Electrocoalescence

Introduction
Applying an electric field across a suspension of immiscible liquids may stimulate droplets of the same phase to coalesce. The method known as electrocoalescence has important applications, for instance, in the separation of oil from water. The present model is a benchmark example, showing how to set up and simulate electrocoalescence phenomena using COMSOL. The calculated results are compared to experimental work presented in the literature, Ref. 1. In the reported experiments, a water droplet is injected in silicone oil, near the interface of a water phase. At the same time, an electric field is applied which affects the coalescence process as the droplet merges with the water phase. Comparing photographs of the droplet motion as functions of time with the corresponding modeling results, shows that the simulation are in good qualitative agreement with experimental findings. To model electrocoalescence, you need to solve the Navier-Stokes equations, describing the fluid motion, as well as track the interfaces between the immiscible fluids. In order to include the electric forces, you also have to solve for the electric field. The electric field depends on the position and shape of the water droplets. This complex multiphysics process can readily be set up and solved with COMSOL Multiphysics.

Model Definition
A cylinder of height 20 mm and radius 8 mm is filled with a layer of silicone oil on top of a 3 mm layer of water. A water droplet of 3 mm radius is placed slightly above the water surface. As the droplet is released, an electric field is applied. This example simulates how the fluid interface evolves as the droplet is released, due to gravity, surface tension, and electrostatic forces. As a comparison, a second simulation with no external field, is also performed. To model electrocoalescence, you couple two predefined physics interfaces, namely the Two Phase Flow Phase Field interface and the Electrostatics interface.
T H E TW O P H A S E F L OW P H A S E F I E L D I N T E R F A C E

The Two Phase Flow Phase Field interface sets up the equations for the fluid motion according to the Navier-Stokes equations:

ELECTROCOALESCENCE

u T + ( u )u = [ pI + ( u + ( u ) ) ] + F st + g + F t u = 0

where u denotes velocity, density, dynamic viscosity, p pressure g gravity, Fst surface tension force, and F is any additional volume force. To track the fluid interface, it uses a phase field method: 3 + u = ------------- t 2 2 = + ( 1 )
2 2

(0-1)

(0-2)

The phase field variable is -1 in water and 1 in oil. The density and viscosity, which is different for oil and water, is automatically calculated from the phase field variable , as well as the surface tension force. is the surface tension coefficient, is a numerical parameter that determines the thickness of the fluid interface, that is, the region where the phase field variable varies smoothly from -1 to 1. controls the mobility of the interface.
THE ELECTROSTATICS INTERFACE

The Electrostatics interface sets up the following equations for the electric potential V: ( 0 r V ) = 0 Here, 0 is the permittivity of vacuum, and r is the relative permittivity.
T H E C O U P L I N G O F T H E TW O P H Y S I C S

The software automatically sets up the equations described in the two previous sections. You only have to specify how they are coupled. For the Two Phase Flow interface, you need to specify the electric force. The electric force is given by the divergence of the Maxwell stress tensor: F = T The Maxwell stress tensor is given by
T 1 T = ED -- ( E D )I 2

where E is the electric field and D is the electric displacement field:

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E = V D = 0 r E The present model is axisymmetric, so you need to specify the force in cylindrical coordinates. In cylindrical coordinates (r, , z), the stress tensor is T rr T r T rz T = T r T T z = T zr T z T zz
2 2 2 1 0 r E r -- 0 r ( E r + E z ) 2

0
2 2 1 -- 0 r ( E r + E z ) 2

0 r Er Ez 0
2 2 2 1 0 r E z -- 0 r ( E r + E z ) 2

0 0 r E r E z

In this case, the force, that is the divergence of the Maxwell stress tensor, is T rr 1 T + -- ( T rr T ) + rz r z r F = T = 0 T zr 1 T + -- T zr + zz r r z

Note: An other equivalent form for the force is F = -- ( E E ) 0 r .

1 2

Finally, you also need to specify the relative permittivity. The relative permittivity is constant, but different, for each fluid. You define it from the internally defined volume fractions of each fluid, Vf1 and Vf2: r = r1 Vf1 + r2 Vf2 Here, r1 and r2 denote the relative permittivity of oil and water, respectively.
PHYSICAL PROPER TIES OF THE FLUIDS

The following table lists the physical properties of the two fluids

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TABLE 0-1: MATERIAL PROPERTIES PROPERTY VALUE

oil water oil water r, oil r, water

935kg/m3 998kg/m
3

Density of oil Density of water Dynamic viscosity of oil Dynamic viscosity of water Surface tension coefficient Relative permittivity of oil Relative permittivity of water

0.00935Pas 0.0010Pas 0.0194N/m 2.2 80

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

For the fluid flow part, all boundaries are specified as no-slip walls, except for the boundary at the axisymmetry line (r=0). This example treats two cases. One without any external electric field, and a second case, for which an electric field is applied. When an electric field is applied, the voltage is specified at the top and bottom boundaries. Electric insulation is assumed at the vertical boundary and axisymmetry conditions hold at the boundary where r=0.

Results
Figure 0-1 shows snapshots of the fluid interface with and without an electric field. The results are in good qualitative agreement with the experiments in Ref. 1.

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ELECTROCOALESCENCE

Figure 0-1: Snapshots of the fluid interface with increments of 30 ms from top to bottom. Left: No electric field, right: Electric field of 267V/mm.

References
1. H.Aryafar and P.Kavehpour, Electrocoalescence, Physics of Fluids, vol. 19, 2007. 2. E.Bjorklund, The Level-set Method Applied to Droplet Dynamics in the Presence of an Electric Field, Computers & Fluids, vol. 38, pp. 358-369, 2009.

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