Numerical Study on Droplet Formation in a Microchannel T-Junction Using the VOF Method

Abstract

The liquid-liquid two-phase flow in a T-junction was numerically investigated applying the VOF method and is compared with experimental results. The geometry was generated and meshed using the software Gridgen, and the corresponding equations for the CFD analysis were solved by using the commercial software Fluent (Fluent 12). The generated mesh consists of block-structured grids with hexahedral elements. Water-Glycerol solution (to-be-dispersed phase) and silicone oil (continuous phase) at room conditions are considered as fluids for this work. The effect of various parameters such as flow rate of the phases, width of the channel, viscosity and surface tension on the droplet formation are investigated and compared with available experimental results [1]. The breakup mechanism of droplets in various capillary-number regimes are explained. The numerical results of the length of the generated droplets as a function of the capillary number (varying the flow rate of the continuous phase) are in good agreement with the experimental values, which were measured using the same geometrical and physical properties. Further studies indicate that at a constant flow rate of the continuous phase, the droplet length rises strongly if the flow rate of the disperse phase increases, whereas the relative effects of the viscosity of the continuous phase, and the surface tension between phases on the length of droplets are moderate.