Modeling Emulsification in Static Mixers: Equilibrium Correlations versus Population Balance Equations

Abstract

AbstractTwo different modeling approaches are adopted to model turbulent breakage during continuous emulsification in static mixers. First, a correlation is developed to predict the droplet mean diameter. Second, a population balance equation (PBE) is applied to track the droplet size distribution (DSD) using two different breakage kernels. The performances of the two approaches are assessed against a large number of experimental data. The correlation is fast to develop and is found to be capable of predicting the mean diameter with an acceptable accuracy while the PBE‐based model gives an excellent prediction of the entire DSD.