Modeling of Liquid Bridge and Surface Wetting on Two Rigid Spherical Particles Available to Purchase

Spreading and drainage of liquid over particle surface in a liquid bridge between two particles has been modeled to study the influence of temperature of particle and initial kinetic energy of liquid mass remain attached between two particles on impingement of droplet to form liquid bridge on liquid spreading. The spreading and drainage of liquid bridge is a key factor for particle agglomeration, which is commonly encountered in many industrial processes such as petroleum refinery, spray coating and flocculation which involve the collision of droplet and solids particles. A model based on mass and energy conservation of liquid trapped between two particles has been proposed to estimate the surface area of particle wetted by the liquid drainage and the thickness of liquid film under the influence of heat transfer to the liquid film from hot solid particles and initial kinetic energy of spreading liquid. The Laplace-Young model of liquid bridge is solved with discrete method to obtain the volume and surface change of liquid bridge due to spreading and drainage effect. The proposed model is capable of determining transient surface coverage of spreading liquid, liquid film thickness and its temperature. The influence of some key parameters, such as initial kinetic energy of spreading liquid, initial temperature of particle on the wetting thickness and wetting area is also investigated.