Gravity-induced coalescence of drops at arbitrary Péclet numbers

Abstract

The collision efficiency in a dilute suspension of sedimenting drops is considered, with allowance for particle Brownian motion and van der Waals attractive force. The drops are assumed to be of the same density, but they differ in size. Drop deformation and fluid inertia are neglected. Owing to small particle volume fraction, the analysis is restricted to binary interactions and includes the solution of the full quasi-steady Fokker—Planck equation for the pair-distribution function. Unlike previous studies on drop or solid particle collisions, a numerical solution is presented for arbitrary Péclet numbers, Pe, thus covering the whole range of particle size in typical hydrosols. Our technique is mainly based on an analytical continuation into the plane of complex Péclet number and a special conformal mapping, to represent the solution as a convergent power series for all real Péclet numbers. This efficient algorithm is shown to apply to a variety of convection—diffusion problems. The pair-distribution function is expanded into Legendre polynomials, and a finite-difference scheme with respect to particle separation is used. Two-drop mobility functions for hydrodynamic interactions are provided from exact bispherical coordinate solutions and near-field asymptotics. The collision efficiency is calculated for wide ranges of the size ratio, the drop-to-medium viscosity ratio, and the Péclet number, both with and without interdroplet forces. Solid spheres are considered as a limiting case; attractive van der Waals forces are required for non-zero collision rates in this case. For Pe [Gt ] 1, the correction to the asymptotic limit Pe → ∞ is O(Pe−1/2). For Pe [Lt ] 1, the first two terms in an asymptotic expansion for the collision efficiency are C/Pe + ½C2, where the constant C is determined from the Brownian solution in the limit Pe → 0. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with these limits. For intermediate Pe, the numerical results show that Brownian motion is important for Pe ≤ O(102). For Pe = 10, the trajectory analysis for Pe → ∞ may underestimate the collision rate by a factor of two. A simpler, approximate solution based on neglecting the transversal diffusion is also considered and compared to the exact solution. The agreement is within 2–3% for all conditions investigated. The effect of van der Waals attractions on the collision efficiency is studied for a wide range of droplet sizes. Except for very high drop-to-medium viscosity ratios, the effect is relatively small, especially when electromagnetic retardation is accounted for.