SIMULATING TAYLOR-COUETTE RHEOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS FOR NON-NEWTONIAN EMULSIONS

We propose an Eulerian two-fluid model for the flow of stable water-in-oil emulsions under semi-dilute conditions ($10% - 40%$ v/v), implement it in OpenFOAM and compare its results with experimental data available in the literature. A fractal aggregation model with adjusted parameters could explain the non-Newtonian shear-thinning character of the emulsion. Its parameters are the inter-particle adhesion force and fractal dimension, estimated by a least-squares fit using available experimental data. We performed CFD simulations of emulsion flow in a Taylor-Couette geometry and compared the results with a homogeneous algebraic model and experimental data. The model predictions agreed with the experimental results, describing the increase in the shear-thinning character of the emulsion with the water phase fraction.