Development of an improved breakage kernel for high dispersed viscosity phase emulsification

Modelling of droplet breakage in emulsification is traditionally governed by a range of empirically adjustable parameters in the appropriate breakage rate and daughter size distribution models. The development of a purely phenomenological modelling approach is desirable to obtain more universally applicable breakage models and reduce the need for extensive experiential-based parameter identification. A modification adapting the phenomenological breakage modelling framework proposed by fun and Svendsen (1996) to high-viscosity dispersed phases is proposed in this work. The performance of the new model was confirmed by comparison to experimental data obtained from the emulsification of silicone oils with four different viscosities. The new model was compared to two recent traditional breakage rate models and found to provide improved results, without the need for empirically adjusted parameters. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.