Lattice Boltzmann spray-like fluids

The effect of the competition between short-range attraction and mid-range repulsion in lattice Boltzmann models of single-component non-ideal fluids is investigated. It is shown that the presence of repulsive interactions gives rise to long-lived metastable states in the form of multi-droplet spray-like density configurations, whose size can be adjusted by fine-tuning the strength of the repulsive vs. attractive coupling. This opens up the possibility of using single-component lattice kinetic models to study a new class of complex flow applications, involving atomization, spray formation, micro-emulsions and possibly, glassy-like phenomena as well. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2008.