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A Dual-Reciprocity Boundary Element Method for Evaluating Bulk Convective Transport of Surfactant in Free-Surface Flows

โœ Scribed by Samir N Ghadiali; David Halpern; Donald P Gaver III


Publisher
Elsevier Science
Year
2001
Tongue
English
Weight
373 KB
Volume
171
Category
Article
ISSN
0021-9991

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โœฆ Synopsis


We present a dual-reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM) to investigate bulk surfactant transport dynamics in a free-surface flow system under steady-state conditions. This free-surface flow system consists of semi-infinite bubble progression in a rigid axisymmetric capillary tube. Once adsorbed to the air-liquid interface with a surface concentration , surfactant alters the interfacial surface tension ฮณ . As the interfacial stress balance, which governs the fluid mechanics, is a function of ฮณ , a strong coupling exists between surfactant transport dynamics and the fluid mechanics (physicochemical hydrodynamics). To model this problem over a range of bulk concentrations, C, the bulk convective/diffusive transport of surfactant to the interface must be calculated. In this paper, DRBEM is used to simulate the bulk convection-diffusion relationship while the boundary element method (BEM) is used to solve Stokes flow, and a finite-difference method is used to solve the surface transport equation under steady-state conditions. A nonlinear Langmuir adsorption model is used to determine the surfactant equation of state ฮณ = f ( ). The validity of the DRBEM is first demonstrated by comparing computational and analytical solutions for a test problem. Next, the computational algorithm is used to calculate the bulk concentration field surrounding the bubble as a function of the far-downstream quantity of surfactant, C o , and its influence on interfacial dynamics. These profiles clearly demonstrate the importance of accurately calculating the bulk concentration field under moderate C o conditions. In addition, the variation of mechanical properties of this system as a function of C o indicates that the interfacial pressure jump can be significantly larger when the bulk transport of surfactant to the interface is limited.


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