CFD Study on Settling and Deformation Characteristics of Spherical and Spheroid Newtonian Droplets

CFD Study on Settling and Deformation Characteristics of Spherical and Spheroid Newtonian Droplets

Multiphase flows especially Newtonian fluids are extremely widespread in the chemical, biological, petroleum, and polymer processing sectors. Thus, the rise/fall and deformation properties of droplets in immiscible continuous phase solutions are required for the design of multiphase flow equipment. Among the various hydrodynamic properties, drag coefficient plays a vital role in designing contacting equipment. In the present study, the rheological aspects of settling and deforming both spherical and non-spherical droplets in stagnant air were analyzed through computational fluid dynamics solver COMSOL Multiphysics 4.3. Further, continuous phase was selected as Newtonian medium (air) and the dispersed droplet phase consisting of Newtonian fluids (water). Volume fraction images of spherical and spheroid droplets demonstrate substantial distortion in the initial stages, with the tendency to deform gradually decreasing as the droplet approaches the channel's bottom. The drag coefficient of a moving droplet is determined in relation to time in order to comprehend the deformed Newtonian droplets' settling velocity behavior. Additionally, the volume fraction contours, pressure contours, and drag distributions of settling droplets are presented in detail to indicate the mixing behavior.