Dynamics of a Rising Taylor Drop in a Stagnant Shear-Thinning Liquid

This study investigates the dynamicsof a Taylor drop rising underthe influence of non-Newtonian behavior of the continuous phase. Numericalanalysis of a Taylor drop rising in a vertical pipe with stagnantshear-thinning liquid is performed using the volume of fluid (VoF)based interFoam solver in OpenFOAM. Silicone oils and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) solutions are used as dispersed and continuous phases,respectively. Nondimensional numbers are used to study the effectof shear-thinning behavior, pipe diameter, and dispersed phase viscosityon the terminal velocity and drop shape. The shear-thinning behaviorof the continuous phase greatly influences both the terminal velocityand the shape of the drop. The Froude number correlation in the literatureis extended for a Taylor drop rising in non-Newtonian liquid, withprediction errors within & PLUSMN;15%. Furthermore, the influence ofa Taylor drop on wall shear stress for different CMC concentrationsis reported.