Mixing and transport of particles and droplets co-suspended in a liquid-continuous phase

每天我们都会遇到包含液滴和粒子的系统。喷墨打印机需要两者的结合;许多食品的口感和稳定性，如沙拉酱或酸奶，也取决于它们，许多药物的制备也是如此。在这些情况下，颗粒相对于液滴的大小非常小，因此它们聚集在液滴表面，形成使液滴高度稳定的“盔甲”。在粒子大于液滴的情况下，系统的行为可能完全不同，事实上还不能很好地预测。在涉及流动或混合的系统中尤其如此。一些不同的例子包括混合/反应过程，为我们提供了我们使用的许多常见塑料，以及生产含有水滴和沙子的原油。在某些条件下，颗粒有助于液滴破碎，即液滴将小于它们在无固体条件下的液滴。这使得将液滴与携带它们的液体分离变得更加困难。此外，液滴的存在会使颗粒的运输变得更加困难，无论是在所需的能量还是防止颗粒沉降的能力方面。颗粒积聚可导致管道腐蚀和故障，因为沉淀的颗粒将水截留在管壁附近。

Every day we encounter systems containing droplets and particles. The combination of the two is needed for inkjet printers; the mouth-feel and stability of many food products, like salad dressing or yogurt also depend on them, as does the preparation of many medicines. In these cases, the particles are very small relative to the size of the droplets, so they collect on the droplet surfaces, forming “suits of armour” that make the droplets highly stable. In cases where the particles are larger than the droplets, the behaviour of a system can be totally different, and in fact cannot yet be well predicted. This is especially true in a system where flow or mixing is involved. Some diverse examples include the mixing/reaction process that provides us with many of the common plastics we use, and in the production of crude oil containing water droplets and sand. Under some conditions, the particles contribute to droplet break-up, i.e. the droplets will be smaller than they would be under solids-free conditions. This can make it much more difficult to separate the droplets from the liquid that carries them. Also, the presence of the droplets can make it more difficult to transport the particles, both in terms of the energy required and the ability to keep them from settling. Particle accumulation can lead to pipeline corrosion and failure, since the settled particles trap water near the pipe wall.