Drop breakage model in static mixers at low and intermediate Reynolds number

Drop break-up process for the flow of liquid-liquid dispersion in a static mixer has been investigated. Two new theoretical models for the drop break-up at low and intermediate Reynolds number for variant viscosity ratio of the dispersed phase to the continuous phase have been developed assuming that the flow through the static mixer elements is analogous to the flow through porous media. This concept has recently been established by Morançais et al. (Chem. Eng. Commun. 179 (1999) 77) and Legrand et al. (Chem. Eng. Res. Des. 79 (2001) 949). The boundary-layer shear force concept has been applied to predict the drop break-up at low Reynolds number and at intermediate Reynolds number, the effect of inertia on the drop break-up has been considered. The predicted drop sizes are in reasonable agreement with experimental results.