The effect of interfacial tension on secondary drop formation in electro-coalescence of water droplets in oil

The coalescence of water droplets in oils may be enhanced by application of an electric field. This approach is commonly used in the crude oil and petroleum industry to separate water from crude oil. However, the process could lead to the formation of fine secondary droplets during the process of coalescence. This is obviously undesirable, as it becomes more difficult to separate finer water droplets. In this work the effects of interfacial tension, manipulated by the use of surfactants, and electric field strength on the formation of secondary droplets are investigated. Two competing processes of necking and pumping determine whether secondary droplets are formed. The dimensionless groups Weber Number (describing droplet deformation and necking due to the electric field) and Ohnesorge Number (describing the pumping of water into the continuous phase in the process of coalescence) may be coupled to give a new dimensionless group WO, describing the volume fraction of secondary droplets that are formed. WO Number describes the ratio of the electrical stress energy that causes necking over the energy required for pumping the viscous fluid out of the droplets. For a wide range of interfacial tensions, brought about by the use of non-ionic and anionic surfactants and electric field strengths, a good unification of data is obtained. The outcome of this work will be useful for optimizing the design of the electro-coalescence systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.