sufficiently large field strengths, the charged droplet is driven back and forth electrophoretically between the electrodes, in essence ``bouncing'' between them. Although it is clear that the droplet acquires charge, the underlying mechanism controlling the charge transfer process has been unclear. Here we demonstrate that the chemical species present in the droplet strongly affect the charge transfer process into the drop. Using two independent charge measurement techniques, high speed video velocimetry and direct current measurement, we show that the charge acquired during contact is strongly influenced by the droplet pH. We also provide physical evidence that the electrodes undergo electroplating or corrosion for droplets with appropriate chemical species present. Together, the observations strongly suggest that electrochemical reactions govern the charge transfer process into the droplet.

Multiple and high-throughput droplet reactions via combination of microsampling technique and microfluidic chip

KAUST Repository

Wu, Jinbo

2012-11-20

Microdroplets offer unique compartments for accommodating a large number of chemical and biological reactions in tiny volume with precise control. A major concern in droplet-based microfluidics is the difficulty to address droplets individually and achieve high throughput at the same time. Here, we have combined an improved cartridge sampling technique with a microfluidic chip to perform droplet screenings and aggressive reaction with minimal (nanoliter-scale) reagent consumption. The droplet composition, distance, volume (nanoliter to subnanoliter scale), number, and sequence could be precisely and digitally programmed through the improved sampling technique, while sample evaporation and cross-contamination are effectively eliminated. Our combined device provides a simple model to utilize multiple droplets for various reactions with low reagent consumption and high throughput. © 2012 American Chemical Society.

Supersonic laser-induced jetting of aluminum micro-droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zenou, M.; Sa'ar, A.; Kotler, Z.

2015-01-01

The droplet velocity and the incubation time of pure aluminum micro-droplets, printed using the method of sub-nanosecond laser induced forward transfer, have been measured indicating the formation of supersonic laser-induced jetting. The incubation time and the droplet velocity were extracted by measuring a transient electrical signal associated with droplet landing on the surface of the acceptor substrate. This technique has been exploited for studying small volume droplets, in the range of 10–100 femto-litters for which supersonic velocities were measured. The results suggest elastic propagation of the droplets across the donor-to-acceptor gap, a nonlinear deposition dynamics on the surface of the acceptor and overall efficient energy transfer from the laser beam to the droplets

Supersonic laser-induced jetting of aluminum micro-droplets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zenou, M. [Racah Institute of Physics and the Harvey M. Kruger Family Center for Nano-science and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem (Israel); Additive Manufacturing Lab, Orbotech Ltd., P.O. Box 215, 81101 Yavne (Israel); Sa' ar, A. [Racah Institute of Physics and the Harvey M. Kruger Family Center for Nano-science and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem (Israel); Kotler, Z. [Additive Manufacturing Lab, Orbotech Ltd., P.O. Box 215, 81101 Yavne (Israel)

2015-05-04

The droplet velocity and the incubation time of pure aluminum micro-droplets, printed using the method of sub-nanosecond laser induced forward transfer, have been measured indicating the formation of supersonic laser-induced jetting. The incubation time and the droplet velocity were extracted by measuring a transient electrical signal associated with droplet landing on the surface of the acceptor substrate. This technique has been exploited for studying small volume droplets, in the range of 10–100 femto-litters for which supersonic velocities were measured. The results suggest elastic propagation of the droplets across the donor-to-acceptor gap, a nonlinear deposition dynamics on the surface of the acceptor and overall efficient energy transfer from the laser beam to the droplets.

Metal droplet erosion and shielding plasma layer under plasma flows typical of transient processes in tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martynenko, Yu. V., E-mail: Martynenko-YV@nrcki.ru [National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (Russian Federation)

2017-03-15

It is shown that the shielding plasma layer and metal droplet erosion in tokamaks are closely interrelated, because shielding plasma forms from the evaporated metal droplets, while droplet erosion is caused by the shielding plasma flow over the melted metal surface. Analysis of experimental data and theoretical models of these processes is presented.

CFD Lagrangian Modeling of Water Droplet Transport for ISS Hygiene Activity Application

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Chang H.

2013-01-01

The goal of this study was to assess the impacts of free water propagation in the Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) installed in Node 3. Free water can be generated inside the WHC in small quantities due to crew hygiene activity. To mitigate potential impact of free water in Node 3 cabin the WHC doorway is enclosed by a waterproof bump-out, Kabin, with openings at the top and bottom. At the overhead side of the rack, there is a screen that prevents large drops of water from exiting. However, as the avionics fan in the WHC causes airflow toward the deck side of the rack, small quantities of free water may exit at the bottom of the Kabin. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis of Node 3 cabin airflow enable identifying the paths of water transport. To simulate the droplet transport the Lagrangian discrete phase approach was used. Various initial droplet distributions were considered in the study. The droplet diameter was varied in the range of 5-20 mm. The results of the computations showed that most of the drops fall to the rack surface not far from the WHC curtain.

Ice and water droplets on graphite: A comparison of quantum and classical simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramírez, Rafael; Singh, Jayant K.; Müller-Plathe, Florian; Böhm, Michael C.

2014-01-01

Ice and water droplets on graphite have been studied by quantum path integral and classical molecular dynamics simulations. The point-charge q-TIP4P/F potential was used to model the interaction between flexible water molecules, while the water-graphite interaction was described by a Lennard-Jones potential previously used to reproduce the macroscopic contact angle of water droplets on graphite. Several energetic and structural properties of water droplets with sizes between 10 2 and 10 3 molecules were analyzed in a temperature interval of 50–350 K. The vibrational density of states of crystalline and amorphous ice drops was correlated to the one of ice Ih to assess the influence of the droplet interface and molecular disorder on the vibrational properties. The average distance of covalent OH bonds is found 0.01 Å larger in the quantum limit than in the classical one. The OO distances are elongated by 0.03 Å in the quantum simulations at 50 K. Bond distance fluctuations are large as a consequence of the zero-point vibrations. The analysis of the H-bond network shows that the liquid droplet is more structured in the classical limit than in the quantum case. The average kinetic and potential energy of the ice and water droplets on graphite has been compared with the values of ice Ih and liquid water as a function of temperature. The droplet kinetic energy shows a temperature dependence similar to the one of liquid water, without apparent discontinuity at temperatures where the droplet is solid. However, the droplet potential energy becomes significantly larger than the one of ice or water at the same temperature. In the quantum limit, the ice droplet is more expanded than in a classical description. Liquid droplets display identical density profiles and liquid-vapor interfaces in the quantum and classical limits. The value of the contact angle is not influenced by quantum effects. Contact angles of droplets decrease as the size of the water droplet increases

Theoretic analysis for gravity separation of water droplets in PWR steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shixun

1995-10-01

Gravity separation space of water droplets in the PWR steam generator is one of three important separating mechanisms and provides a link between primary (vane) separator and chevron dryer. The design of steam generator should not only have highly efficient and compact separator and dryer, but also an adequate height of gravity separation space. Too short a gravity separation space will not sufficiently separate the moisture and adversely affect the performance of the dryer; too long a gravity separation space will add additional costs for steam generator and nuclear island installation. The droplet entrainment in the process of gravity separation space was theoretically studied and droplet trajectory was analytically modelled. A general expression for the height required by gravity separation, diameter and velocity of those droplets carried over was also obtained. In the analysis, the slip between two phases was considered and a combined term of diameter and viscosity was introduced. The modelling can provide a theoretical basis for determining the height of the gravity separation space. (2 refs., 2 figs.)

Evolution of oil droplets in a chemorobotic platform

Science.gov (United States)

Gutierrez, Juan Manuel Parrilla; Hinkley, Trevor; Taylor, James Ward; Yanev, Kliment; Cronin, Leroy

2014-12-01

Evolution, once the preserve of biology, has been widely emulated in software, while physically embodied systems that can evolve have been limited to electronic and robotic devices and have never been artificially implemented in populations of physically interacting chemical entities. Herein we present a liquid-handling robot built with the aim of investigating the properties of oil droplets as a function of composition via an automated evolutionary process. The robot makes the droplets by mixing four different compounds in different ratios and placing them in a Petri dish after which they are recorded using a camera and the behaviour of the droplets analysed using image recognition software to give a fitness value. In separate experiments, the fitness function discriminates based on movement, division and vibration over 21 cycles, giving successive fitness increases. Analysis and theoretical modelling of the data yields fitness landscapes analogous to the genotype-phenotype correlations found in biological evolution.

Clustering and entrainment effects on the evaporation of dilute droplets in a turbulent jet

Science.gov (United States)

Dalla Barba, Federico; Picano, Francesco

2018-03-01

The evaporation of droplets within turbulent sprays involves unsteady, multiscale, and multiphase processes which make its comprehension and modeling capabilities still limited. The present work aims to investigate the dynamics of droplet vaporization within a turbulent spatial developing jet in dilute, nonreacting conditions. We address the problem considering a turbulent jet laden with acetone droplets and using the direct numerical simulation framework based on a hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian approach and the point droplet approximation. A detailed statistical analysis of both phases is presented. In particular, we show how crucial is the preferential sampling of the vapor phase induced by the inhomogeneous localization of the droplets through the flow. Strong droplet preferential segregation develops suddenly downstream from the inflow section both within the turbulent core and the jet mixing layer. Two distinct mechanisms have been found to drive this phenomenon: the inertial small-scale clustering in the jet core and the intermittent dynamics of droplets across the turbulent-nonturbulent interface in the mixing layer, where dry air entrainment occurs. These phenomenologies strongly affect the overall vaporization process and lead to an impressive widening of the droplet size and vaporization rate distributions in the downstream evolution of the turbulent spray.

Oleoplaning droplets on lubricated surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, Dan; Timonen, Jaakko V. I.; Li, Ruoping; Velling, Seneca J.; Aizenberg, Joanna

2017-10-01

Recently, there has been much interest in using lubricated surfaces to achieve extreme liquid repellency: a foreign droplet immiscible with the underlying lubricant layer was shown to slide off at a small tilt angle behaviour was hypothesized to arise from a thin lubricant overlayer film sandwiched between the droplet and solid substrate, but this has not been observed experimentally. Here, using thin-film interference, we are able to visualize the intercalated film under both static and dynamic conditions. We further demonstrate that for a moving droplet, the film thickness follows the Landau-Levich-Derjaguin law. The droplet is therefore oleoplaning--akin to tyres hydroplaning on a wet road--with minimal dissipative force and no contact line pinning. The techniques and insights presented in this study will inform future work on the fundamentals of wetting for lubricated surfaces and enable their rational design.

Influence of fine water droplets to temperature and humidity

Science.gov (United States)

Hafidzal, M. H. M.; Hamzah, A.; Manaf, M. Z. A.; Saadun, M. N. A.; Zakaria, M. S.; Roslizar, A.; Jumaidin, R.

2015-05-01

Excessively dry air can cause dry skin, dry eyes and exacerbation of medical conditions. Therefore, many researches have been done in order to increase humidity in our environment. One of the ways is by using water droplets. Nowadays, it is well known in market stand fan equipped with water mister in order to increase the humidity of certain area. In this study, the same concept is applied to the ceiling fan. This study uses a model that combines a humidifier which functions as cooler, ceiling fan and scaled down model of house. The objective of this study is to analyze the influence of ceiling fan humidifier to the temperature and humidity in a house. The mechanism of this small model uses batteries as the power source, connected to the fan and the humidifier. The small water tank's function is to store and supply water to the humidifier. The humidifier is used to cool the room by changing water phase to fine water droplets. Fine water droplets are created from mechanism of the humidifier, which is by increasing the kinetic energy of water molecule using high frequency vibration that overcome the holding force between water molecules. Thus, the molecule of water will change to state of gas or mist. The fan is used to spread out the mist of water to surrounding of the room in order to enhance the humidity. Thermocouple and humidity meter are used to measure temperature and humidity in some period of times. The result shows that humidity increases and temperature decreases with time. This application of water droplet can be applied in the vehicles and engine in order to decrease the temperature.

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet formation in T-junction geometries

Science.gov (United States)

Busuioc, Sergiu; Ambruş, Victor E.; Sofonea, Victor

2017-01-01

The formation of droplets in T-junction configurations is investigated using a two-dimensional Lattice Boltzmann model for liquid-vapor systems. We use an expansion of the equilibrium distribution function with respect to Hermite polynomials and an off-lattice velocity set. To evolve the distribution functions we use the second order corner transport upwind numerical scheme and a third order scheme is used to compute the gradient operators in the force term. The droplet formation successfully recovers the squeezing, dripping and jetting regimes. We find that the droplet length decreases proportionally with the flow rate of the continuous phase and increases with the flow rate of the dispersed phase in all simulation configurations and has a linear dependency on the surface tension parameter κ.

Lipidomic and proteomic analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans lipid droplets and identification of ACS-4 as a lipid droplet-associated protein

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vrablik, Tracy L. [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States); Petyuk, Vladislav A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Larson, Emily M. [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States); Smith, Richard D. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Watts, Jennifer [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States)

2015-06-27

Lipid droplets are cytoplasmic organelles that store neutral lipids for membrane synthesis and energy reserves. In this study, we characterized the lipid and protein composition of purified C. elegans lipid droplets. These lipid droplets are composed mainly of triacylglycerols, surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer composed primarily of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. The fatty acid composition of the triacylglycerols was rich in fatty acid species obtained from the dietary E. coli, including cyclopropane fatty acids and cis-vaccenic acid. Unlike other organisms, C. elegans lipid droplets contain very little cholesterol or cholesterol esters. Comparison of the lipid droplet proteomes of wild type and high-fat daf-2 mutant strains shows a relative decrease of MDT-28 abundance in lipid droplets isolated from daf-2 mutants. Functional analysis of lipid droplet proteins identified in our proteomic studies indicated an enrichment of proteins required for growth and fat homeostasis in C. elegans.

Janus droplet as a catalytic micromotor

Science.gov (United States)

Shklyaev, Sergey

2015-06-01

Self-propulsion of a Janus droplet in a solution of surfactant, which reacts on a half of a drop surface, is studied theoretically. The droplet acts as a catalytic motor creating a concentration gradient, which generates its surface-tension-driven motion; the self-propulsion speed is rather high, 60 μ \\text{m/s} and more. This catalytic motor has several advantages over other micromotors: simple manufacturing, easily attained neutral buoyancy. In contrast to a single-fluid droplet, which demonstrates a self-propulsion as a result of symmetry breaking instability, for the Janus one no stability threshold exists; hence, the droplet radius can be scaled down to micrometers.

A scattering methodology for droplet sizing of e-cigarette aerosols.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratte, Pascal; Cosandey, Stéphane; Goujon-Ginglinger, Catherine

2016-10-01

Knowledge of the droplet size distribution of inhalable aerosols is important to predict aerosol deposition yield at various respiratory tract locations in human. Optical methodologies are usually preferred over the multi-stage cascade impactor for high-throughput measurements of aerosol particle/droplet size distributions. Evaluate the Laser Aerosol Spectrometer technology based on Polystyrene Sphere Latex (PSL) calibration curve applied for the experimental determination of droplet size distributions in the diameter range typical of commercial e-cigarette aerosols (147-1361 nm). This calibration procedure was tested for a TSI Laser Aerosol Spectrometer (LAS) operating at a wavelength of 633 nm and assessed against model di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacat (DEHS) droplets and e-cigarette aerosols. The PSL size response was measured, and intra- and between-day standard deviations calculated. DEHS droplet sizes were underestimated by 15-20% by the LAS when the PSL calibration curve was used; however, the intra- and between-day relative standard deviations were e-cigarette aerosols ranged from 130-191 nm to 225-293 nm, respectively, similar to published values. The LAS instrument can be used to measure e-cigarette aerosol droplet size distributions with a bias underestimating the expected value by 15-20% when using a precise PSL calibration curve. Controlled variability of DEHS size measurements can be achieved with the LAS system; however, this method can only be applied to test aerosols having a refractive index close to that of PSL particles used for calibration.

Development of an imaging system for single droplet characterization using a droplet generator.

Science.gov (United States)

Minov, S Vulgarakis; Cointault, F; Vangeyte, J; Pieters, J G; Hijazi, B; Nuyttens, D

2012-01-01

The spray droplets generated by agricultural nozzles play an important role in the application accuracy and efficiency of plant protection products. The limitations of the non-imaging techniques and the recent improvements in digital image acquisition and processing increased the interest in using high speed imaging techniques in pesticide spray characterisation. The goal of this study was to develop an imaging technique to evaluate the characteristics of a single spray droplet using a piezoelectric single droplet generator and a high speed imaging technique. Tests were done with different camera settings, lenses, diffusers and light sources. The experiments have shown the necessity for having a good image acquisition and processing system. Image analysis results contributed in selecting the optimal set-up for measuring droplet size and velocity which consisted of a high speed camera with a 6 micros exposure time, a microscope lens at a working distance of 43 cm resulting in a field of view of 1.0 cm x 0.8 cm and a Xenon light source without diffuser used as a backlight. For measuring macro-spray characteristics as the droplet trajectory, the spray angle and the spray shape, a Macro Video Zoom lens at a working distance of 14.3 cm with a bigger field of view of 7.5 cm x 9.5 cm in combination with a halogen spotlight with a diffuser and the high speed camera can be used.

Phase rainbow refractometry for accurate droplet variation characterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yingchun; Promvongsa, Jantarat; Saengkaew, Sawitree; Wu, Xuecheng; Chen, Jia; Gréhan, Gérard

2016-10-15

We developed a one-dimensional phase rainbow refractometer for the accurate trans-dimensional measurements of droplet size on the micrometer scale as well as the tiny droplet diameter variations at the nanoscale. The dependence of the phase shift of the rainbow ripple structures on the droplet variations is revealed. The phase-shifting rainbow image is recorded by a telecentric one-dimensional rainbow imaging system. Experiments on the evaporating monodispersed droplet stream show that the phase rainbow refractometer can measure the tiny droplet diameter changes down to tens of nanometers. This one-dimensional phase rainbow refractometer is capable of measuring the droplet refractive index and diameter, as well as variations.

A water activity based model of heterogeneous ice nucleation kinetics for freezing of water and aqueous solution droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Knopf, Daniel A; Alpert, Peter A

2013-01-01

Immersion freezing of water and aqueous solutions by particles acting as ice nuclei (IN) is a common process of heterogeneous ice nucleation which occurs in many environments, especially in the atmosphere where it results in the glaciation of clouds. Here we experimentally show, using a variety of IN types suspended in various aqueous solutions, that immersion freezing temperatures and kinetics can be described solely by temperature, T, and solution water activity, a(w), which is the ratio of the vapour pressure of the solution and the saturation water vapour pressure under the same conditions and, in equilibrium, equivalent to relative humidity (RH). This allows the freezing point and corresponding heterogeneous ice nucleation rate coefficient, J(het), to be uniquely expressed by T and a(w), a result we term the a(w) based immersion freezing model (ABIFM). This method is independent of the nature of the solute and accounts for several varying parameters, including cooling rate and IN surface area, while providing a holistic description of immersion freezing and allowing prediction of freezing temperatures, J(het), frozen fractions, ice particle production rates and numbers. Our findings are based on experimental freezing data collected for various IN surface areas, A, and cooling rates, r, of droplets variously containing marine biogenic material, two soil humic acids, four mineral dusts, and one organic monolayer acting as IN. For all investigated IN types we demonstrate that droplet freezing temperatures increase as A increases. Similarly, droplet freezing temperatures increase as the cooling rate decreases. The log10(J(het)) values for the various IN types derived exclusively by Tand a(w), provide a complete description of the heterogeneous ice nucleation kinetics. Thus, the ABIFM can be applied over the entire range of T, RH, total particulate surface area, and cloud activation timescales typical of atmospheric conditions. Lastly, we demonstrate that ABIFM can

Why droplet dimension can be larger than, equal to, or smaller than the nanowire dimension

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammad, S. Noor

2009-11-01

Droplets play central roles in the nanowire (NW) growth by vapor phase mechanisms. These mechanisms include vapor-liquid-solid (VLS), vapor-solid-solid or vapor-solid (VSS), vapor-quasisolid-solid or vapor-quasiliquid-solid (VQS), oxide-assisted growth (OAG), and self-catalytic growth (SCG) mechanisms. Fundamentals of the shape, size, characteristics, and dynamics of droplets and the impacts of them on the NW growth, have been studied. The influence of growth techniques, growth parameters (e.g., growth temperature, partial pressure, gas flow rates, etc.), thermodynamic conditions, surface and interface energy, molar volume, chemical potentials, etc. have been considered on the shapes and sizes of droplets. A model has been presented to explain why droplets can be larger than, equal to, or smaller than the associated NWs. Various growth techniques have been analyzed to understand defects created in NWs. Photoluminescence characteristics have been presented to quantify the roles of droplets in the creation of NW defects. The study highlights the importance of the purity of the droplet material. It attests to the superiority of the SCG mechanism, and clarifies the differences between the VSS, VQS, VLS, and SCG mechanisms. It explains why droplets produced by some mechanisms are visible but droplets produced by some other mechanisms are not visible. It elucidates the formation mechanisms of very large and very small droplets, and discusses the ground rules for droplets creating necked NWs. It puts forth reasons to demonstrate that very large droplets may not behave as droplets.

Amplifying and attenuating the coffee-ring effect in drying sessile nanofluid droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Crivoi, A.; Duan, Fei

2013-04-01

Experiments and simulations to promote or attenuate the “coffee-ring effect” for pinned sessile nanofluid droplets are presented. The addition of surfactant inside a water suspension of aluminum oxide nanoparticles results in coffee-ring formation after the pinned sessile droplets are fully dried on a substrate, while droplets of the same suspension without the surfactant produce a fine uniform coverage. A mathematical model based on diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation has been developed to explain the observed difference in the experiments. The simulations show that the particle sticking probability is a crucial factor on the morphology of finally dried structures.

Spray Droplet Characterization from a Single Nozzle by High Speed Image Analysis Using an In-Focus Droplet Criterion.

Science.gov (United States)

Minov, Sofija Vulgarakis; Cointault, Frédéric; Vangeyte, Jürgen; Pieters, Jan G; Nuyttens, David

2016-02-06

Accurate spray characterization helps to better understand the pesticide spray application process. The goal of this research was to present the proof of principle of a droplet size and velocity measuring technique for different types of hydraulic spray nozzles using a high speed backlight image acquisition and analysis system. As only part of the drops of an agricultural spray can be in focus at any given moment, an in-focus criterion based on the gray level gradient was proposed to decide whether a given droplet is in focus or not. In a first experiment, differently sized droplets were generated with a piezoelectric generator and studied to establish the relationship between size and in-focus characteristics. In a second experiment, it was demonstrated that droplet sizes and velocities from a real sprayer could be measured reliably in a non-intrusive way using the newly developed image acquisition set-up and image processing. Measured droplet sizes ranged from 24 μm to 543 μm, depending on the nozzle type and size. Droplet velocities ranged from around 0.5 m/s to 12 m/s. The droplet size and velocity results were compared and related well with the results obtained with a Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA).

Freezing of Water Droplet due to Evaporation

Science.gov (United States)

Satoh, Isao; Fushinobu, Kazuyoshi; Hashimoto, Yu

In this study, the feasibility of cooling/freezing of phase change.. materials(PCMs) due to evaporation for cold storage systems was experimentally examined. A pure water was used as the test PCM, since the latent heat due to evaporation of water is about 7 times larger than that due to freezing. A water droplet, the diameter of which was 1-4 mm, was suspended in a test cell by a fine metal wire (O. D.= 100μm),and the cell was suddenly evacuated up to the pressure lower than the triple-point pressure of water, so as to enhance the evaporation from the water surface. Temperature of the droplet was measured by a thermocouple, and the cooling/freezing behavior and the temperature profile of the droplet surface were captured by using a video camera and an IR thermo-camera, respectively. The obtained results showed that the water droplet in the evacuated cell is effectively cooled by the evaporation of water itself, and is frozen within a few seconds through remarkable supercooling state. When the initial temperature of the droplet is slightly higher than the room temperature, boiling phenomena occur in the droplet simultaneously with the freezing due to evaporation. Under such conditions, it was shown that the degree of supercooling of the droplet is reduced by the bubbles generated in the droplet.

Simulating the Surface Relief of Nanoaerosols Obtained via the Rapid Cooling of Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Tovbin, Yu. K.; Zaitseva, E. S.; Rabinovich, A. B.

2018-03-01

An approach is formulated that theoretically describes the structure of a rough surface of small aerosol particles obtained from a liquid droplet upon its rapid cooling. The problem consists of two stages. In the first stage, a concentration profile of the droplet-vapor transition region is calculated. In the second stage, local fractions of vacant sites and their pairs are found on the basis of this profile, and the rough structure of a frozen droplet surface transitioning to the solid state is calculated. Model parameters are the temperature of the initial droplet and those of the lateral interaction between droplet atoms. Information on vacant sites inside the region of transition allows us to identify adsorption centers and estimate the monolayer capacity, compared to that of the total space of the region of transition. The approach is oriented toward calculating adsorption isotherms on real surfaces.

Estimation of droplet charge forming out of an electrified ligament in the presence of a uniform electric field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osman, H; Castle, G S P; Adamiak, K; Fan, H T; Simmer, J

2015-01-01

The charge on a liquid droplet is a critical parameter that needs to be determined to accurately predict the behaviour of the droplet in many electrostatic applications, for example, electrostatic painting and ink-jet printing. The charge depends on many factors, such as the liquid conductivity, droplet and ligament radii, ligament length, droplet shape, electric field intensity, space charge, the presence of adjacent ligaments and previously formed droplets. In this paper, a 2D axisymmetric model is presented which can be used to predict the electric charge on a conductive spherical droplet ejected from a single ligament directly supplied with high voltage. It was found that the droplet charging levels for the case of isolated electrified ligaments are as much as 60 times higher than that in the case of ligaments connected to a planar high voltage electrode. It is suggested that practical atomization systems lie somewhere between these two extremes and that a better model was achieved by developing a 3D approximation of a linear array of ligaments connected to an electrode having variable width. The effect on droplet charge and its radius was estimated for several cases of different boundary conditions. (paper)

Direct numerical simulation of droplet-laden isotropic turbulence

Science.gov (United States)

Dodd, Michael S.

Interaction of liquid droplets with turbulence is important in numerous applications ranging from rain formation to oil spills to spray combustion. The physical mechanisms of droplet-turbulence interaction are largely unknown, especially when compared to that of solid particles. Compared to solid particles, droplets can deform, break up, coalesce and have internal fluid circulation. The main goal of this work is to investigate using direct numerical simulation (DNS) the physical mechanisms of droplet-turbulence interaction, both for non-evaporating and evaporating droplets. To achieve this objective, we develop and couple a new pressure-correction method with the volume-of-fluid (VoF) method for simulating incompressible two-fluid flows. The method's main advantage is that the variable coefficient Poisson equation that arises in solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for two-fluid flows is reduced to a constant coefficient equation. This equation can then be solved directly using, e.g., the FFT-based parallel Poisson solver. For a 10243 mesh, our new pressure-correction method using a fast Poisson solver is ten to forty times faster than the standard pressure-correction method using multigrid. Using the coupled pressure-correction and VoF method, we perform direct numerical simulations (DNS) of 3130 finite-size, non-evaporating droplets of diameter approximately equal to the Taylor lengthscale and with 5% droplet volume fraction in decaying isotropic turbulence at initial Taylor-scale Reynolds number Relambda = 83. In the droplet-laden cases, we vary one of the following three parameters: the droplet Weber number based on the r.m.s. velocity of turbulence (0.1 ≤ Werms ≤ 5), the droplet- to carrier-fluid density ratio (1 ≤ rhod/rho c ≤ 100) or the droplet- to carrier-fluid viscosity ratio (1 ≤ mud/muc ≤ 100). We derive the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) equations for the two-fluid, carrier-fluid and droplet-fluid flow. These equations allow

Experimental test of liquid droplet radiator performance

Science.gov (United States)

Mattick, A. T.; Simon, M. A.

The liquid droplet radiator (LDR) is a heat rejection system for space power systems wherein an array of heated liquid droplets radiates energy directly to space. The use of submillimeter droplets provides large radiating area-to-mass ratio, resulting in radiator systems which are several times lighter than conventional solid surface radiators. An experiment is described in which the power radiated by an array of 2300 streams of silicone oil droplets is measured to test a previously developed theory of the LDR radiation process. This system would be capable of rejecting several kW of heat in space. Furthermore, it would be suitable as a modular unit of an LDR designed for 100-kW power levels. The experiment provided confirmation of the theoretical dependence of droplet array emissivity on optical depth. It also demonstrated the ability to create an array of more than 1000 droplet streams having a divergence less than 1 degree.

Millifluidic droplet analyser for microbiology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baraban, L.; Bertholle, F.; Salverda, M.L.M.; Bremond, N.; Panizza, P.; Baudry, J.; Visser, de J.A.G.M.; Bibette, J.

2011-01-01

We present a novel millifluidic droplet analyser (MDA) for precisely monitoring the dynamics of microbial populations over multiple generations in numerous (=103) aqueous emulsion droplets (100 nL). As a first application, we measure the growth rate of a bacterial strain and determine the minimal

Targeting the motor regulator Klar to lipid droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Einstein Jenifer

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Drosophila, the transport regulator Klar displays tissue-specific localization: In photoreceptors, it is abundant on the nuclear envelope; in early embryos, it is absent from nuclei, but instead present on lipid droplets. Differential targeting of Klar appears to be due to isoform variation. Droplet targeting, in particular, has been suggested to occur via a variant C-terminal region, the LD domain. Although the LD domain is necessary and sufficient for droplet targeting in cultured cells, lack of specific reagents had made it previously impossible to analyze its role in vivo. Results Here we describe a new mutant allele of klar with a lesion specifically in the LD domain; this lesion abolishes both droplet localization of Klar and the ability of Klar to regulate droplet motion. It does not disrupt Klar's function for nuclear migration in photoreceptors. Using a GFP-LD fusion, we show that the LD domain is not only necessary but also sufficient for droplet targeting in vivo; it mediates droplet targeting in embryos, in ovaries, and in a number of somatic tissues. Conclusions Our analysis demonstrates that droplet targeting of Klar occurs via a cis-acting sequence and generates a new tool for monitoring lipid droplets in living tissues of Drosophila.

Investigation on Electrostatical Breakup of Bio-Oil Droplets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Z. Wen

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In electrostatic atomization, the input electrical energy causes breaking up of the droplet surface by utilizing a mutual repulsion of net charges accumulating on that surface. In this work a number of key parameters controlling the bio-oil droplet breakup process are identified and these correlations among the droplet size distribution, specific charges of droplets and externally applied electrical voltages are quantified. Theoretical considerations of the bag or strip breakup mechanism of biodiesel droplets experiencing electrostatic potential are compared to experimental outcomes. The theoretical analysis suggests the droplet breakup process is governed by the Rayleigh instability condition, which reveals the effects of droplets size, specific charge, surface tension force, and droplet velocities. Experiments confirm that the average droplet diameters decrease with increasing specific charges and this decreasing tendency is non-monotonic due to the motion of satellite drops in the non-uniform electrical field. The measured specific charges are found to be smaller than the theoretical values. And the energy transformation from the electrical energy to surface energy, in addition to the energy loss, Taylor instability breakup, non-excess polarization and some system errors, accounts for this discrepancy. The electrostatic force is the dominant factor controlling the mechanism of biodiesel breakup in electrostatic atomization.

Mathematical modelling of oil spill fate and transport in the marine environment incorporating biodegradation kinetics of oil droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Spanoudaki, Katerina

2016-04-01

Oil biodegradation by native bacteria is one of the most important natural processes that can attenuate the environmental impacts of marine oil spills. However, very few numerical models of oil spill fate and transport include biodegradation kinetics of spilled oil. Furthermore, in models where biodegradation is included amongst the oil transformation processes simulated, it is mostly represented as a first order decay process neglecting the effect of several important parameters that can limit biodegradation rate, such as oil composition and oil droplets-water interface. To this end, the open source numerical model MEDSKIL-II, which simulates oil spill fate and transport in the marine environment, has been modified to include biodegradation kinetics of oil droplets dispersed in the water column. MEDSLIK-II predicts the transport and weathering of oil spills following a Lagrangian approach for the solution of the advection-diffusion equation. Transport is governed by the 3D sea currents and wave field provided by ocean circulation models. In addition to advective and diffusive displacements, the model simulates several physical and chemical processes that transform the oil (evaporation, emulsification, dispersion in the water column, adhesion to coast). The fate algorithms employed in MEDSLIK-II consider the oil as a uniform substance whose properties change as the slick weathers, an approach that can lead to reduced accuracy, especially in the estimation of oil evaporation and biodegradation. Therefore MEDSLIK-II has been modified by adopting the "pseudo-component" approach for simulating weathering processes. Spilled oil is modelled as a relatively small number of discrete, non-interacting components (pseudo-components). Chemicals in the oil mixture are grouped by physical-chemical properties and the resulting pseudo-component behaves as if it were a single substance with characteristics typical of the chemical group. The fate (evaporation, dispersion

Simulation of High-Speed Droplet Impact Against Dry Substrates with Partial Velocity Slip

Science.gov (United States)

Kondo, Tomoki; Ando, Keita

2017-11-01

High-speed droplet impact can be used to clean substrates such as silicon wafers. Radially spreading shear flow after the impact may allow for mechanically removing contaminant particles at substrate surfaces. Since it is a big challenge to experimentally explore such complicated flow that exhibits contact line motion and water hammer, its flow feature is not well understood. Here, we aim to numerically evaluate shear flow caused by the impact of a spherical water droplet (of submillimeter sizes) at high speed (up to 50 m/s) against a dry rigid wall. We model the flow based on compressible Navier-Stokes equations with Stokes' hypothesis and solve them by a high-order-accurate finite volume method equipped with shock and interface capturing. To treat the motion of a contact line between the three phases (the droplet, the rigid wall, and the ambient air) in a robust manner, we permit velocity slip at the wall with Navier's model, for wall slip is known to come into play under steep velocity gradients that can arise from high-speed droplet impact. In our presentation, we will examine radially spreading flow after the droplet impact and the resulting wall shear stress generation from the simulation. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP17J02211.

Some Lipid Droplets Are More Equal Than Others: Different Metabolic Lipid Droplet Pools in Hepatic Stellate Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Molenaar, Martijn R; Vaandrager, Arie B; Helms, J Bernd

2017-01-01

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are professional lipid-storing cells and are unique in their property to store most of the retinol (vitamin A) as retinyl esters in large-sized lipid droplets. Hepatic stellate cell activation is a critical step in the development of chronic liver disease, as activated HSCs cause fibrosis. During activation, HSCs lose their lipid droplets containing triacylglycerols, cholesteryl esters, and retinyl esters. Lipidomic analysis revealed that the dynamics of disappearance of these different classes of neutral lipids are, however, very different from each other. Although retinyl esters steadily decrease during HSC activation, triacylglycerols have multiple pools one of which becomes transiently enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids before disappearing. These observations are consistent with the existence of preexisting "original" lipid droplets with relatively slow turnover and rapidly recycling lipid droplets that transiently appear during activation of HSCs. Elucidation of the molecular machinery involved in the regulation of these distinct lipid droplet pools may open new avenues for the treatment of liver fibrosis.

Droplet ejection and sliding on a flapping film

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xi Chen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Water recovery and subsequent reuse are required for human consumption as well as industrial, and agriculture applications. Moist air streams, such as cooling tower plumes and fog, represent opportunities for water harvesting. In this work, we investigate a flapping mechanism to increase droplet shedding on thin, hydrophobic films for two vibrational cases (e.g., ± 9 mm and 11 Hz; ± 2 mm and 100 Hz. Two main mechanisms removed water droplets from the flapping film: vibrational-induced coalescence/sliding and droplet ejection from the surface. Vibrations mobilized droplets on the flapping film, increasing the probability of coalescence with neighboring droplets leading to faster droplet growth. Droplet departure sizes of 1–2 mm were observed for flapping films, compared to 3–4 mm on stationary films, which solely relied on gravity for droplet removal. Additionally, flapping films exhibited lower percentage area coverage by water after a few seconds. The second removal mechanism, droplet ejection was analyzed with respect to surface wave formation and inertia. Smaller droplets (e.g., 1-mm diameter were ejected at a higher frequency which is associated with a higher acceleration. Kinetic energy of the water was the largest contributor to energy required to flap the film, and low energy inputs (i.e., 3.3 W/m2 were possible. Additionally, self-flapping films could enable novel water collection and condensation with minimal energy input.

Droplet size in a rectangular Venturi scrubber

OpenAIRE

Costa, M. A. M.; Henrique, P. R.; Gonçalves, J. A. S.; Coury, J.R.

2004-01-01

The Venturi scrubber is a device which uses liquid in the form of droplets to efficiently remove fine particulate matter from gaseous streams. Droplet size is of fundamental importance for the scrubber performance. In the present experimental study, a laser diffraction technique was used in order to measure droplet size in situ in a Venturi scrubber with a rectangular cross section. Droplet size distribution was measured as a function of gas velocity (58.3 to 74.9 m/s), liquid-to-gas ratio (0...

Three-axis acoustic device for levitation of droplets in an open gas stream and its application to examine sulfur dioxide absorption by water droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Terrance L; Budwig, Ralph S

2007-01-01

Two acoustic devices to stabilize a droplet in an open gas stream (single-axis and three-axis levitators) have been designed and tested. The gas stream was provided by a jet apparatus with a 64 mm exit diameter and a uniform velocity profile. The acoustic source used was a Langevin vibrator with a concave reflector. The single-axis levitator relied primarily on the radial force from the acoustic field and was shown to be limited because of significant droplet wandering. The three-axis levitator relied on a combination of the axial and radial forces. The three-axis levitator was applied to examine droplet deformation and circulation and to investigate the uptake of SO(2) from the gas stream to the droplet. Droplets ranging in diameters from 2 to 5 mm were levitated in gas streams with velocities up to 9 ms. Droplet wandering was on the order of a half droplet diameter for a 3 mm diameter droplet. Droplet circulation ranged from the predicted Hadamard-Rybczynski pattern to a rotating droplet pattern. Droplet pH over a central volume of the droplet was measured by planar laser induced fluorescence. The results for the decay of droplet pH versus time are in general agreement with published theory and experiments.

An experimental study on suspended sodium droplet combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Kenji

2003-03-01

As part of studies for phenomenological investigation of sodium droplet burning behavior, in our previous experimental studies, ignition process and succeeding combustion of suspended single sodium droplet had been investigated by using high speed movie camera, and a temperature measurement system feasible for the experiment had been developed. In the present study, by using 4 mm diam. suspended sodium droplet, combustion experiments were performed for the free-stream velocity of dry air flow of 20 to 60 cm/s, and for the initial droplet temperature of 280 to 400degC, and the effects of the free-stream velocity and initial droplet temperature on the ignition behavior and droplet temperature variation with time were examined by using high speed movie camera and sheath-type fine thermocouple. The experimental results are as follows: (1) When the initial droplet temperature is less than 290degC, before ignition the oxide film accompanied with vertical streak appeared and the droplet turned to teardrop shape. (2) The ignition delay time defined as the time to evolution of orange color light emission zone or flame zone decreases with the increase o the free-stream velocity or of initial droplet temperature. Examples of typical ignition time are 1.4 s at the free-stream velocity 20 cm/s and initial droplet temperature 300degC, and 0.65 s at 60 cm/s and 400degC. (3) the dependence of the ignition delay time on the free-stream velocity decreases as the free stream velocity increases. (4) The droplet temperatures at the moment of melting extending all over the surface and at the moment of ignition are around 460degC and 500 to 600degC (mostly around 575degC), respectively. These values are essentially independent of the free-stream velocity and initial droplet temperature. (5) The rate of temperature rise does not change through the moment of ignition. (6) The asymptotic droplet temperature at approaching to quasi-steady combustion state following ignition is independent of

Interaction between droplets in a ternary microemulsion evaluated by the relative form factor method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagao, Michihiro; Seto, Hideki; Yamada, Norifumi L.

2007-01-01

This paper describes the concentration dependence of the interaction between water droplets coated by a surfactant monolayer using the contrast variation small-angle neutron scattering technique. In the first part, we explain the idea of how to extract a relatively model free structure factor from the scattering data, which is called the relative form factor method. In the second part, the experimental results for the shape of the droplets (form factor) are described. In the third part the relatively model free structure factor is shown, and finally the concentration dependence of the interaction potential between droplets is discussed. The result indicates the validity of the relative form factor method, and the importance of the estimation of the model free structure factor to discuss the nature of structure formation in microemulsion systems

Liquid droplet radiator performance studies

Science.gov (United States)

Mattick, A. T.; Hertzberg, A.

By making use of droplets rather than solid surfaces to radiate waste heat in space, the liquid droplet radiator (LDR) achieves a radiating area/mass much larger than that of conventional radiators which use fins or heat pipes. The lightweight potential of the LDR is shown to be limited primarily by the radiative properties of the droplets. The requirement that the LDR heat transfer fluid have a very low vapor pressure limits the choice of fluids to relatively few—several liquid metals and Dow 705 silicone fluid are the only suitable candidates so far identified. An experimental determination of the emittance of submillimeter droplets of Dow 705 fluid indicates than an LDR using this fluid at temperatures of 275-335 K would be ⋍ 10 times lighter than the lightest solid surface radiators. Although several liquid metals appear to offer excellent performance in LDR applications at temperatures between 200 K and 975 K, experimental determination of liquid metal emissivities is needed for a conclusive assessment.

Estimation and control of droplet size and frequency in projected spray mode of a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process.

Science.gov (United States)

Anzehaee, Mohammad Mousavi; Haeri, Mohammad

2011-07-01

New estimators are designed based on the modified force balance model to estimate the detaching droplet size, detached droplet size, and mean value of droplet detachment frequency in a gas metal arc welding process. The proper droplet size for the process to be in the projected spray transfer mode is determined based on the modified force balance model and the designed estimators. Finally, the droplet size and the melting rate are controlled using two proportional-integral (PI) controllers to achieve high weld quality by retaining the transfer mode and generating appropriate signals as inputs of the weld geometry control loop. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling study of cloud droplet nucleation and in-cloud sulfate production during the Sanitation of the Atmosphere (SANA) 2 campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaohong; Seidl, Winfried

1998-01-01

Based upon the measurements of vertical profiles of gaseous SO2, H2O2, O3, and meteorological parameters from aircraft and of the aerosol chemical composition and gaseous NH3, HNO3, and SO2 at the surface in southeastern Germany (Melpitz) during the Sanitation of the Atmosphere (SANA) 2 campaign, realistic modeling of cloud droplet nucleation and in-cloud sulfate production was performed with an explicit microphysical cloud model with size-resolved chemistry and cloud top entrainment. For the fair weather cumulus observed during the measurements, the calculated cloud droplet number concentrations could be as high as 2000 cm-3 (and precloud aerosol sulfate up to 9.1 μg m-3), indicating strong sulfur pollution at Melpitz during the campaign. The in-cloud sulfate production is within 1.5-5.0 μg m-3, depending on the initial gaseous NH3 concentration in the parcel. This result shows the necessity of gaseous NH3 vertical profile measurements. Entrainment can reduce the cloud droplet number concentration and cause the distribution of in-cloud produced sulfate to shift toward larger particle sizes. Under the cases we studied, we do not find a significant effect of cloud top gaseous H2O2 entrainment on the in-cloud sulfate production. For the adiabatic cases the departure of bulk water H2O2 from the Henry's law equilibrium is very small. When entrainment included, however, bulk water H2O2 concentrations could be clearly less than the equilibrium values, and the deficiencies are higher (>20%) for droplets larger than 10 μm radius. Our results suggest that entrainment could be one of the important factors to account for the measured H2O2 deficiency in cloud water.

An experimental study on suspended sodium droplet combustion (3)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Kenji

2005-03-01

As part of studies for phenomenological investigation of sodium droplet burning behavior, in our previous experimental studies for suspended single sodium droplet, behavior of ignition process and succeeding combustion, ignition delay time, and droplet temperature history had been investigated. In this study, combustion experiments of suspended sodium droplet were performed in upward dry air flow by expanding the range of free-stream velocity U of air flow into 400 cm/s with initial droplet temperature Ti=300, 350, and 400degC and initial droplet diameter 4 mm at first. Then, the combustion experiments were also performed by changing the initial droplet diameter from 2.3 to 4.4 mm with Ti=350 and 400degC and U=100 cm/s. From the experimental results, the effects of free-stream velocity, initial droplet temperature, and initial droplet diameter on the ignition/burning behavior and ignition delay time were examined. The obtained results are as follows: (1) Ignition phenomena of suspended droplet were observed for all examined experimental conditions up to 400 cm/s. The orange emission observed at the moment of ignition occurs simultaneously over whole droplet surface except the top region of it. (2) The feature of the dependence of ignition delay time on the free-stream velocity is independent of the initial droplet temperature. With the increase of the free-stream velocity, up to 300 cm/s the ignition delay time decreases with decreasing dependency, and then the dependency increases more. (3) The ignition delay time increases with the increase of initial droplet diameter. The dependency increases as the initial droplet diameter increases. The ignition delay time extrapolated toward zero diameters from the obtained results becomes to be essentially zero. (author)

Lipid droplet organelle distribution in populations of dividing cells studied by simulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalhaimer, Paul

2013-01-01

One of the key questions in cell biology is how organelles are passed from parent to daughter cells. To help address this question, I used Brownian dynamics to simulate lipid droplets as model organelles in populations of dividing cells. Lipid droplets are dynamic bodies that can form both de novo and by fission, they can also be depleted. The quantitative interplay among these three events is unknown but would seem crucial for controlling droplet distribution in populations of dividing cells. Surprisingly, of the three main events studied: biogenesis, fission, and depletion, the third played the key role in maintaining droplet organelle number—and to a lesser extent volume—in populations of dividing cells where formation events would have seemed paramount. In the case of lipid droplets, this provides computational evidence that they must be sustained, most likely through contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum. The findings also agree with video microscopy experiments over much shorter timescales where droplet depletion in fission yeast cells was not observed. In general, this work shows that organelle maintenance is invaluable and lack thereof cannot necessarily be compensated for by organelle formation. This study provides a time-accurate, physical-based template for long-term cell division studies. (paper)

Lipid droplet organelle distribution in populations of dividing cells studied by simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Dalhaimer, Paul

2013-06-01

One of the key questions in cell biology is how organelles are passed from parent to daughter cells. To help address this question, I used Brownian dynamics to simulate lipid droplets as model organelles in populations of dividing cells. Lipid droplets are dynamic bodies that can form both de novo and by fission, they can also be depleted. The quantitative interplay among these three events is unknown but would seem crucial for controlling droplet distribution in populations of dividing cells. Surprisingly, of the three main events studied: biogenesis, fission, and depletion, the third played the key role in maintaining droplet organelle number—and to a lesser extent volume—in populations of dividing cells where formation events would have seemed paramount. In the case of lipid droplets, this provides computational evidence that they must be sustained, most likely through contacts with the endoplasmic reticulum. The findings also agree with video microscopy experiments over much shorter timescales where droplet depletion in fission yeast cells was not observed. In general, this work shows that organelle maintenance is invaluable and lack thereof cannot necessarily be compensated for by organelle formation. This study provides a time-accurate, physical-based template for long-term cell division studies.

A lattice Boltzmann simulation of coalescence-induced droplet jumping on superhydrophobic surfaces with randomly distributed structures

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Li-Zhi; Yuan, Wu-Zhi

2018-04-01

The motion of coalescence-induced condensate droplets on superhydrophobic surface (SHS) has attracted increasing attention in energy-related applications. Previous researches were focused on regularly rough surfaces. Here a new approach, a mesoscale lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), is proposed and used to model the dynamic behavior of coalescence-induced droplet jumping on SHS with randomly distributed rough structures. A Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) method is used to generate non-Gaussian randomly distributed rough surfaces with the skewness (Sk), kurtosis (K) and root mean square (Rq) obtained from real surfaces. Three typical spreading states of coalesced droplets are observed through LBM modeling on various rough surfaces, which are found to significantly influence the jumping ability of coalesced droplet. The coalesced droplets spreading in Cassie state or in composite state will jump off the rough surfaces, while the ones spreading in Wenzel state would eventually remain on the rough surfaces. It is demonstrated that the rough surfaces with smaller Sks, larger Rqs and a K at 3.0 are beneficial to coalescence-induced droplet jumping. The new approach gives more detailed insights into the design of SHS.

Volume-of-fluid simulations in microfluidic T-junction devices: Influence of viscosity ratio on droplet size

Science.gov (United States)

Nekouei, Mehdi; Vanapalli, Siva A.

2017-03-01

We used volume-of-fluid (VOF) method to perform three-dimensional numerical simulations of droplet formation of Newtonian fluids in microfluidic T-junction devices. To evaluate the performance of the VOF method we examined the regimes of drop formation and determined droplet size as a function of system parameters. Comparison of the simulation results with four sets of experimental data from the literature showed good agreement, validating the VOF method. Motivated by the lack of adequate studies investigating the influence of viscosity ratio (λ) on the generated droplet size, we mapped the dependence of drop volume on capillary number (0.001 1. In addition, we find that at a given capillary number, the size of droplets does not vary appreciably when λ 1. We develop an analytical model for predicting the droplet size that includes a viscosity-dependent breakup time for the dispersed phase. This improved model successfully predicts the effects of the viscosity ratio observed in simulations. Results from this study are useful for the design of lab-on-chip technologies and manufacture of microfluidic emulsions, where there is a need to know how system parameters influence the droplet size.

Droplet size in a rectangular Venturi scrubber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. M. Costa

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The Venturi scrubber is a device which uses liquid in the form of droplets to efficiently remove fine particulate matter from gaseous streams. Droplet size is of fundamental importance for the scrubber performance. In the present experimental study, a laser diffraction technique was used in order to measure droplet size in situ in a Venturi scrubber with a rectangular cross section. Droplet size distribution was measured as a function of gas velocity (58.3 to 74.9 m/s, liquid-to-gas ratio (0.07 to 0.27 l/m³, and distance from liquid injection point (64 to 173 mm. It was found that all these variables significantly affect droplet size. The results were compared with the predictions from correlations found in the literature.

Effects of turbulence on the geometric collision rate of sedimenting droplets. Part 2. Theory and parameterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayala, Orlando; Rosa, Bogdan; Wang Lianping

2008-01-01

The effect of air turbulence on the geometric collision kernel of cloud droplets can be predicted if the effects of air turbulence on two kinematic pair statistics can be modeled. The first is the average radial relative velocity and the second is the radial distribution function (RDF). A survey of the literature shows that no theory is available for predicting the radial relative velocity of finite-inertia sedimenting droplets in a turbulent flow. In this paper, a theory for the radial relative velocity is developed, using a statistical approach assuming that gravitational sedimentation dominates the relative motion of droplets before collision. In the weak-inertia limit, the theory reveals a new term making a positive contribution to the radial relative velocity resulting from a coupling between sedimentation and air turbulence on the motion of finite-inertia droplets. The theory is compared to the direct numerical simulations (DNS) results in part 1, showing a reasonable agreement with the DNS data for bidisperse cloud droplets. For droplets larger than 30 μm in radius, a nonlinear drag (NLD) can also be included in the theory in terms of an effective inertial response time and an effective terminal velocity. In addition, an empirical model is developed to quantify the RDF. This, together with the theory for radial relative velocity, provides a parameterization for the turbulent geometric collision kernel. Using this integrated model, we find that turbulence could triple the geometric collision kernel, relative to the stagnant air case, for a droplet pair of 10 and 20 μm sedimenting through a cumulus cloud at R λ =2x10 4 and ε=600 cm 2 s -3 . For the self-collisions of 20 μm droplets, the collision kernel depends sensitively on the flow dissipation rate

Transient deformation of a droplet near a microfluidic constriction: A quantitative analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Trégouët, Corentin; Salez, Thomas; Monteux, Cécile; Reyssat, Mathilde

2018-05-01

We report on experiments that consist of deforming a collection of monodisperse droplets produced by a microfluidic chip through a flow-focusing device. We show that a proper numerical modeling of the flow is necessary to access the stress applied by the latter on the droplet along its trajectory through the chip. This crucial step enables the full integration of the differential equation governing the dynamical deformation, and consequently the robust measurement of the interfacial tension by fitting the experiments with the calculated deformation. Our study thus demonstrates the feasibility of quantitative in situ rheology in microfluidic flows involving, e.g., droplets, capsules, or cells.

The Liquid Droplet Radiator - an Ultralightweight Heat Rejection System for Efficient Energy Conversion in Space

Science.gov (United States)

Mattick, A. T.; Hertzberg, A.

1984-01-01

A heat rejection system for space is described which uses a recirculating free stream of liquid droplets in place of a solid surface to radiate waste heat. By using sufficiently small droplets ( 100 micron diameter) of low vapor pressure liquids the radiating droplet sheet can be made many times lighter than the lightest solid surface radiators (heat pipes). The liquid droplet radiator (LDR) is less vulnerable to damage by micrometeoroids than solid surface radiators, and may be transported into space far more efficiently. Analyses are presented of LDR applications in thermal and photovoltaic energy conversion which indicate that fluid handling components (droplet generator, droplet collector, heat exchanger, and pump) may comprise most of the radiator system mass. Even the unoptimized models employed yield LDR system masses less than heat pipe radiator system masses, and significant improvement is expected using design approaches that incorporate fluid handling components more efficiently. Technical problems (e.g., spacecraft contamination and electrostatic deflection of droplets) unique to this method of heat rejectioon are discussed and solutions are suggested.

Droplet Epitaxy Image Contrast in Mirror Electron Microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, S. M.; Zheng, C. X.; Jesson, D. E.

2017-01-01

Image simulation methods are applied to interpret mirror electron microscopy (MEM) images obtained from a movie of GaAs droplet epitaxy. Cylindrical symmetry of structures grown by droplet epitaxy is assumed in the simulations which reproduce the main features of the experimental MEM image contrast, demonstrating that droplet epitaxy can be studied in real-time. It is therefore confirmed that an inner ring forms at the droplet contact line and an outer ring (or skirt) occurs outside the droplet periphery. We believe that MEM combined with image simulations will be increasingly used to study the formation and growth of quantum structures.

Hole growth dynamics in a two dimensional Leidenfrost droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Raufaste, Christophe; Celestini, Franck; Barzyk, Alexandre; Frisch, Thomas

2015-03-01

We studied the behaviors of Leidenfrost droplets confined in a Hele-Shaw cell. These droplets are unstable above a critical size and a hole grows at their center. We experimentally investigate two different systems for which the hole growth dynamics exhibits peculiar features that are driven by capillarity and inertia. We report a first regime characterized by the liquid reorganization from a liquid sheet to a liquid torus with similarities to the burst of micron-thick soap films. In the second regime, the liquid torus expands and thins before fragmentation. Finally, we propose models to account for the experimental results.

Patterned gradient surface for spontaneous droplet transportation and water collection: simulation and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tan, Xianhua; Zhu, Yiying; Shi, Tielin; Tang, Zirong; Liao, Guanglan

2016-01-01

We demonstrate spontaneous droplet transportation and water collection on wedge-shaped gradient surfaces consisting of alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. Droplets on the surfaces are modeled and simulated to analyze the Gibbs free energy and free energy gradient distributions. Big half-apex angle and great wettability difference result in considerable free energy gradient, corresponding to large driving force for spontaneous droplet transportation, thus causing the droplets to move towards the open end of the wedge-shaped hydrophilic regions, where the Gibbs free energy is low. Gradient surfaces are then fabricated and tested. Filmwise condensation begins on the hydrophilic regions, forming wedge-shaped tracks for water collection. Dropwise condensation occurs on the hydrophobic regions, where the droplet size distribution and departure diameters are controlled by the width of the regions. Condensate water from both the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions are collected directionally to the open end of the wedge-shaped hydrophilic regions, agreeing with the simulations. Directional droplet transport and controllable departure diameters make the branched gradient surfaces more efficient than smooth surfaces for water collection, which proves that gradient surfaces are potential in water collection, microfluidic devices, anti-fogging and self-cleaning. (paper)

Influence of meteorological parameters on interception of cloud droplets in a coniferous forest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kroll, G; Winkler, P [Deutscher Wetterdienst, Meteorologisches Observatorium Hamburg (Germany, F.R.)

1989-11-01

The deposition of trace substances in a high elevated coniferous forest by interception of cloud droplets depends on numerous meteorological parameters. Sensitivity studies with a deposition model show that the variation of the vertical wind profile in the stand and the capture efficiency have a large influence on the deposition flux. Different drop size distributions with equal LWC's lead to changes of only 10% in the deposition flux. A higher ion concentration in small droplets has only a small influence on the trace substance deposition. A realistic estimate of the deposition is most likely achieved by using hourly observed meteorological parameters as model input values. The deposition of trace substances into a high elevated coniferous forest by interception of cloud droplets can be as high as the deposition via rain. (orig.).

Enhancing physicochemical properties of emulsions by heteroaggregation of oppositely charged lactoferrin coated lutein droplets and whey protein isolate coated DHA droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xin; Wang, Xu; Xu, Duoxia; Cao, Yanping; Wang, Shaojia; Wang, Bei; Sun, Baoguo; Yuan, Fang; Gao, Yanxiang

2018-01-15

The formation and physicochemical stability of mixed functional components (lutein & DHA) emulsions through heteroaggregation were studied. It was formed by controlled heteroaggregation of oppositely charged lutein and DHA droplets coated by cationic lactoferrin (LF) and anionic whey protein isolate (WPI), respectively. Heteroaggregation was induced by mixing the oppositely charged LF-lutein and WPI-DHA emulsions together at pH 6.0. Droplet size, zeta-potential, transmission-physical stability, microrheological behavior and microstructure of the heteroaggregates formed were measured as a function of LF-lutein to WPI-DHA droplet ratio. Lutein degradation and DHA oxidation by measurement of lipid hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were determined. Upon mixing the two types of bioactive compounds droplets together, it was found that the largest aggregates and highest physical stability occurred at a droplet ratio of 40% LF-lutein droplets to 60% WPI-DHA droplets. Heteroaggregates formation altered the microrheological properties of the mixed emulsions mainly by the special network structure of the droplets. When LF-coated lutein droplets ratios were more than 30% and less than 60%, the mixed emulsions exhibited distinct decreases in the Mean Square Displacement, which indicated that their limited scope of Brownian motion and stable structure. Mixed emulsions with LF-lutein/WPI-DHA droplets ratio of 4:6 exhibited Macroscopic Viscosity Index with 13 times and Elasticity Index with 3 times of magnitudes higher than the individual emulsions from which they were prepared. Compared with the WPI-DHA emulsion or LF-lutein emulsion, the oxidative stability of the heteroaggregate of LF-lutein/WPI-DHA emulsions was improved. Heteroaggregates formed by oppositely charged bioactive compounds droplets may be useful for creating specific food structures that lead to desirable physicochemical properties, such as microrheological property, physical and chemical

Flow behavior of droplets downstream of the spacer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodama, Eiichiro; Morishita, Kiyohide; Aritomi, Masanori; Yano, Takashi

1998-01-01

The fuel spacer, of which role is to maintain an appropriate rod-to-rod clearance, is one of the components of a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) fuel rod bundles. The fuel spacer influences flow characteristics of the liquid film in fuel rod bundles, so that its geometry influences greatly thermal hydraulics such as critical power and pressure drop therein. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of the spacer geometry on the core flow split downstream of the spacer. Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) was used for their meausrement under the conditions of a small amount of droplets in mist flows. From the experimental results, the normalized droplet velocity profiles with a spacer were split by the spacer and were different between a wider and a narrower regions in the channel, however, they became uniform at the distance far 100mm from the spacer. In the case without a spacer, the velocity was monotonously increasing nearer the rod surface with going toward the center of the channel. In the case with a spacer, the velocity profile downstream of the spacer changed in the narrower region of the channel. This tendency became more remarkable with thickening the spacer and widening clearance between the spacer and the wall. In this paper, 'drift' velocity effect was applied for the spacer model, due to the gas flows were split by the spacer which is based on the momentum balance between the narrower and wider channels. This model was confirmed from the experimental results that the droplet flowed from a wider region to a narrower one. This drift effect appeared more strongly as the spacer became thicker and the clearance did narrower. The analytical results explained qualitatively the measured ones. It is clarified that the drift effect proposed in this work was a dominant factor on droplet deposition downstream of the spacer

Droplet morphometry and velocimetry (DMV): a video processing software for time-resolved, label-free tracking of droplet parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Basu, Amar S

2013-05-21

Emerging assays in droplet microfluidics require the measurement of parameters such as drop size, velocity, trajectory, shape deformation, fluorescence intensity, and others. While micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV) and related techniques are suitable for measuring flow using tracer particles, no tool exists for tracking droplets at the granularity of a single entity. This paper presents droplet morphometry and velocimetry (DMV), a digital video processing software for time-resolved droplet analysis. Droplets are identified through a series of image processing steps which operate on transparent, translucent, fluorescent, or opaque droplets. The steps include background image generation, background subtraction, edge detection, small object removal, morphological close and fill, and shape discrimination. A frame correlation step then links droplets spanning multiple frames via a nearest neighbor search with user-defined matching criteria. Each step can be individually tuned for maximum compatibility. For each droplet found, DMV provides a time-history of 20 different parameters, including trajectory, velocity, area, dimensions, shape deformation, orientation, nearest neighbour spacing, and pixel statistics. The data can be reported via scatter plots, histograms, and tables at the granularity of individual droplets or by statistics accrued over the population. We present several case studies from industry and academic labs, including the measurement of 1) size distributions and flow perturbations in a drop generator, 2) size distributions and mixing rates in drop splitting/merging devices, 3) efficiency of single cell encapsulation devices, 4) position tracking in electrowetting operations, 5) chemical concentrations in a serial drop dilutor, 6) drop sorting efficiency of a tensiophoresis device, 7) plug length and orientation of nonspherical plugs in a serpentine channel, and 8) high throughput tracking of >250 drops in a reinjection system. Performance metrics

Study on Droplet Size and Velocity Distributions of a Pressure Swirl Atomizer Based on the Maximum Entropy Formalism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Yan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A predictive model for droplet size and velocity distributions of a pressure swirl atomizer has been proposed based on the maximum entropy formalism (MEF. The constraint conditions of the MEF model include the conservation laws of mass, momentum, and energy. The effects of liquid swirling strength, Weber number, gas-to-liquid axial velocity ratio and gas-to-liquid density ratio on the droplet size and velocity distributions of a pressure swirl atomizer are investigated. Results show that model based on maximum entropy formalism works well to predict droplet size and velocity distributions under different spray conditions. Liquid swirling strength, Weber number, gas-to-liquid axial velocity ratio and gas-to-liquid density ratio have different effects on droplet size and velocity distributions of a pressure swirl atomizer.

Measurement of nanoscale molten polymer droplet spreading using atomic force microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Soleymaniha, Mohammadreza; Felts, Jonathan R.

2018-03-01

We present a technique for measuring molten polymer spreading dynamics with nanometer scale spatial resolution at elevated temperatures using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The experimental setup is used to measure the spreading dynamics of polystyrene droplets with 2 μm diameters at 115-175 °C on sapphire, silicon oxide, and mica. Custom image processing algorithms determine the droplet height, radius, volume, and contact angle of each AFM image over time to calculate the droplet spreading dynamics. The contact angle evolution follows a power law with time with experimentally determined values of -0.29 ± 0.01, -0.08 ± 0.02, and -0.21 ± 0.01 for sapphire, silicon oxide, and mica, respectively. The non-zero steady state contact angles result in a slower evolution of contact angle with time consistent with theories combining molecular kinetic and hydrodynamic models. Monitoring the cantilever phase provides additional information about the local mechanics of the droplet surface. We observe local crystallinity on the molten droplet surface, where crystalline structures appear to nucleate at the contact line and migrate toward the top of the droplet. Increasing the temperature from 115 °C to 175 °C reduced surface crystallinity from 35% to 12%, consistent with increasingly energetically favorable amorphous phase as the temperature approaches the melting temperature. This platform provides a way to measure spreading dynamics of extremely small volumes of heterogeneously complex fluids not possible through other means.

Controlled production of droplets by in-flight electrospraying.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Oleg V; Dunn, Patrick F

2010-10-19

Diameter, velocity, and charge measurements of progeny droplets produced in-flight by a millimeter-size parent drop subjected to electric and ionic fields are reported. Different drop breakup modes were studied using phase doppler anemometry and high-speed digital photography. Drop breakup occurred in applied electric (∼1 kV/cm to ∼10 kV/cm) and ionic (∼10(13)/m(3) to ∼10(15)/m(3)) fields that were generated using a DC-corona discharge in a needle-plate configuration. Effects of the external electric field and the diameter of the parent drop are considered. Several models are summarized, including simulations of the electrohydrodynamics of the corona discharge, electrocapillary stability analysis of the jet, and progeny droplets mobility analysis. Using experimental and model results, the charge of progeny drops is shown to vary as the three-halves power of their diameter.

Spontaneous Spreading of a Droplet: The Role of Solid Continuity and Advancing Contact Angle.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Youhua; Sun, Yujin; Drelich, Jaroslaw W; Choi, Chang-Hwan

2018-05-01

Spontaneous spreading of a droplet on a solid surface is poorly understood from a macroscopic level down to a molecular level. Here, we investigate the effect of surface topography and wettability on spontaneous spreading of a water droplet. Spreading force is measured for a suspended droplet that minimizes interference of kinetic energy in the spontaneous spreading during its contact with solid surfaces of discontinuous (pillar) and continuous (pore) patterns with various shapes and dimensions. Results show that a droplet cannot spread spontaneously on pillared surfaces regardless of their shapes or dimensions because of the solid discontinuity. On the contrary, a droplet on pored surfaces can undergo spontaneous spreading whose force increases with a decrease in the advancing contact angle. Theoretical models based on both the system free energy and capillary force along the contact line validate the direct and universal dependency of the spontaneous spreading force on the advancing contact angle.

Interaction of Droplets Separated by an Elastic Film.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tianshu; Xu, Xuejuan; Nadermann, Nichole; He, Zhenping; Jagota, Anand; Hui, Chung-Yuen

2017-01-10

The Laplace pressure of a droplet placed on one side of an elastic thin film can cause significant deformation in the form of a bulge on its opposite side. Here, we show that this deformation can be detected by other droplets suspended on the opposite side of the film, leading to interaction between droplets separated by the solid (but deformable) film. The interaction is repulsive when the drops have a large overlap and attractive when they have a small overlap. Thus, if two identical droplets are placed right on top of each other (one on either side of the thin film), they tend to repel each other, eventually reaching an equilibrium configuration where there is a small overlap. This observation can be explained by analyzing the energy landscape of the droplets interacting via an elastically deformed film. We further demonstrate this idea by designing a pattern comprising a big central drop with satellite droplets. This phenomenon can lead to techniques for directed motion of droplets confined to one side of a thin elastic membrane by manipulations on the other side.

Experimental investigation of flash pyrolysis oil droplet combustion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ibrahim, Norazana; Jensen, Peter A.; Dam-Johansen, Kim

2013-01-01

at a temperature ranging between 1000 and 1400°C with an initial gas velocity of 1.6 m/s and oxygen concentration of 3%. The evolution of combustion of bio-oil droplets was recorded by a digital video camera. It was observed that the combustion behaviour of pyrolysis oil droplet differ from the heavy oil in terms......The aim of this work is to investigate and compare the combustion behaviour of a single droplet of pyrolysis oil derived from wheat straw and heavy fossil oil in a single droplet combustion chamber. The initial oil droplet diameters were in between 500 μm to 2500 μm. The experiments were performed...

The Lipid Droplet – A Well-Connected Organelle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiang eGao

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Our knowledge of inter-organellar communication has grown exponentially in recent years. This review focuses on the interactions that cytoplasmic lipid droplets have with other organelles. Twenty-five years ago droplets were considered simply particles of coalesced fat. Ten years ago there were hints from proteomics studies that droplets might interact with other structures to share lipids and proteins. Now it is clear that the droplets interact with many if not most cellular structures to maintain cellular homeostasis and to buffer against insults such as starvation. The evidence for this statement, as well as probes to understand the nature and results of droplet interactions, are presented.

A comparative study of the mass and heat transfer dynamics of evaporating ethanol/water, methanol/water, and 1-propanol/water aerosol droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopkins, Rebecca J; Reid, Jonathan P

2006-02-23

The mass and heat transfer dynamics of evaporating multicomponent alcohol/water droplets have been probed experimentally by examining changes in the near surface droplet composition and average droplet temperature using cavity-enhanced Raman scattering (CERS) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). The CERS technique provides a sensitive measure of the concentration of the volatile alcohol component in the outer shell of the droplet, due to the exponential relationship between CERS intensity and species concentration. Such volatile droplets, which are probed on a millisecond time scale, evaporate nonisothermally, resulting in both temperature and concentration gradients, as confirmed by comparisons between experimental measurements and quasi-steady state model calculations. An excellent agreement between the experimental evaporation trends and quasi-steady state model predictions is observed. An unexpectedly slow evaporation rate is observed for the evaporation of 1-propanol from a multicomponent droplet when compared to the model; possible explanations for this observation are discussed. In addition, the propagation depth of the CERS signal, and, therefore, the region of the droplet from which compositional measurements are made, can be estimated. Such measurements, when considered in conjunction with quasi-steady state theory, can allow droplet temperature gradients to be measured and vapor pressures and activity coefficients of components within the droplet to be determined.

Spin lattices of walking droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Saenz, Pedro; Pucci, Giuseppe; Goujon, Alexis; Dunkel, Jorn; Bush, John

2017-11-01

We present the results of an experimental investigation of the spontaneous emergence of collective behavior in spin lattice of droplets walking on a vibrating fluid bath. The bottom topography consists of relatively deep circular wells that encourage the walking droplets to follow circular trajectories centered at the lattice sites, in one direction or the other. Wave-mediated interactions between neighboring drops are enabled through a thin fluid layer between the wells. The sense of rotation of the walking droplets may thus become globally coupled. When the coupling is sufficiently strong, interactions with neighboring droplets may result in switches in spin that lead to preferred global arrangements, including correlated (all drops rotating in the same direction) or anti-correlated (neighboring drops rotating in opposite directions) states. Analogies with ferromagnetism and anti-ferromagnetism are drawn. Different spatial arrangements are presented in 1D and 2D lattices to illustrate the effects of topological frustration. This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation through Grants CMMI-1333242 and DMS-1614043.

Impacts of Modelling Simplifications on Predicted Dispersion of Human Expiratory Droplets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Li; Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm; Xu, Chunwen

2016-01-01

simplifying the room air condition into isothermal condition, or neglecting the body plume of the manikin. It will also change the microenvironment completely by simplifying the shape of human grid in to a robot shape. The trajectories of both the exhalation airflows and droplet nuclei are significantly...

Experimental investigation on the droplet entrainment from interfacial waves in air-water horizontal stratified flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Byeong Geon; Yun, Byong Jo; Kim, Kyoung Du

2014-01-01

It was mainly due to the fact that droplet entrainment affects the Peak Cladding Temperature (PCT) of the nuclear fuel rod in the Postulated accident conditions of NPP. Recently, droplet entrainment in the horizontally arranged primary piping system for the NPP is of interest because it affects directly the steam binding phenomena in the steam generators. Pan and Hanratty correlation is the only applicable one for the droplet entrainment rate model for horizontal flow. Moreover, there are no efforts for the model development on the basis of the droplet entrainment principal and physics phenomena. More recently, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) proposed a new mechanistic droplet generation model applicable in the horizontal pipe for the SPACE code. However, constitutive relations in this new model require three model coefficients which have not yet been decided. The purpose of present work is determining three model coefficients by visualization experiment. For these model coefficients, the major physical parameters regarding the interfacial disturbance wave should be measured in this experiments. There are the wave slope, liquid fraction, wave hypotenuse length, wave velocity, wave frequency, and wavelength in the major physical parameters. The experiment was conducted at an air water horizontal rectangular channel with the PIV system. In this study, the experimental conditions were stratified-way flow during the droplet generation. Three coefficients were determined based on several data related to the interfacial wave. Additionally, we manufactured the parallel wire conductance probe to measure the fluctuating water level over time, and compared the wave height measured by the parallel wire conductance probe and image processing from images taken by high speed camera. Experimental investigation was performed for droplet entrainment from phase interface wave in an air-water stratified flow. In the experiments, we measured major physical parameters

Direct numerical simulation of water droplet coalescence in the oil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammadi, Mehdi; Shahhosseini, Shahrokh; Bayat, Mahmoud

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► VOF computational technique has been used to simulate coalescence of two water droplets in oil. ► The model was validated with the experimental data for binary droplet coalescence. ► Based on the CFD simulation results a correlation has been proposed to predict the coalescence time. - Abstract: Coalescence of two water droplets in the oil was simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. The finite volume numerical method was applied to solve the Navier–Stokes equations in conjunction with the Volume of Fluid (VOF) approach for interface tracking. The effects of some parameters consisting of the collision velocity, off-center collision parameter, oil viscosity and water–oil interfacial tension on the coalescence time were investigated. The simulation results were validated against the experimental data available in the literature. The results revealed that quicker coalescence could be achieved if the head-on collisions occur or the droplets approach each other with a high velocity. In addition, low oil viscosities or large water–oil interfacial tensions cause less coalescence time. Moreover, a correlation was developed to predict coalescence efficiency as a function of the mentioned parameters.

Experimental study of sodium droplet burning in free fall. Evaluation of preliminary test results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyahara, Shinya; Ara, Kuniaki

1998-08-01

To study a sodium leak and combustion behavior phenomenologically and to construct the mechanistic evaluation method, an experimental series of a sodium droplet burning in free fall is under way. In this study, the accuracy of measurement technique used in the preliminary test was assessed and the modified technique was proposed for the next test series. Analytical study of the test results was also conducted to deduce dominant parameters and important measurement items which would play an important role in the droplet combustion behavior. The results and conclusions are as follows: (1) Assessment of measurement accuracy and modified technique proposed for the next test series. a) Control accuracy of sodium supply system using β-alumina solid electrolyte was sufficient for generation of objective size of single droplet. However, it is necessary to calibrate the correlation between the quantity of electric charge for sodium supply system and that of supplied sodium. b) Measurement accuracy of falling velocity using high-speed video was ±0.33 m/s at an upper part and ±0.48 m/s at a lower part of the measurement. To reduce the error, a high-speed stroboscopic method is recommended to measure the falling velocity of droplet. (2) Results of analytical study and deduced dominant parameters and important measurement items. a) The falling behavior of a burning droplet was described solving the equation of free falling motion for a rigid sphere. In the case of higher falling height, it is necessary to study the burning effects on the falling behavior. b) The mass burned of a falling droplet was calculated using the combustion model according to 'D 2 ' law during the full burning phase. It is necessary to study the dominant chemical reaction in the burning flame because the mass burned depends on the composition of the reaction products. c) The mass burned was calculated using surface oxidation model for preignition phase together with above model. However, it is

An infrared scattering by evaporating droplets at the initial stage of a pool fire suppression by water sprays

Science.gov (United States)

Dombrovsky, Leonid A.; Dembele, Siaka; Wen, Jennifer X.

2018-06-01

The computational analysis of downward motion and evaporation of water droplets used to suppress a typical transient pool fire shows local regions of a high volume fraction of relatively small droplets. These droplets are comparable in size with the infrared wavelength in the range of intense flame radiation. The estimated scattering of the radiation by these droplets is considerable throughout the entire spectrum except for a narrow region in the vicinity of the main absorption peak of water where the anomalous refraction takes place. The calculations of infrared radiation field in the model pool fire indicate the strong effect of scattering which can be observed experimentally to validate the fire computational model.

A numerical study on the dynamics of droplet formation in a microfluidic double T-junction.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Ich-Long; Dang, Trung-Dung; Byon, Chan; Joo, Sang Woo

2015-03-01

In this study, droplet formations in microfluidic double T-junctions (MFDTD) are investigated based on a two-dimensional numerical model with volume of fluid method. Parametric ranges for generating alternating droplet formation (ADF) are identified. A physical background responsible for the ADF is suggested by analyzing the dynamical stability of flow system. Since the phase discrepancy between dispersed flows is mainly caused by non-symmetrical breaking of merging droplet, merging regime becomes the alternating regime at appropriate conditions. In addition, the effects of channel geometries on droplet formation are studied in terms of relative channel width. The predicted results show that the ADF region is shifted toward lower capillary numbers when channel width ratio is less than unity. The alternating droplet size increases with the increase of channel width ratio. When this ratio reaches unity, alternating droplets can be formed at very high water fraction (wf = 0.8). The droplet formation in MFDTD depends significantly on the viscosity ratio, and the droplet size in ADF decreases with the increase of the viscosity ratio. The understanding of underlying physics of the ADF phenomenon is useful for many applications, including nanoparticle synthesis with different concentrations, hydrogel bead generation, and cell transplantation in biomedical therapy.

A computational study of droplet evaporation with fuel vapor jet ejection induced by localized heat sources

KAUST Repository

Sim, Jaeheon

2015-05-12

Droplet evaporation by a localized heat source under microgravity conditions was numerically investigated in an attempt to understand the mechanism of the fuel vapor jet ejection, which was observed experimentally during the flame spread through a droplet array. An Eulerian-Lagrangian method was implemented with a temperature-dependent surface tension model and a local phase change model in order to effectively capture the interfacial dynamics between liquid droplet and surrounding air. It was found that the surface tension gradient caused by the temperature variation within the droplet creates a thermo-capillary effect, known as the Marangoni effect, creating an internal flow circulation and outer shear flow which drives the fuel vapor into a tail jet. A parametric study demonstrated that the Marangoni effect is indeed significant at realistic droplet combustion conditions, resulting in a higher evaporation constant. A modified Marangoni number was derived in order to represent the surface force characteristics. The results at different pressure conditions indicated that the nonmonotonic response of the evaporation rate to pressure may also be attributed to the Marangoni effect.

Preparation and nucleation of spherical metallic droplet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing-ge Zhao

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The preparation and solidification of metallic droplets attract more and more attention for their significance in both engineering and scientific fields. In this paper, the preparation and characterization of Sn-based alloy droplets using different methods such as atomization and consumable electrode direct current arc (CDCA technique are reviewed. The morphology and structure of these droplets were determined by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM. The solidification behavior of single droplet was systematically studied by means of scanning calorimetry (DSC, and the nucleation kinetics was also calculated. In particular, the development of fast scanning calorimetry (FSC made it possible to investigate the evolution of undercooling under ultrafast but controllable heating and cooling conditions. The combination of CDCA technique and FSC measurements opens up a new door for quantitative studies on droplet solidification, which is accessible to demonstrate some theories by experiments.

Dynamics of droplet breakup in a T-junction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoang, D.A.; Portela, L.M.; Kleijn, C.R.; Kreutzer, M.T.; Van Steijn, V.

2013-01-01

The breakup of droplets due to creeping motion in a confined microchannel geometry is studied using three-dimensional numerical simulations. Analogously to unconfined droplets, there exist two distinct breakup phases: (i) a quasi-steady droplet deformation driven by the externally applied flow; and

Calculation and measurement of fog droplet size

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laali, A.R.; Courant, J.J.; Kleitz, A.

1991-01-01

This paper outlines the elements involved in calculation and measurement of fog droplet size in steam turbines. The condensation calculations are performed for a 600 MW LP fossil fired, and for a 900 MW LP nuclear turbine. A simplified method based on classical condensation theory is used for these calculations. The fog droplet size measurement are carried out downstream of the last moving blades of these turbines in order to validate the program. The comparison between the results could lead to a better understanding of the condensation process in steam turbines. Some large droplet (re-entrained droplet) measurements are also taken using a microvideo probe

Pining phenomena of an evaporated droplet on the hydrophobic micro-textured surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Dong In; Doh, Seung Woo; Park, Hyun Sun; Moriyama Kiyofumia; Kim, Moo Hwan; Kwak, Ho Jae; Ahn, Ho Seon

2015-01-01

When the decreased contact angle reaches the receding contact angle, the contact radius is reduced while maintaining a constant contact angle, i.e., this evaporation mode is known as the constant contact angle (CCA) mode. The emphasis of the droplet evaporation is that the transition from CCR to CCA modes is relative with the rate of the droplet evaporation, and it is markedly influenced by the surface wettability. In this study, it is focused on the evaporation mode transition. Especially, the transition from CCR to CCA modes is investigated on the hydrophobic microtextured surfaces. On the basis of the thermodynamics, the transition from CCR to CCA mode is theoretically analyzed. The thermodynamic model is developed to estimate the receding contact angle at the evaporation mode transition. Additionally, to compare between the theoretical model and experimental results, it is shown that the experimental receding contact angle is well estimated by the receding contact angle with the theoretical model. This study was performed to investigate the pinning phenomena of an evaporated droplet on the hydrophobic micro-textured surfaces. The pinning phenomena at the contact line were shown theoretically to be due to the most favorable thermodynamics process that caused the Gibbs free energy to rapidly reach an equilibrium state during droplet evaporation. The evaporation mode underwent a transition when the decrease in the Gibbs free energy was equivalent for the CCR and CCA modes. On the basis of the analysis described here, a theoretical model was developed to estimate the receding contact angle at the mode transition as a function of the surface conditions

Numerical investigation of micro-pore formation during substrate impact of molten droplets in spraying processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, H.; Lavernia, E.J.; Rangel, R.H.; Muehlberger, E.; Sickinger, A.

1994-01-01

The porosity that is commonly associated with discrete droplet processes, such as plasma spraying and spray deposition, effectively degrades the quality of the sprayed material. In the present study, micro-pore formation during the deformation and interaction of molten tungsten droplets impinging onto a flat substrate in spraying processes is numerically investigated. The numerical simulation is accomplished on the basis of the full Navier-Stokes equations and the Volume Of Fluid (VOF) function by using a 2-domain method for the thermal field and solidification problem and a two-phase flow continuum model for the flow problem with a growing solid layer. The possible mechanisms governing the formation of micro-pores are discussed. The effects of important processing parameters, such as droplet impact velocity, droplet temperature, substrate temperature, and droplet viscosity, on the micro-pore formation are addressed

Analytical detection techniques for droplet microfluidics—A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Ying; Fang, Qun

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •This is the first review paper focused on the analytical techniques for droplet-based microfluidics. •We summarized the analytical methods used in droplet-based microfluidic systems. •We discussed the advantage and disadvantage of each method through its application. •We also discuss the future development direction of analytical methods for droplet-based microfluidic systems. -- Abstract: In the last decade, droplet-based microfluidics has undergone rapid progress in the fields of single-cell analysis, digital PCR, protein crystallization and high throughput screening. It has been proved to be a promising platform for performing chemical and biological experiments with ultra-small volumes (picoliter to nanoliter) and ultra-high throughput. The ability to analyze the content in droplet qualitatively and quantitatively is playing an increasing role in the development and application of droplet-based microfluidic systems. In this review, we summarized the analytical detection techniques used in droplet systems and discussed the advantage and disadvantage of each technique through its application. The analytical techniques mentioned in this paper include bright-field microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, laser induced fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, electrochemistry, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, absorption detection, chemiluminescence, and sample pretreatment techniques. The importance of analytical detection techniques in enabling new applications is highlighted. We also discuss the future development direction of analytical detection techniques for droplet-based microfluidic systems