Microwave Heating of an Emulsion Drop

Abstract

The results of numerical modeling of the microwave heating of a water-in-oil emulsion drop in a gravity field with consideration of the empirical temperature dependence of the viscosity of the liquid surrounding the drop are presented. The system of thermal convection equations is considered in the Boussinesq approximation. The solution is obtained by the control volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm and by the VOF method. It is established that the emerging convective structures result in nonuniform heating of the drop predominantly near the surface, which can lead to a local rupture of the armor envelope and the formation of fine-dispersed phase. It is shown that there is an optimal range of power of microwave field in which an intensive deposition of water drops occurs, which leads to water-oil emulsion breakdown.