Issue 40, 2014

Permeation of concentrated oil-in-water emulsions through a membrane pore: numerical simulation using a coupled level set and the volume-of-fluid method

Abstract

In this paper, we investigated the demulsification behavior of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions during membrane permeation in the oil–water separation process using a numerical simulation approach. To accurately deal with the large deformation of the oil–water interface by coalescence and wetting, and to estimate the volume of the coalesced oil droplet, the coupled level set and volume-of-fluid method was used as the interface capturing method. We applied the simulation model to the permeation of O/W emulsions through a membrane pore, and then investigated the effects of the wettability of the membrane surface, filtration flux, and pore size on the demulsification efficiency. The results showed that oil droplets were likely to coalesce on the outlet membrane surface. High wettability on the membrane surface and low fluid velocity inside the pore increased the demulsification efficiency. This is the first work to numerically simulate the demulsification behavior of emulsions through membranes in the oil–water separation process.

Graphical abstract: Permeation of concentrated oil-in-water emulsions through a membrane pore: numerical simulation using a coupled level set and the volume-of-fluid method

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Apr 2014
Accepted
04 Aug 2014
First published
26 Aug 2014

Soft Matter, 2014,10, 7985-7992

Permeation of concentrated oil-in-water emulsions through a membrane pore: numerical simulation using a coupled level set and the volume-of-fluid method

Y. Kagawa, T. Ishigami, K. Hayashi, H. Fuse, Y. Mino and H. Matsuyama, Soft Matter, 2014, 10, 7985 DOI: 10.1039/C4SM00705K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements