Emulsion processing—from single-drop deformation to design of complex processes and products

The processing of complex emulsion systems is described in four main chapters which relate to the basic mechanisms of (i) single-drop deformation and breakup in laminar and turbulent flow fields; (ii) the impact of drop interactions in concentrated multi-drop systems on deformation, breakup and networking; (iii) the design of drop dispersing apparatus; and (iv) the relationship of disperse emulsion structure and product quality characteristics. For these chapter topics milestones archived during the past decades since the 1930s are highlighted. Among the most recent developments, experimental, modeling and numerical simulation tools are demonstrated to allow for complementary approaches with high potential for deriving optimized process and product design criteria.