The modelling of coalescence processes in fluid-liquid dispersions : a review of current understanding

The review addresses current understanding of the processes of collision and coalescence in pure gas-liquid and liquid-liquid dispersions. Attention is restricted to flow-driven collisions, apart from brief reference to related gravity-driven phenomena at free-interfaces. Plane-film and full numerical solutions of drainage are compared in the immobile, partially-mobile and fully-mobile cases and related expressions developed for the coalescence probability. Finally, the perspectives and problems involved in the use of such experssions are examined, in conjunction with flow simulation codes for the mathematical modelling of particle-size evolution in dispersed flows.