A predictive multiscale numerical framework for emulsion flow

制药、化妆品和食品行业已经做出了巨大努力来创造稳定的液-液乳液，以满足客户对其产品的独特性能(例如，生物利用度、质地和味道)。与此同时，油砂行业一直致力于开发有效的方法来分离剩余沥青和水，以此作为减少尾矿池堆积的一种方式，尾矿池对阿萨巴斯卡河流域的每个人都有负面影响。每个行业面临的共同挑战是对两种不相容液体相互作用的复杂性认识不足，这会导致液滴的形成和消灭。液滴大小的分布作为液体性质和流动条件的函数，定义了乳状液的特性，包括其稳定性、粘度和流变性。为了控制乳状液产品的性质，对液滴尺寸分布的可靠预测是必不可少的。*在本程序中，目的是建立一个多尺度的数值框架，用于在基础水平上深入研究液-液系统。这将有助于解决实际问题。直接的数值模拟将被用来阐明微观尺度上的液-液相互作用，从而解释亚微米液滴的形成。这些液滴的产生是获得稳定乳液所必需的，如果两种液体最终被分离(例如沥青和水)，这是非常不可取的。获得的数据将被用来建立新的、基础良好的子模型，描述分手和合并事件。新的子模型将通过考虑更多影响液-液相互作用的物理现象来克服现有模型的局限性。改进的子模型将作为种群平衡方程(PBE)的源项嵌入。后者将与计算流体动力学(CFD)解算器耦合。经过改进的内核，创建的数字仪器可以被认为是一个研究离散系统的原创性和创新性的虚拟实验室。发生在水滴尺度上的微观事件之间的相互作用将与整个系统的宏观尺度演变相关联。*乳状液流动的预期分辨率水平将产生最先进的数值模拟，这些模拟将使用加拿大计算公司部署的先进计算设施进行。拟议的计划是受前沿行业挑战的推动，这些挑战需要从根本上深刻理解这些问题。世界级计算平台和涉及探索复杂物理现象的学术项目的整合将导致尖端发现和创新，这将吸引优秀的研究人员，并促进高素质人才的培训。**

The pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and food industries have undertaken substantial efforts to create stable liquid-liquid emulsions that satisfy customers with the unique properties of their products (e.g., bioavailability, texture, and taste). At the same time, the oil sands industry has worked to develop efficient methods to separate leftover bitumen and water as a way of reducing the accumulation of tailings ponds, which have a negative impact on everyone in the Athabasca River watershed. The common challenge for each industry is insufficient understanding of the complex nature of the interaction of two immiscible liquids, which leads to the formation and annihilation of drops. The distribution of drop sizes, as a function of liquid properties and flow conditions, defines the emulsion characteristics, including its stability, viscosity, and rheology. To control the properties of the emulsion product, a reliable prediction of the drop size distribution is essential.***In this program, the aim is to develop a multiscale numerical framework for in-depth study of the liquid-liquid systems on a fundamental level. This will foster the resolution of practical problems. Direct numerical simulations will be performed to elucidate the liquid-liquid interactions on a micro scale, thereby accounting for the formation of submicron drops. Generation of these drops is necessary to achieve stable emulsions, and it is highly undesirable if the two liquids are eventually separated (e.g., bitumen and water). The gained data will be used to establish new, well-grounded sub-models that describe breakup and coalescence events. The new sub-models will overcome the limitations of the existing ones by accounting for more physical phenomena that affect liquid-liquid interactions. The improved sub-models will be embedded as the source terms of the population balance equation (PBE). The latter will be coupled with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver. With the improved kernels, the created numerical instrument can be considered an original and innovative virtual laboratory to study dispersed systems. The interaction between micro events occurring on a drop scale will be correlated with the macroscale evolution of the entire system.***The intended level of resolution of emulsion flows will result in state-of-the-art numerical simulations that will be performed using advanced computing facilities deployed by Compute Canada. The proposed program is motivated by the frontier industrial challenges that require deep understanding of the problems on a fundamental level. Integration of world class computing platforms and an academic program that involves exploration of complex physical phenomena will result in cutting-edge discoveries and innovations that will attract excellent researchers and promote training of highly qualified personnel.**