Phenomenology of disruptive breakup mechanism of a levitated evaporating emulsion droplet

TL;DR

This study investigates the breakup mechanisms of evaporating emulsion droplets under acoustic levitation, revealing distinct regimes, bubble nucleation, crown formation, and secondary droplet creation, providing new insights into emulsion atomization processes.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed observation of breakup dynamics and patch formation in evaporating levitated emulsion droplets, advancing understanding of atomization mechanisms.

Findings

Three regimes observed during evaporation.

Bubble nucleation causes high-intensity breakup.

Secondary droplets with SMD ~ 50 μm are produced.

Abstract

Atomization of emulsion droplets is ubiquitous across a variety of application domains ranging from NextGen combustors to fabrication of biomedical implants. An understanding of the atomization mechanism in emulsions can result in a paradigm shift in customized designs of efficient systems, be it in energy or biotechnology sectors. In this paper, we specifically study the breakup mechanism of an evaporating contact-free (acoustic levitation) emulsion droplet (water-oil) under external heating. Three distinct regimes are observed during the lifespan of the evaporating droplet. Initially, the droplet diameter regresses linearly with time, followed by vapor bubble nucleation due to a significant difference in the boiling temperature among the components of the emulsion. The collapse of this bubble results in a high-intensity breakup of the droplet leading to the propulsion of residual liquid in the form of a crown-like sheet. The area of the expanding crown varies linearly with the square of the time. It is hypothesized that the expansion of the liquid sheet centrifuges the larger water sub-droplets towards the edge, resulting in unique spatial segregation. Subsequently, we report the first observation of complex patches (representing water sub-droplets) and the rupture of the thin sheet adjacent to patches into holes (with hole growth rate ranging from 1.2 to 1.4 m/s) in the context of an evaporating isolated emulsion droplet. The hole formation results in the creation of ligaments which undergo breakup into secondary droplets with Sauter mean diameter (SMD) ~ 50 {\mu}m.