Deformation and breakup of bubbles and drops in turbulence

TL;DR

This paper reviews how bubbles and droplets deform and break up in turbulent flows, affecting industries like food, pharmaceuticals, and ocean engineering, by summarizing recent advances and remaining challenges.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent research on deformation and fragmentation of bubbles and drops in turbulence, highlighting key physics, uncertainties, and industrial implications.

Findings

Fragmentation spans a broad size range from nanoemulsions to large bubbles.

Recent advances have improved understanding of deformation and breakup physics.

Challenges remain in modeling turbulence effects and residence times.

Abstract

Fragmentation of bubbles and droplets in turbulence produces a dispersed phase spanning a broad range of scales, encompassing everything from droplets in nanoemulsions to centimeter-sized bubbles entrained in breaking waves. Along with deformation, fragmentation plays a crucial role in enhancing interfacial area, with far-reaching implications across various industries, including food, pharmaceuticals, and ocean engineering. However, understanding and modeling these processes is challenging due to the complexity of anisotropic and inhomogeneous turbulence typically involved, the unknown residence time in regions with different turbulence intensities, and difficulties arising from the density and viscosity ratios. Despite these challenges, recent advances have provided new insights into the underlying physics of deformation and fragmentation in turbulence. This review summarizes existing works in various fields, highlighting key results and uncertainties, and examining the impact on turbulence modulation, drag reduction, and heat and mass transfer.