The rate of collisions due to Brownian or gravitational motion of small drops

Abstract

A dilute dispersion containing drops of one fluid dispersed in a second, immiscible fluid is considered. The drops are sufficiently small that inertia is negligible and that they remain spherical. Two drops of different size are in relative motion due to either Brownian diffusion or gravitational sedimentation. When the drops become close, they interact with each other owing to hydrodynamic disturbances and van der Waals attractions, and, under favourable conditions, they will collide with each other and coalesce. The rate at which two drops collide is predicted by solving the diffusion equation for Brownian coalescence, and by using a trajectory analysis to follow the relative motion of pairs of drops for gravity-induced coalescence.The emphasis of our analysis is on the effects of drop interactions on their collision rate, and these are described by the collision efficiency. Since the hydrodynamic resistance to the drop relative motion reduces with a decreasing ratio of the viscosities of the drop fluid and the surrounding fluid, the collision efficiency increases with decreasing viscosity ratio. A qualitative difference in the collision behaviour of viscous drops from that of rigid spheres is demonstrated; finite collision rates for drops are predicted even in the absence of attractive forces, provided that drop deformation is negligible, whereas rigid particles with smooth surfaces will not come into contact in a fluid continuum unless an attractive force is present which is able to overcome the lubrication forces resisting the relative motion. Hydrodynamic interactions between two spherical drops are accounted for exactly by determining the two-sphere relative mobility functions from previous solutions for two drops moving along and normal to their line of centres. These solutions are based on the method of reflections for widely separated drops, lubrication theory for drops in near-contact, and bispherical coordinates for general separations. The hydrodynamic interactions have a greater effect on reducing the rate of gravity collisions than the rate of Brownian collisions.