Article
Energy & Fuels
Pooja Kumari, Arnab Atta
Summary: This study investigates the droplet breakup dynamics in a branched microdevice and analyzes the influence of controlling factors on droplet breakup behavior using a computational model. The homogeneous pressure field inside the droplet is found to be the main reason for non-breakup in widely asymmetric configurations. Different breakup regimes are identified for other branching configurations, and a regime map is formulated. Furthermore, it is observed that the configuration with fi = 0.8 is more susceptible to droplet breakup.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND PROCESSING-PROCESS INTENSIFICATION
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
He Yang, Yufan Xu, Tuomas Knowles
Summary: Droplet-based microfluidics has extensive applications and asymmetrical microfluidic junctions are studied for controlling and organizing droplets with different sizes. This research investigates the effect of junction angle on droplet behavior and finds that droplets can either break up or remain intact in asymmetric junctions. The volume of daughter droplets and the sorting of droplets are influenced by the junction angle and initial tip-to-tip length of the droplet. The study proposes a scaling model to predict the transition between droplet breakup and non-breakup in asymmetric junctions and provides a phase diagram of droplet behavior. Overall, the research is important for understanding and controlling droplet behavior in microfluidic systems.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MECHANICS B-FLUIDS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
You Ma, Chunying Zhu, Taotao Fu, Youguang Ma, Huai Z. Li
Summary: The dynamics of non-Newtonian droplet breakup in a microfluidic Y-junction with partial obstruction was visually investigated. Three breakup stages were identified: squeezing, transition, and pinch-off. Factors such as the concentration of CMC, continuous capillary number, and dispersed phase local capillary number were found to affect the breakup process, with the pinch-off stage primarily determined by surface tension.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Sten ten Klooster, Claire Berton-Carabin, Karin Schroen
Summary: Microfluidic emulsification has the potential to produce emulsions with controlled droplet sizes. To support upscaling, guidelines were provided based on the performance of Upscale Partitioned EDGE (UPE) devices using rapeseed oil and whey proteins. The results showed that the choice of channel dimensions, droplet formation pressure range, and ingredients can significantly affect productivity, with the UPE devices outperforming other reported devices. These findings and design guidelines are important for the development of food emulsions prepared with microfluidics.
FOOD RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Amirmahdi Jafari, Amir Shamloo
Summary: This study utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate droplet formation in a square microfluidic cross-junction device. The impact of viscosity ratios on droplet characteristics was examined, with interesting behavior observed in the transition regime between dripping and jetting. The study also explored modifying the outflow channel's design to shift the transition boundary between squeezing and jetting regimes, without altering the operating conditions for both phases.
ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTATIONAL FLUID MECHANICS
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Seyyed Saeed Shojaee Zadeh, Vanessa Egan, Pat Walsh
Summary: This study provides a thorough understanding of the parameters influencing droplet velocity in liquid-liquid droplet flows. It reveals a complex relationship between droplet velocity and droplet length, viscosity ratio, and Bond number. The study also proposes a new expression to estimate the velocity of elongated droplets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPHASE FLOW
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Vasco Duke-Walker, Benjamin J. Musick, Jacob A. McFarland
Summary: Shock-driven multiphase mixing is a common phenomenon in various physical systems. In this study, experiments are conducted to investigate simultaneous droplet-scale phenomena under extreme conditions. The results indicate that the breakup of small droplets at high Weber numbers is likely dominated by the Rayleigh-Taylor mechanism.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPHASE FLOW
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dege Li, Yi Cao, Bingfang Huang, Molong Han, Xinlei Wu, Qiang Sun, Chao Zheng, Lilong Zhao, Chi Ma, Hui Jin, Xiaolong Wang, Yonghong Liu, Yanzhen Zhang
Summary: This study introduces a new technique for actively generating femtoliter droplets in microfluidic systems using confined interfacial vibration (CIV), different from traditional methods. The volume of the droplets can be customized by controlling the intensity of the vibration.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Carolina Cruz, Claudio P. Fonte, Antonio De Simone, Felix K. Oppong, Will Jeatt, Thomas L. Rodgers
Summary: The properties of ice cream are closely related to its microstructure, and the particle size distribution plays a significant role in stability, rheology, melting behavior, and overall quality. Homogenization is a crucial process for altering the size of fat globules and the viscosity of ice cream mixes.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Van Thanh Hoang, Hung-Toan Do-Le, Doan Hung Vo
Summary: This study successfully predicts the breakup and large deformation of droplets in planar extensional flow by improving the Taylor analogy model. The proposed model shows high accuracy in predicting critical breakup conditions and large deformation under high viscosity ratios and capillary numbers, and is validated through comparison with experimental data. These improvements are of significant importance for droplet dynamics studies in microfluidic systems.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Mun Hong Loo, Yuta Nakagawa, Soo Hyeon Kim, Akihiro Isozaki, Keisuke Goda
Summary: Droplet microfluidics is a powerful tool for diverse applications in biomedical and industrial fields, with increasing interest in extending droplet sorting to larger droplets. However, limited sorting throughputs of large droplets have hindered their widespread adoption.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Zhiqiang Zhu, Tianao Chen, Yuanqing Zhu, Fangsheng Huang, Kai Mu, Ting Si, Ronald X. Xu
Summary: Programmable pulsed aerodynamic printing (PPAP) is a method for patterning soft materials with extensive compatibility and multi-scale and multi-interface properties. PPAP utilizes programmable pulsed airflow to shear pendant droplets at the nozzle orifice, covering a broad range of parameters. Demonstrations of PPAP include cell-loaded annular particles, liquid metal circuits, laser stimuli-responsive microcapsules, calcium alginate elastomers, and 3D multi-interface clusters.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Shuyuan Zhang, Haoran Li, Kai Wang, Tong Qiu
Summary: We propose an integrated microfluidic image processing method based on transfer deep learning, which can accelerate the analysis of droplets and bubbles in microfluidic images and accurately determine the critical conditions and size laws of droplets and bubbles based on the recognition results.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shaobo Jin, Guoyong Ye, Na Cao, Xuling Liu, Liguo Dai, Pengpeng Wang, Tong Wang, Xueyong Wei
Summary: This study demonstrates a method of surface acoustic wave-controlled fusion of microdroplets, which shows good arrangement effect of different sizes of microdroplets without any modification.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Chengxiang He, Xiyang Liu, Yanpeng Dong, Chunying Zhu, Youguang Ma, Taotao Fu
Summary: In this study, the formation of droplets in step-emulsification microdevices under different viscosities is investigated using silicone oils as the continuous phase and aqueous glycerol solutions as the dispersed phase. The research explores three stages of droplet formation process based on liquid-liquid interface evolution. The high viscosity of the two phases retards the necking stage and increases the droplet size. A prediction model for droplet size is proposed, with an error within 10%. The flow pattern transition with the viscosities of the two phases is also determined.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AND PROCESSING-PROCESS INTENSIFICATION
(2023)
Article
Mechanics
Wanpeng Sun, Chunying Zhu, Taotao Fu, Youguang Ma, Huaizhi Li
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPHASE FLOW
(2020)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Shizhe Zhang, Chunying Zhu, Huisheng Feng, Taotao Fu, Youguang Ma
Summary: The study found that sudden expansion structures can significantly enhance gas-liquid mass transfer; the enhancement factor increases with the number of sudden expansion units and gas-liquid flow rate ratio, while pressure drop shows only slight elevation; the effective mass transfer enhancement efficiency was assessed based on energy consumption and enhancement factor.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Yuying Hu, Xiaohuan Zheng, Shihao Zhang, Wenjie Ye, Jing Wu, Souhila Poncin, Huai Z. Li
Summary: High solid anaerobic digestion (HSAD) is a potential organic waste treatment method with advantages of small footprint, less digestate, and low heating energy. Studying the hydrodynamics of HSAD showed that optimizing mixing can greatly increase its processing capacity.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Daofan Ma, Di Liang, Chunying Zhu, Taotao Fu, Youguang Ma, Xigang Yuan, Huai Z. Li
Summary: The study visually investigated the breakup process of viscous droplets in Y-shaped microchannels, highlighting the dynamics of droplet breakup with partial obstruction. The rupture process of droplets is divided into squeezing, transition, and rapid pinch-off stages, each displaying unique characteristics related to time, two-phase viscosity ratio, capillary number, and other factors. The findings provide insights into the factors influencing droplet breakup in microscale flow systems.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yuying Hu, Shihao Zhang, Xin Wang, Xiaoming Peng, Fengping Hu, Chuqiao Wang, Jing Wu, Souhila Poncin, Huai Z. Li
Summary: This study proposed a novel approach for experimentally quantifying the mass transfer in the mixing process of HSAD using the Laser Induced Fluorescence technique. The results showed that the feedstock tended to accumulate around the impeller in the HSAD system, and diffusion around the 1st impeller was rapid while around the 2nd impeller was tough. Prolonging mixing time did not significantly improve the flow pattern and mixing in HSAD.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
You Ma, Chunying Zhu, Taotao Fu, Youguang Ma, Huai Z. Li
Summary: The dynamics of non-Newtonian droplet breakup in a microfluidic Y-junction with partial obstruction was visually investigated. Three breakup stages were identified: squeezing, transition, and pinch-off. Factors such as the concentration of CMC, continuous capillary number, and dispersed phase local capillary number were found to affect the breakup process, with the pinch-off stage primarily determined by surface tension.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Xiaofeng Jiang, Shixing Chen, Enle Xu, Xianliang Meng, Guoguang Wu, Huai Z. Li
Summary: This study investigates the downhill motion of liquid drops and liquid marbles using two distinct particle-laden interfaces. It is found that liquid marbles have a lower velocity than liquid drops but a higher maximum aspect ratio, indicating different interactions due to particles present on different surfaces.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Fengping Hu, Shihao Zhang, Xin Wang, Chuqiao Wang, Jing Wu, Souhila Poncin, Li Xu, Gaoping Xu, Yuying Hu, Huai Z. Li
Summary: The study investigates the impact of impeller width on the correlation of mixing-fluidity-energy at different rotating speeds, as well as the scale-up effect based on rotating speed and a generalized Reynolds number. Results show that impeller widths of 100 mm (10 rpm), 200 mm, and 300 mm (5 and 10 rpm) are preferred for improving hydrodynamics and energy efficiency in HSAD. Additionally, the study suggests that Reynolds number similarity has significant implications for scale-up applications in practical engineering.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Olfa Beji, Nouceiba Adouani, Souhila Poncin, Huai-Zhi Li
Summary: Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of different wastes is of growing interest in renewable energy. This study investigates the use of liquid digestate and slurry as substrates for microalgae-bacterial flocs growth and methane production. The results showed that 30% dilution of digestate and 10% dilution of slurry were optimal for nutrient removal and biomass production. The anaerobic digestion without flocs performed better in terms of methane production compared to digestion with flocs.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xiaofeng Jiang, Yi Zhou, Enle Xu, Xiangliang Meng, Guoguang Wu, Huai Z. Li
Summary: The impact of water drops on superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) with or without cavities was experimentally investigated in this study. Compared to plane SHSs, the cavity with different geometries reduces the maximum spreading diameter and contact time, and leads to complex drop deformation under higher We numbers. The dimensionless contact time on plane SHSs remains constant at about 0.88, while that on the cavity-textured SHSs is about 0.82. The drop impact on SHSs with macro-textured cavities exhibits different behaviors, which is important for applications such as self-cleaning and anti-icing.
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Qindan Zhang, Souhila Poncin, Christian Blanchard, Youguang Ma, Huai Z. Li
Summary: The coalescence behavior of ferrofluid drop on its bulk surface was studied experimentally using a high-speed camera. Shape deformations of both the pendant ferrofluid drop and the bulk surface were observed in the axial direction during the approaching process, even without a magnetic field. The angle of the upper pendant peak decreases with increasing magnetic flux density, while the lower ferrofluid peak shows the opposite trend. The coalescing width of the ferrofluid drop follows a power-law relationship.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Hao Jiang, Chunying Zhu, Taotao Fu, Xiqun Gao, Youguang Ma, Huai Z. Li
Summary: A new droplet sieving method using grooved microchannel is proposed for achieving droplet monodispersity. The sieving performance and mechanism are experimentally investigated, revealing three different sieving flow regimes: incomplete sieving, complete sieving, and main droplet rupture. The effects of different operating conditions on sieving efficiency are systematically studied.
SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Engineering, Chemical
Dong Lin, Zhiwei Mao, Jingyuan Shang, Huihong Zhu, Tiebin Liu, Yining Wu, Huai Z. Li, Chong Peng, Xiang Feng
Summary: The second-generation biodiesel, generated through the deoxygenation of vegetable oils, is an ideal green fuel that can help address environmental pollution and the energy crisis. This review summarizes the catalyst design strategies, including the selection of metal active species, adjustment of coordination environment, and regulation of the metal-support interface, to provide insights into the catalytic mechanisms and guide the synthesis of catalysts for the deoxygenation of vegetable oils, promoting the industrialization process of second-generation biodiesel.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
C. Y. Tong, Huai Z. Z. Li, C. J. C. Derek
Summary: This study investigates cell detachment of Chlorella vulgaris from porous substrates in early cultivation stage using a microfluidic platform. Results show that increasing flow velocity enhances nutrient transport but also triggers cell detachment. The effect of flow velocity on cell detachment differs at different locations. These findings contribute to optimizing operating conditions and reactor design for algae cultivation systems.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiaofeng Jiang, Enle Xu, Xianliang Meng, Huai Z. Li
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
(2020)
